Recap of Friday Hurricane Laura Recovery Efforts
Alexandria, La. (August 28, 2020) — City of Alexandria crews have been working throughout the day to restore utility services and clean up damage caused by Hurricane Laura on Thursday.
As of 5 p.m., 12,700 Alexandria customers had electric power restored, which is 50 percent of the city’s approximately 25,000 electric customers. Crews prioritized getting electricity restored to the city water pumps, medical centers, hotels, and commercial businesses while also energizing some residential customers today. Crews are working to restore all areas as quickly as possible. In neighborhoods where the damage was more severe it may take longer to get power restored because of the amount of repair work needed.
Regarding water service, the entire City of Alexandria is under a boil advisory until further notice following a drop in water pressure and stored water in city tanks. As of 5 p.m. Friday, electrical power was restored at 9 of the 16 pumps in the city. The remaining seven pumps are expected to be back online tonight. In addition to the pumps in the city, the primary pumps, which are located in Kisatchie, have generators, and another generator is scheduled to be added tonight, but that still won’t get the pumps up to full capacity.
“Getting the power back at those pumps will let us start replenishing our water supplies, so that won’t fix the problem, it just puts us in a better position to start rebuilding our supply,” said Alexandria Mayor Jeffrey W. Hall. “That is why we need everyone’s help with conservation tonight and through the weekend, so we can refill the storage tanks and get the system stabilized. This is a significant issue for our hospitals, which are dealing with low water pressure issues. So everyone needs to limit their water usage to just what is essential for the time being.”
Regarding clean-up efforts, the City of Alexandria has contracted with a firm to collect tree debris starting next week. City of Alexandria Urban Forester Darren Green said residents need to separate tree debris from other types of debris. “For example, if someone has a pile of limbs and then they throw a damaged fence panel on top, that won’t get picked up,” Green said. “It has to be a pile of just tree debris, no other items. If they have construction debris, like shingles and fence pieces, that needs to be put in a separate pile.”
Green said the debris must be moved to the curb or placed in a common public space to get picked up. “If the street has a median, it’s OK for residents to pile the tree debris there,” he said. “It’s actually easier and more efficient to pick up bigger piles rather than lots of small piles, so if two or three homes want to combine their limbs into a single pile, that is fine.”
Residents are welcome to start piling tree debris at the curbside now, but are asked to take care to avoid placing in the road or in places where it could be washed into a storm drain as rain is expected over the weekend. The crews are to start collecting debris Tuesday. Residents are also reminded not to dump tree debris or any other trash into drainage canals or ditches. Please place all debris at the curb for proper pickup and disposal.
“We made good progress today,” Hall said. “Hurricane Laura made a devastating impact, and I am so proud of our employees who have worked non-stop this week preparing before the storm hit and then getting back in the field as soon as it passed to start the recovery process. And we are not going to stop until everything is cleaned up, the water supplies are replenished and every customer that can take power has their lights back on.”
ATTACHMENT:
Tree Cleanup: City of Alexandria Sanitation Department workers Gerald Squire (operating loader) and Irvin Wright work to remove a fallen tree on Vance Avenue between Lee Street and Mason Street Friday morning.
Contact:
Jim Smilie
Communications
318.449.5038 (Office)
318.730.1683 (Cell)
jim.smilie@cityofalex.com
