NEW ORLEANS —
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell
- Anyone who experienced Hurricane Katrina 16 years ago should be grateful
- Category 4 hurricanes sat over New Orleans for 12 hours
- The worst-case scenario didn't happen
- Hurricane Ida was not another Katrina, but the impact is absolutely significant
- While New Orleans held the line, now is not the time for reentry
- Monday is for assessment across the board. City need to assess the impacts
- City agencies have been out since daybreak, block-by-block neighborhood by neighborhood: No one will be left out
- City must address all challenges
- City-wide power outage
- S&WB was impacted by challenges but held the line. It did what it was supposed to do.
- No widespread extensive structural destruction, but there was some destruction
- City reports one casualty: A driver drowned.
- City will tell residents who evacuated when it is safe to come home
- Residents and visitors should stay in their homes or neighborhoods, and be first responders to neighbors
- Agencies will work with city councilmembers to address impacts as best as possible; councilmembers will work with neighborhood leaders
- Communications are compromised
- AT&T & Entergy are doing everything they can, working on remote operations for cellphone charging
- Evacuation doesn't seem necessary at this time; New Orleanians need to stay put
- Residents and businesses should be good neighbors; share power with those who need to recharge devices
- There is no widespread looting; there is widespread empathy and community cooperation.
New Orleans Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Director Collin Arnold
- Hurricane Ida sat on New Orleans for nearly a day, causing significant impacts, but neighbors to the west have seen more widespread destruction
- NOPD, NOFD, NOEMS began assessing impacts at daybreak
- Residents should get pictures of damages if it's safe to do so
Upload to damage.la.gov; this will help local, state, and federal relief efforts
- Folks should stay off the roads
- If you've evacuated, take a breath. New Orleans is doing well under the circumstances, but it's not the time to return
- There's not a lot open now; not a lot of fuel resources
- We’ll let you know when it's a good time to return
- Hospitals are strained by COVID
- Opening oxygen exchange for free. 8 a.m. to 6 a.m.
- Fire Station 1 2920 Magazine Street
- Fire station 36 5403 read Boulevard
- Fire Station 40 2500 General De Gaulle Drive
- Call special need 504.658.2558 for help.
- The best way to help is to donate money to organizations on the ground helping; see list at Nola.ready.gov
- City agencies need to recollect to respond
New Orleans Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Infrastructure
- Ida impacts are different from Katrina's
- Levee system worked
- We should acknowledge the city's infrastructure held the line
- Debris everywhere; will take time to clear and recover
- Stay home, work on your home, put debris on side of the roadway,
- Small pockets of standing water is because of blockage of drainage system
- Clearing rights of way for public, Entergy and infrastructure repairs
- Clearing standing water
- Contract to bring in 20 extra vacuum trucks to clear drainage issues
- Be safe with generators
- City infrastructure is safe
NOPD Chief Shaun Ferguson
- Now is not the time to return home
- If you're home, stay home
- Only come out to clean debris or evacuate
- Stay off streets
Do not put us in harm's way by putting yourself in harm's way
- NOPD: All hands on deck 12 hours on 12 off
- Numerous calls for looting
- Several arrests
- This is a state felony. We will book accordingly
- The community needs to say stop to looters
- LANG, NOPD implementing anti looting response
911
- 911 issues in southern parishes
- Physical infrastructure damaged
- At&t crews working to restor
- residents shouldn't return before 911 services are restored
- Walk to fire station or flag an officer if you need help
- Texting to 911 in the works.
- nola.gov/311 Hurricane Ida charging business sign up
Entergy
- 8 transmission lines to NOLA sustained damage
- Catastrophic damage west of city caused the outage
- 888,000 Entergy customers without power after Hurricane Ida
- 2,000 mils of transmission lines out of service
- 4,500 Entergy boots on the ground in NOLA, assessing damage since first light
- Premature to speculate when power will be restored
- We helped S&WB with generators; S&WB a priority customer
S&WB
- Algiers: Drainage Pumping Station 13 power issues
- Crews working until it is resolved
- DPS 13 lost power during storm, back up generator worked, then failed
- Report any standing water do DPW and S&WB
- Sewerage pumps 84
- 80 lost power
- 10 generators from Entergy and several more on hand
- Wastewater can back up without pumps
- Asking for thoughtful sewerage
- No water pressure issues
- Working on taking calls from customers
Flood protection
- The levee protection system functioned as designed
- Constant communication throughout the event with S&WB
- No breach or overtopping of levees
- In recovery mode
- Inspecting levees
- Preparing for next storm
- After inspection flood gates reopen if safe