Category: Regional News

Baton Rouge / louisianaradionetwork.com
In an effort to get those still without shelter in some of the hardest-hit areas of Hurricane Ida, the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness is working in conjunction with FEMA to speed up the process. GOHSEP Deputy Director Casey Tingle says they hope to have trailers installed as soon as this weekend

“Since the policy came out a little over a week ago, the state has been working quickly to be able to implement this,” said Tingle.

To register from the program, you can call 1-844-268-0310 but Tingle says the best way is the register online at IdaShelterling LA.com

“Certainly, understand that there may be a lot of interests in this but we’re really trying to gear it towards those who really are in need of safe housing today,” said Tingle.

Tingle says FEMA is still working on their program of direct housing that includes travel trailers, mobile homes, and certain types of leases.

“And it’s really just sort of an extension of that sheltering activity which is why we think it made sense for the state to kind of step in and be the one to implement it,” said Tingle.

The state program is funded through the FEMA Public Assistance Program which means they will cover 90-percent of the costs.

For a list of immediate shelters, you can call 211 or visit GetAGamePlan.org.

GOHSEP launches program to help those in need of immediate shelter from Ida to get trailers ASAP

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana’s largest health system is ratcheting up pressure to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Ochsner Health told employees it will charge them a monthly premium of $200 if a spouse or domestic partner covered under an Ochsner health plan is not vaccinated, The Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate reports.

Ochsner has said all employees must be vaccinated by October 29 to keep their jobs.

President and CEO Warner Thomas said the surcharge for unvaccinated spouses and partners is part of an effort to keep health premiums low for employees. As a self-insured organization, Ochsner bears the cost of COVID treatment for patients who are on its insurance plan. Unvaccinated people account for the vast majority of the health system’s COVID patients.

“The reality is the cost of treating COVID-19, particularly for patients requiring intensive inpatient care, is expensive, and we spent more than $9 million on COVID care for those who are covered on our health plans over the last year,” Thomas said in a statement emailed to the paper.

The COVID vaccine fee for spouses will begin in 2022 and could deduct up to $2,400 yearly from the employee’s paycheck. The fee is only for domestic partners or spouses, not other dependents such as children who are covered by the employee’s health insurance and are eligible for vaccination, according to a letter Ochsner leaders sent to employees.

Thomas said the surcharge isn’t a mandate because spouses and partners can choose other insurance coverage, and because they can also apply for a medical or religious exemption.

Meanwhile, Louisiana is trying to encourage more people to get the COVID-19 shot by offering them a cash incentive.

Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Friday that Louisiana’s “Shot for 100” program, which has been offering $100 cash cards to college students who get vaccinated, is expanding to offer the money to anyone who gets newly immunized against COVID-19.

Those interested can get more info online at ShotFor100.com.

“If you’ve not yet been able to go sleeves up yet, we’re hoping a cool $100 will help make the decision easier,” the Democratic governor’s statement said.

More than 2.1 million people in Louisiana are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, about 45% of the state’s population, according to health department data.

Baton Rouge / louisianaradionetwork.com 

Board of Elementary and Secondary Education President Sandy Holloway calls Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley’s plan to allow parents to decide if their child should stay home if there was a possible COVID exposure, abrupt and inconsistent with what health officials recommend. Fellow BESE member Kira Orange Jones agrees.

“This is a rogue, irresponsible action that really didn’t give many constituents the opportunity to weigh in on something as important as this,’ said Jones.

Brumley’s directive states that school systems have a choice of whether or not they implement parental choice when dealing with possible virus exposure and quarantining kids. His concern is the huge number of kids missing school and classroom interaction with classmates.

Jones, who represents District 2 on the Board of Elementary & Secondary Education says Brumley should have run his idea past BESE first.

“Many BESE members haven’t had the opportunity to even understand the policy or its implications,’ said Jones.

Some school systems are implementing this new parent choice option, while others are not changing their quarantine rules, which means students will have still have to quarantine after they have close contact with a person who is COVID positive.

Jones says she’d like to talk with state health officials and medical experts about Brumley’s policy.

“Really assess the ways in which it does or doesn’t fly in the face of what we know is in the best interest of keeping students and school communities safe,” said Brumley.

BESE members critical of new quarantine policy

Baton Rouge / louisianaradionetwork.com  Governor John Bel Edwards has extended Louisiana’s indoor mask mandate for another four weeks until October 27th. Edwards says the states’ overall COVID-19 outlook is improving, but baseline numbers are still too high.

“Every community in the state of Louisiana continues to have a high amount of COVID and they are in an elevated risk category as a result of that,” said Edwards.

The governor is encouraged the number of new cases and COVID hospitalizations have fallen below 1,000 from a high of 3,000. But he says the state’s level of COVID is 2.5 times what the CDC considers high.

He says the state’s mask mandate includes K-through-12 schools and college campuses.

“The CDC has put out information that shows schools without masking requirements are 3.5 times more likely to have a COVID-19 outbreak than schools where children and staff are masked,” said Edwards.

Governor John Bel Edwards extends the state’s indoor mask mandate until October 27th

Baton Rouge / louisianaradionetwork.com

Thirty days after Hurricane Ida, the Louisiana Public Service Commission reports nearly eight thousand customers are without power as a result of the Category 4 storm. Entergy Louisiana VP of Distribution Operations John Hawkins said some of their customers are still not able to accept power because of damage to their homes.

“They’re reaching out to us and we’re getting to them as soon as possible. We know how essential electricity is and we want to make sure they have it when they need it so they can continue to rebuild on their lives,” said Hawkins.

Grand Isle and Port Fourchon are amongst the hardest-hit areas and Hawkins said for those coastal communities it is an entire rebuild versus a restoration.  He said crews are working 16-hour days in an effort to give them some normalcy as soon as possible.

“We’re continuing with those efforts; things are progressing pretty well. We set up some generation for some of the customers that are on the island to be able to support and we will continue until we are able to get every last customer restored,” said Hawkins.

Hawkins said while work in those hardest-hit areas will remain ongoing throughout the year, he believes customers will have service long before however they will continue to harden the grid.

Hawkins said part of the restoration includes replacing equipment with more robust gear to withstand hurricane-strength winds of up to 150 miles per hour. A month out from landfall, Hawkins said they wouldn’t have been able to have the lights back on for as many customers as they do without the assistance of out-of-state crews.

“Remember we had a team of more than 26,000 folks from across 41 states that came to support this restoration. And that support allowed us to be able to restore customers quicker,” said Hawkins.

30 days out from Ida most Entergy customers have power restored

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Hurricane Ida’s winds and floods did at least $584 million in damage to agriculture in Louisiana, experts at the LSU AgCenter estimate.

More than half of that — $315.9 million — is timber damage, with another $207 million, or 35% of the total, in damage to buildings, equipment and other infrastructure, economist Kurt Guidry said.

The estimate doesn’t include severe damage to the seafood industry, which will be estimated by the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, according to an AgCenter news release Thursday.

“This storm was a monster,” said Thomas Hymel, an agent with the AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant. “It has just blown apart the supply chain, the infrastructure and the docks. Some of these places will take a long time to recover.”

Significant damages appear limited to 21 parishes, Guidry wrote.

His total includes estimates for damages still to come, including likely increased production costs and reduced yields for crops still in the field.

Winds damaged about 168,000 acres (680 square kilometers) of timber, the state’s most lucrative crop, snapping pines and damaging hardwood trees in 11 parishes That accounts for more than $300 million in damages, about half of it in Tangipahoa Parish, Guidry said.

It’s hard to salvage such trees before disease and other problems make them unusable — only 1% to 2% of timber felled by last year’s hurricanes Laura and Delta could be sold, AgCenter economists have estimated. In addition, their earlier report said, so much fallen timber floods the market, hurting prices and sales.

Guidry’s report was based on information from agricultural extension agents and commodity specialists around Louisiana, as well as the state Department of Agriculture and Forestry and the U.S. Forestry Service.

He estimated $169.2 million in damage to farm buildings and equipment, with another $37.9 million in damage to fences.

Reduced yields on about 139,000 acres (56,250 hectares) of sugarcane is likely to cost farmers about $35.4 million, he wrote. The acreage is about one-quarter of Louisiana’s total and the likely damage about 7% of the total annual value, he said.

Cane that was blown down can rise again, but that uses energy, leaving less sugar at harvest, said Renee Castro, an AgCenter area agent.

In addition, he said, “Some of the leaves are shredded, the tops are brown and because of that, the ripener that they’re spraying on the cane at this time before harvest might not take.”

That could make harvests longer and more difficult, increasing costs, Castro said.

Hurricane damage and interruption and operations will hurt some sugar mills, Guidry said, though he did not have an estimate for that.

He estimated that Ida will cost produce and ornamental horticulture about $9.5 million, including $5.9 million in damage to greenhouses and other infrastructure.