GET DAILY REPORT FREE
Since arriving in the early morning hours Thursday as Hurricane Francine pounded the Capital Region, U.S. Rep. Garret Graves has been touring the district and meeting with government leaders to assess damages and help devise a restoration plan and resources.
Canceled flights into New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette Wednesday evening forced Graves to fly to Houston and drive to Louisiana, arriving at 2:30 a.m. yesterday.
On Thursday, immediate concerns focused on power outages, cell service and internet outages.
“We have some parishes that have nearly 95% power outages,” Graves told Daily Report. “We’ve been on the phone with telecommunications companies because you’ve got cell service and internet that’s down in some areas.”
In the Thursday afternoon interview, the congressman expressed concerns for hard-hit areas like Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes―particularly whether the latter will receive sufficient assistance to address damages, given a hefty investment in infrastructure.
“My biggest concern is areas like Terrebonne Parish, where we have come in and invested over a billion dollars,” he said. “When I worked for the state in the coastal program, we put over a billion dollars into investments such as levy protection in Terrebonne Parish. If we had not done that, you would see FEMA shelling out over a billion dollars in addressing damages, needs, and everything in this parish.”
Graves adds that he is concerned that because of that proactive investment, FEMA might not offer its typical level of disaster assistance. “Because of our success in protecting our communities,” Graves confided, “I’m concerned that our success will be penalized rather than rewarded.”
Graves says there were a few situations Thursday where he checked in with energy companies and they were unaware of a particular outage. He advises residents and businesses in hard-hit areas to confirm outages are reported.
As of Friday morning, 6,823 DEMCO customers are without power. Nearly 3,600 customers in Livingston Parish and 2,900 in Ascension Parish remain without power. At deadline, fewer than 60 East Baton Rouge customers were similarly impacted.
Some 16,265 Entergy customers in Ascension, 2,328 in Livingston and 2,014 in East Baton Rouge remain without power.
Graves says flood insurance affordability is a concern he has addressed with FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell.
He says some residents whose homes incurred damage during Hurricane Ida in 2021 have had problems receiving payment from the National Flood Insurance Program for claims related to Hurricane Ida, which hit in August 2021. The Category 4 storm was one of the most damaging and intense hurricanes to make landfall in Louisiana. There are worries that damages from Francine will cause flood insurance rates to further rise.
“We impressed upon the administrator how she has to move quickly in processing claims in both flood insurance and public assistance dollars and individual assistance and how she has got to fix this ridiculous flood insurance crisis that FEMA created all by itself,” Graves explained. “They’ve exponentially increased rates and they’re pricing people out of being able to live in South Louisiana. They created this problem and need to fix it.”
