East Baton Rouge Parish Officials Address Snowstorm Aftermath, Outline Future Needs – brproud.com

BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First)-East Baton Rouge Mayor Sid Edwards and city leaders gave an update on the aftermath of the historic winter storm that hit Louisiana on Tuesday.

“In South Louisiana, we’re kind of used to hurricanes and other, you know, flooding and all that, but this was something new. So this was an opponent that a lot of our people here had never seen,” Edwards said.

Edwards said first responders stepped up in many ways. The safety of residents was a top priority. Baton Rouge Police Chief Thomas Morse Jr. said law enforcement is hard to work with.

“We have made contact with over 60 homeless people and those people who need shelter. We transported over half of those to different shelters around town, and that was right on top of their normal, day-to-day work that they had to do,” Morse said.

The mayor’s director of homeland security and emergency services, Clay Reeves, said the lack of snow tools is one challenge.

“The state brought in some equipment from Arkansas and brought it down in south Louisiana, so we were able to use some of the equipment that specializes in moving snow. Now we used like bucket trucks and things like that,” Reeves said.

Edwards said after the snowstorm, the parish will focus on warming centers and shelters until they learn about future needs. He said some city leaders are stepping up to help with the problem.

“We felt the need for more space, more places. After 18 hours we got four other shelters and two other warming stations and we are working successfully. But I want to talk to those people, on our board, who sacrificed and managed it. I want to talk to them to see what we can do better in those places,” Edwards said.

He thanked first responders, the community and all the officers who helped and stayed on the street.

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