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GRETNA, La. (WGNO) — On Wednesday afternoon, Jefferson Parish President, state, and local officials held a Hurricane Ida recovery press conference.

Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng joined Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, Congressman Steve Scalise, Senator Bill Cassidy, and other parish leaders and partners for an update on Hurricane Ida response and recovery at 2:30 p.m. at the Emergency Operations Center in Gretna.

Key Takeaways

Parish President Sheng urges residents who are safe outside of the area to avoid coming back in for the time being while crews work to restore water, power and clean up debris.

Currently, fuel is the biggest need throughout the parish for first responders, relief crews, and generators for hospitals.

Governor John Bel Edwards confirmed President Joe Biden will be visiting southern Louisiana on Friday.

Apply for FEMA assistance by visiting disasterassistance.gov or by calling 800.621.3362.

Power throughout the parish and throughout the New Orleans region is slowly being restored.

Parishes eligible for free individual homeowner assistance include Ascension, Jefferson, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John, St. James, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, and Terrebonne. free to homeowners. For more information on home assistance, blueroof.us or call 888-766.3258.

Governor Edwards added the parish does not have the capacity to sustain any more residents than are already there and that evacuated residents should avoid coming back during the recovery process.

SNAP benefits have been extended for hot foods at grocery stores through September 28.

So far, only two storm-related deaths have been confirmed so far. That number is expected to increase.

Water outages have affected more than 600,000 people in Louisiana while boil advisories have affected more than 400,00 people.

The Department of Transportation has cleared Louisiana interstates for traffic. Anyone who must get on the roads should check www.511la.org before leaving to ensure they can get to their location.

Bridge inspections have begun, but are expected to take some time as there are more than 1,500 bridges in the Northshore alone.

The state continued its release of Covid-19 numbers on Wednesday. 12,380 new cases were reported, but with many testing sites down, that number is expected to be much higher.

Both Steve Scalise and Bill Cassidy affirmed the governor’s remarks, emphasizing that now is the time to grow back stronger.