briefs
Some power restored; cleanup continues
Utility companies restored power Saturday to more than three-quarters of the Baton Rouge-area customers who lost electricity during Hurricane Isaac, the state Public Service Commission reported.
Much of the telephone and cable service that was disrupted by the storm also has been restored, company officials said.
A total of 29,906 customers in East Baton Rouge Parish, about 15 percent of the 199,172 businesses and residences in the parish that buy electricity, were still without power as of 9:30 a.m. Saturday, according to PSC reports.
Ascension Parish reported 3,859 of 48,695 total customers, or 8 percent, were without electricity Saturday morning.
Livingston Parish showed 18,011 customers, or 30 percent of the 59,888 total, were still without power Saturday morning.
At its peak, outages affected 903,039 of the state’s 2.1 million customers of regulated utility companies.
Aid applications,
information available
Homeowners, renters and business owners in Ascension, Livingston, Lafourche and Orleans parishes whose property was damaged or destroyed as a result of Hurricane Isaac can now register for federal and state disaster assistance.
Assistance includes grants for temporary housing and emergency home repairs; grants for serious disaster-related expenses not covered by insurance; and low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Registering with the Federal Emergency Management Agency is required for federal aid, even if the person has registered with another disaster-relief organization or local community or church organization.
Individuals can register online at http://www.disasterassist
ance.gov or via Web-enabled phone at m.fema.gov. Applicants may also call 1 (800) 621-3362 or (TTY) 1 (800) 462-7585. Those who use 711-Relay or Video Relay Services should call 1 (800) 621-3362.
The toll-free telephone numbers will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week until further notice.
St. James monitoring
crested Blind River
St. James Parish officials continue to monitor conditions at Blind River, the Parish President’s Office reported Saturday.
The Blind River gauge has crested at 5.6 feet at the St. James Parish Boat Club.
An evacuation order is not in effect for the parish; however, a shelter is open at Lutcher High School, currently servicing about 20 residents who have water in their homes.
To accommodate residents with special needs, call 1 (800) 228-9409.
More information is available on the St. James Parish social media pages or by calling 1 (877) 997-8526. The Emergency Text Notification service is available at http://www.stjamesla.com under emergency notification.
Workers try to ease canal lock pressure
A spokeswoman for St. Tammany Parish said parish officials were working to relieve pressure on a lock in danger of failing and flooding hundreds of rural homes near a canal that branches off the Pearl River
An evacuation was ordered Saturday evening for part of rural St. Tammany because authorities feared Lock 2 on the Pearl River Diversion Canal was in danger of failing.
The order affects several hundred to as many as 2,000 people.
Corps lifts vessel restrictions on river
NEW ORLEANS — The Coast Guard Captain of the Port of New Orleans lifted all restrictions to vessel traffic on the lower Mississippi River from Baton Rouge to the Gulf of Mexico as of 10 p.m. Friday, according to an agency news release.
Tows are permitted to transit the Lower Mississippi without restriction, and the Intracoastal Waterway East of Harvey Lock is open, the corps said.
LOOP resumes normal operations
COVINGTON — The Louisiana
Offshore Oil Port resumed normal operations at its offshore Marine Terminal at 1:05 a.m. Saturday, according to a LOOP news release.
Operations at the terminal had been suspended since Monday, when personnel were relocated to onshore facilities in advance of Hurricane Isaac.
Crude oil from domestic and foreign tankers is offloaded at the Marine Terminal and transported to LOOP’s Clovelly Hub for distribution to refineries in the Gulf Coast and Midwest regions of the U.S.
LOOP LLC headquarters is in Covington.
Farmers Insurance
sets up claims bus
DENHAM SPRINGS — Farmers Insurance Group of Companies claims has set up its Mobile Claims Catastrophe bus here to help customers stricken by Hurricane Isaac.
The vehicle, equipped with satellite communications equipment, includes high-speed satellite and Internet, self-contained generator power supply, satellite laptop and cellphones, claims stations, water, supplies and a radar system to monitor incoming weather patterns, according to a company news release.
The vehicle is operating from the parking lot of the Walmart parking in Denham Springs, 904 S. Range Ave., from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Farmers customers also can call Farmers’ claims hotline for immediate assistance at 1 (800) 435-7764. Spanish-language claims assistance is available to Farmers customers by calling 1 (877) 732-5266.
Foremost Insurance customers can call 1 (800) 527-3907.
21 wildlife areas, refuges reopened
Twenty-one of Louisiana’s wildlife management areas and refuges were to reopen Saturday, The Associated Press reported.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries said the sites include The Acadiana Conservation Corridor, Atchafalaya Delta, Attakapas, Biloxi, Grassy Lake, Hutchinson Creek, Lake Boeuf, Marsh Island, Pass a Loutre, Pointe au Chenes (except Point Farms area), Pomme de Terre, Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge (except East End boat launch construction area), Salvador-Timken, Sandy Hollow, Sherburne, Spring Bayou, State WMA, Tangipahoa, Thistlethwaite, Tunica Hills and White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area.
The sites had been closed in advance of Hurricane Isaac’s landfall.
Floodwater and access roads blocked by storm debris will keep the following areas closed: Elm Hall in Assumption Parish; Joyce in Tangipahoa Parish; Lake Ramsey and Pearl River in St. Tammany Parish; Manchac in St. John the Baptist Parish; and Maurepas Swamp, which covers Ascension, Livingston, St. James and St. John parishes.
The Waddill Outdoor Education Center in Baton Rouge will reopen Tuesday.
For a complete list of state WMAs and refuges, go to: http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/wma.
Volunteers needed
for relief assistance
Louisiana’s official volunteer agency has a critical need for assistance with relief efforts following Hurricane Isaac’s pass through the state. Those wishing to volunteer should register at www.VolunteerLouisiana.gov, after which they will be contacted by email as opportunities arise. Volunteers have the option of registering for any number of specific interest areas, but are reminded not to self-deploy, especially to the hardest-hit areas of the state.
Compiled from
Advocate news services