The following has been released to Q93 from the City of Alexandria:
Alexandria, La. (September 3, 2020) — One week to the day since Hurricane Laura roared through Central Louisiana with hurricane force winds, the City of Alexandria has restored electrical power to all customers who are able to take power and repaired the water supply system, although a citywide boil advisory remains in effect.
“We are wrapping up the first phase of our recovery efforts, but we still have a long way to go,” said Alexandria Mayor Jeffrey W. Hall. “Our utility infrastructure is restored and stabilized. Now our attention turns to debris removal, cleanup efforts and ultimately rebuilding and moving forward. It will be a lengthy process, but if we continue to work together we can – and we will – rebuild our community.”
Utility Director Michael Marcotte said he expects the citywide boil advisory will be lifted soon. “We have full service restored at all of our water pumping facilities. We’re just waiting the get approval from the DHH (Department of Health and Hospitals) on our water test samples,” Marcotte said. He added that any resident who is still experiencing electric service issues should contact the utility office by calling 318-473-1301 or using the AlexConnects App.
One resource to aid local residents in recovery is that Rapides Parish is included in the federal FEMA disaster declaration, making Alexandria residents eligible for a number of recovery benefits. Benefits range from the availability of small business loans for local businesses to assistance to homeowners. For details, residents may call 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or go online to www.disasterassistance.gov to register for benefits. Businesses and homeowners interested in loans from the Small Business Administration should call 800-659-2955 or go to www.sba.gov/disaster.
“Just as we are grateful for the help and support we received to restore our electrical system, we are very grateful to the President and the federal officials with FEMA for their support,” Hall said. “I want to thank Gov. John Bel Edwards, Senators Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy, Rep. Ralph Abraham, state Senator Jay Luneau, our state representatives, and everyone who worked so hard to get this much-needed assistance for our residents.”
Tree waste removal crews are currently working to collect tree debris from the storm. Residents are reminded to pile tree debris at the curb separate from any other trash, such as construction debris or regular household garbage. If there is non-tree waste, such as shingles, insulation or broken fencing mixed in the pile, the collection crews will not pick it up.
Sanitation workers will be making their regular collection runs on Friday. Due to higher than normal volumes of garbage, crews have been taking longer to complete their routes and there have been delays with the local transfer station that receives the trash from the city. If an area is not picked up on its scheduled day, crews will return as soon as possible to collect. A reminder that next Monday is Labor Day and there will be no trash collection. Monday’s trash will be collected on Tuesday, Sept. 8, and next Tuesday’s scheduled pickup will be on Wednesday, Sept. 9.
