LIVINGSTON, La. (WGNO) — On Saturday, September 4, 2021, Governor John Bel Edwards visited the parishes of St. Tammany, St. Helena, and Livingston to assess Hurricane Ida damages and meet with local officials.
In the afternoon, he held a press briefing in Livingston Parish.
At the conference, state city and local leaders encouraged residents to take precautions when using generators.
“A family will go to sleep and sometimes they don’t wake up,” said Edwards.
According to reports, 12 people have died from storm-related deaths, four of them involved generators.
Edwards reminded citizens to keep their generators 20 feet from a residence, not even under a window, door, or vent, he said people don’t know when they are exposed. It is tasteless, odorless and you don’t know what’s happening.
Along with generator safety, Edwards informed the state about assistance from FEMA.
Edwards said some people try to take advantage of others during these hard times. For residents who need assistance, FEMA representatives always have a badge and never ask for money warned Edwards.
Edwards warned of a possible storm that could hit Louisiana by the end of this week.
The National Weather Service warned of a system moving into the central gulf that is coming close to Louisiana.
Edwards said, ” they predicted it is not going to strengthen into a hurricane but they obviously can’t rule that out either.”
Over the next several days it will be monitored.
Edwards said to pay attention to weather services to stay up to date with the storm.
He concluded ” I know this is a difficult situation for practically everybody in Southeast Louisiana. I know that in many cases patience is very thin, people are hot and tired, they don’t like waiting in line and I get it. I assure you we are doing, the local government is doing the private sector the nonprivate community our faith-based community, we are all doing everything we possibly can to speed relief to you.”
He urges the state to be patient and to help each other out and be good neighbors.