Calcasieu Parish Hurricane Laura and Delta Update for Wednesday, October 21, 2020

The Calcasieu Parish Hurricane Laura and Delta update for Wednesday, October 21 includes information about:

• Temporary early and election day voting locations in Calcasieu Parish
• FEMA Registration, Disaster Unemployment Registration, and Temporary Housing
• Evacuees Returning to Calcasieu Parish
• Debris Pickup in Calcasieu Parish
• Phone, Cable, and Internet Service in Calcasieu Parish
• Mosquitos in Calcasieu Parish
• Health in Calcasieu Parish
• Stores and Restaurants Open in Calcasieu Parish

Temporary voting locations for early and election day voting in Calcasieu Parish

FEMA Registration, Disaster Unemployment Registration, and Temporary Housing

Registration with FEMA for Hurricane Laura will end on October 27, 2020.
Registration with FEMA for Hurricane Delta ends December 15, 2020.
Disaster unemployment registration ends October 30, 2020.

More than $76 million in housing assistance has been approved for Hurricane Laura. More than $318,000 in housing assistance has been approved so far for Hurricane Delta.

Hurricane Laura and Delta are being handled separately by FEMA. Residents who received additional damage from Hurricane Delta are encouraged to file with FEMA.
Residents can contact FEMA by phone at 1-800-621-3362, online at www.disasterassistance.gov, or by downloading the FEMA app in your app store.

Travel trailers and manufactured homes are continuing to be delivered to the staging area in Alexandria.
More than 50 travel trailers have been delivered to Southwest Louisiana so far and more will continue being delivered to the area in the coming days and weeks.

Not everyone who registered with FEMA should expect to be eligible for a travel trailer or manufactured home for temporary housing. Your home has to have been determined to be unlivable or destroyed as a result of Hurricane Laura or Delta.

The process of moving temporary housing into Calcasieu Parish can take a significant amount of time. Residents are expected to be placed as close to their prior residence as possible.

For private property, property owners are responsible for securing power and rights of entry for the temporary housing.

Some residents who qualify for temporary housing assistance may also be moved into public housing rather than a travel trailer or manufactured home.

The deadline for the free Blue Roof program is October 24, 2020.

Evacuees Returning to Calcasieu Parish

All PODs are closed except for the ones at Memorial Park Plaza – 3009 Gerstner Memorial, and Washington Marion – 2802 Pineview Street, which will close this Saturday, October 24, 2020.

More residents who evacuated and staying near New Orleans, LA, and Dallas, TX are beginning to return to Southwest Louisiana. These residents’ homes have been deemed to have minimal damage. If a resident returns and believes their home is in a livable condition, they can contact 911 and an official will inspect the inside of the home. If the home is unlivable, the resident can be brought to a shelter.

Residents who need assistance in getting to a shelter can call 211 or 911.

Debris Pickup in Calcasieu Parish

Contractors are continuing to pick up debris from Hurricanes Laura and Delta. There are more than 350 trucks picking up debris throughout Calcasieu Parish.

Parishwide 5.4 million cubic yards have already been picked up. It is estimated that the first pass of debris pickup will take 60 days. Debris has been being picked up for 44 days so far.

Second and third passes will be made as more debris is placed at the road and are expected to last 120 days after the first pass is complete.

Residents are asked to continue to move debris closer to the road after each pass is made. Debris should also continue to be separated and not placed in ditches if possible.

There are no set routes for the trucks. Debris trucks are monitored by GPS and independent contractors and the routes are planned daily for the most efficiency.

A separate contractor will be hired to clean drainage laterals in the area.

Phone, Cable, and Internet Service in Calcasieu Parish

Many residents have complaints that they are still without phone, cable, and internet services from most of the providers in the area.

AT&T, Suddenlink, Centurylink, Vyve, and Cameron Communications are the largest providers of land-based internet and television services in Calcasieu Parish. There have also been complaints regarding Sprint cell service.

Suddenlink

Suddenlink expects a full restoration by mid-November, 2020. Suddenlink has indicated that they are proactively issuing credits to customers who have been without service.

63 out of 66 schools in Calcasieu Parish that are served by Suddenlink now have internet service. Internet service has been restored to all school administration buildings in Calcasieu Parish.

Mosquitos in Calcasieu Parish

There have been higher counts of mosquitos in Calcasieu Parish after the hurricanes.

In addition to the spraying being done by the trucks and planes of the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury Mosquito Control, two Airforce C130 planes nicknamed Hercules will also start spraying tonight, October 21, 2020.
The C130 planes will also continue spraying on October 22, 2020.

Aerial spraying is the most efficient way to spray for mosquitos and does not pose a health risk to people, plants, or pets.

Follow this link to view more information about mosquito and a schedule map for Calcasieu Parish

Health in Calcasieu Parish

No abnormal activity has been with mosquito based illnesses in Calcasieu Parish since Hurricanes Laura and Delta.

Most healthcare facilities in the area are back to operating as usual and residents are encouraged to get back in touch will doctors and continue routine care and check-ups.

All regional healthcare units are back up and running in Calcasieu Parish.

There is a Community Primary Care Clinic, staffed by LSU Family Medicine residency physicians, set up in the parking lot of the Calcasieu Parish Health Unit parking lot, 3236 Kirkman St., Lake Charles. It will be open from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday. The clinic can handle such services as medication refills for chronic conditions; ordering routine labs, x-rays, or other imaging; blood pressure and vital signs checks; basic physical exams; basic medical advice, and helping residents connect with available specialists who have resumed their services. There is no out-of-pocket expense for residents and no insurance information is required.

The Calcasieu Parish COVID-19 percent positivity for the week of October 8 – 14, 2020, was 8.9%. The percent positivity is what percent of all tests in the parish come back positive. That percentage is considered high in comparison to the rest of the country but is lower than it was prior to Hurricanes Laura and Delta.

COVID-19 is still a health concern in the community and residents should continue to wear masks and maintain social distancing whenever possible.

Stores and Restaurants Open in Calcasieu Parish

The Lake Charles Convention & Visitors Bureau has created a page with a list of stores and restaurants that have reopened.

Follow this link to view a list of stores and restaurants currently open in Calcasieu Parish.

Temporary voting locations for early and election day voting in Calcasieu Parish