Richland Parish cleaning up after Laura passes

Richland Parish took less damage than neighboring parishes from Hurricane Laura, the high winds created by the storms kept emergency workers busy throughout the weekend.

“We suffered extensive damage all over the parish,” RPSO Deputy Neal Harwell said. “Fortunately, no injuries were reported.”

Emergency responders were kept busy dealing with fallen trees which downed power lines and blocked roadways.

“The people who really deserve the credit are the volunteer firemen and other volunteers who turned out to help clear the roads and clean up the damage,” Richland Parish Sheriff Gary Gilley said. “It’s the wonderful thing about living in a place like Richland Parish. When people saw someone needing help, they did what they could.”

Richland Parish County Agent Keith Collins said damage to crops is still being assessed.

“ Very little to no acres of cotton, beans and rice have harvested,” he said. “If it will stay dry, impact will be less.”

Collins said 90 percent corn harvest complete. Damage ranges from standing to laying flat and losses on remaining corn blown down will vary.

    Much of the cotton is blown down with heavy boll load which will make for a slow harvest, may increase boll rot and will make it difficult to get all bolls. Dry will weather will help reduce losses

   Soybeans losses are less extensive than cotton with taller beans blown down and waist high beans or so standing better.    Lodging is erratic from field to field for rice. Taller rice and rice along tree lines have more lodging.

     Entergy estimated about 3,500 Richland Parish residents were left without power during the storms beginning Aug. 27. However, crews had repaired much of the damage and restored power to almost all of the parish by Tuesday afternoon.

“ I can tell you across the state we had peak outages of 270,900 due to Laura and as of 8:30 a.m. today (Monday) we’ve restored 114,097, so closing in on half restored,” Entergy Senior Communications Specialist Brandon Scardigli said.

Approximately 26,000 people were still without power in neighboring Ouachita Parish Monday morning.

Rayville Police Chief Willie Robinson also commended his officers as well a emergency responders and volunteers for coming together to  help the community in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura.

“The response by the entire community has been very uplifting and heartwarming,” Robinson said. “At times like this, we need to know that we can depend on our neighbors and other members of our community in times of trial. Small town pride has been shown throughout the last several days in dealing with the destruction from Hurricane Laura.”

Chief Robinson also reminded the community that should you see a downed power line, always treat it as if it was a live line. 

“Do not attempt to pick up the line, drive over the line or walk on the line,” he said. “This could result in death.”

 Chief Robinson would also like to remind the community that if you are driving and a traffic light is out, you are to treat the intersection as a four way stop.

 “Please keep this in mind,” he said. “Be mindful of your surroundings, there are still areas without power. Should you see any suspicious activity, please report it to the Rayville Police Department immediately. We do not want anyone in our community to become a victim of crime during the cleanup.”

 Delhi Police Chief Roy Williams said he also appreciated the work of his officers, the Delhi Fire Department and other volunteers and first responders who turned out to help with traffic, downed power lines and trees.

 “We also want to send our prayers to the people of South Louisiana as they continue to recover from Laura and we hope they are able to get back to normal quickly,” Williams said.