It’s been over a week since Hurricane Ida made landfall on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina (August 29, 2021), and, still, many of the storm’s worst impacts remain visible in Plaquemines Parish. From Alliance to Venice on the west bank and all of the east bank, Plaquemines remains under a mandatory evacuation—as essential infrastructure and resources are inaccessible in those areas.
Just 24 hours before Ida made landfall, the storm was only classified as a category 1 hurricane, but as Ida raged through the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, it quickly ascended into category 4 status. The resulting devastation of a category 4 hurricane making landfall just a few miles west of Plaquemines was widespread. Power went out all over the parish, several buildings, trees, and power lines were ripped apart by winds whipping at hundreds of miles per hour, the water system shut down, and most—if not all—of the east bank and mid Plaquemines on the west bank was flooded beneath several feet of water.
“We got hit with a category 4 hurricane, obviously there was damage. People I know who lived through Katrina and Isaac told me this was the most water they’ve ever seen,” Parish President Kirk Lepine said. “But, overall, we got lucky. I look at our neighboring parishes [to the west] and think how lucky we were compared to them. However, there’s still lots of work to be done on our end.”
While, in Belle Chasse and the northern end of the parish, impacts from Hurricane Ida are quickly becoming a bad memory—power has been restored in much of Belle Chasse, there is no boil water advisory in effect, and structural damage was minimal—the lasting effects of the storm become apparent when assessing the smaller, southern and east bank Plaquemines communities.
Many of the homes in Ironton were either destroyed or extensively damaged; power, of course, is still out; at least a few feet of water continue to linger in Ironton; and flood waters even took coffins out of a nearby cemetery and placed them in the back yards of Ironton residents.
Also, Lepine explained, a major water main break at Ironton prevents water from flowing to the community and southern Plaquemines in general.
“Crews are working to fix several leaks in the Myrtle Grove and Ironton areas right now,” he said. “But until they’re fixed, we have generators at the Port Sulphur water station [and others] so we can try to get the southern end of Plaquemines some water.”
Plaquemines Parish sheriff Jerry Turlich stated that Plaquemines has made good progress on getting water off of the highways and roads. He stated that Highway LA-23 is now, mostly, passable. While some water stubbornly refuses to drain off of LA-23 between Myrtle Grove and the Pointe a la Hache ferry, the highway is dry enough to allow residents with property in the southern Plaquemines to go and assess the damage.
“I would say LA-23 is pretty much clear for travel. However, you probably couldn’t get a small car down the road,” Turlich said. “But If you don’t have access to a bigger car, we have convoys going all day. So, people can go down and check out their properties.”
While residents may be able to get down to their properties now, Lepine stated that, from Alliance to Venice on the west bank and on the entire east bank, there is still a mandatory evacuation in place.
“There just isn’t power. While water is running in some places, every place [besides Belle Chasse], is under a boil water advisory, and there aren’t many resources either,” Lepine said. “Once our power and water systems have been restored, then we want people to come back.”
“I don’t really have a timetable for when things will be somewhat normal again. I know it’s a tough thing to hear, but we need people to be patient and hang in there. We’re making progress,” he added.
Lepine emphasized Entergy has been working nearly around the clock to restore power to Plaquemines and the rest of southeastern Louisiana region after all of their transmission towers were severely damaged or completely collapsed, and while that effort has yielded some incredible results, including power restoration in a significant portion of New Orleans, the upper end of St. Bernard, and parts of Belle Chasse, most areas in Plaquemines still lack power.
“From my personal view, it looks like our [electrical] infrastructure is mostly in place,” Lepine stated. “Though I can’t be sure, I’m hopeful we’ll be able to get power to all of the parish sooner rather than later.”
In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Ida, Lepine and other parish officials expressed an immense amount of relief at the fact that—for a category 4 hurricane to brush so close to the parish—Plaquemines survived with relatively few impacts. Now, Lepine’s tone has shifted to one of exhaustion as the recovery effort continues to drag on and many are either sitting at home without power or remain evacuated.
Of the many issues afflicting the parish, Lepine highlighted damages to pump stations as something that has been particularly bothersome.
“The Pointe Celeste pump station was flooded for 5 days. Other pump stations had similar experiences. It made draining water pretty difficult,” He stated.
“But we’re working as hard as we can. Our parish workers have been phenomenal, and none of us will rest until everyone from every part of the parish can return,” Lepine added. “I’m going to keep fighting for our residents. I need people to bear with us. This has been a tough time for us all.”
Certainly, the recovery effort has not been easy on parish officials and employees. According to Lepine, Director of Operations Scott Rousselle was injured in a boating accident as he was trying to transport someone with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to a pump station in the parish. Lepine stated Rousselle received extensive facial damage that will require facial reconstruction surgery.
“Right now, he’s doing better, and he’s at home resting,” Lepine said, adding that Rousselle is not the only parish official to be injured during the recovery effort. He stated that Purchasing Agent Brenda Stanifer was injured in a “freak accident” in her home. She will require spinal surgery for her injuries.
“Look, we’re professionals and we’re going to keep doing our jobs, but we think about them every day and we’ll keep them in our prayers,” Lepine stated. “Like I said, this storm has been tough on everybody. We just have to keep working and, eventually, I know we’ll get through this.”