By Marie Brown
This past week consisted of heavy wind and rain, which was a tornado that caused a considerable amount of anxiety in Ouachita Parish, particularly in the City of Monroe. Homes were damaged extensively, trees were uprooted, fences were blown down, in addition to a massive amount of debris all over. We thank God that there were no injuries or fatalities reported.
We applaud Entergy for working hard to restore power throughout our community. Our city workers were on the scene, clearing roads, cutting down and removing limbs, in addition to providing necessary services to support our citizens. Law enforcement was stretched in providing normal safety support in addition to the challenges caused by the tornado.
Unfortunately, there were reports of a criminal element who attempted to take advantage of the power outages by knocking on doors late at night, asking the residents, who were mostly senior citizen owners, if they had work for them. This was absolutely pitiful, and the culprits should be ashamed of themselves.
As the power was restored after a week of anxiety, I was upset by an incident that occurred in my community. During the late hours, I heard a female screaming not once but twice. I immediately called the local law enforcement to report it. After a reasonable time passed, no one came, so I called a second time. I asked the communication officer why the police had not come.
The communication officer said, “The police were busy.” I have no idea what was going on in other parts of the community, but that response did not sit well with me. We all see on the vehicles, ” In God We Trust”. What happened to “Protect and Serve”? Perhaps more training needs to take place with communication personnel to know how to address the public when called upon. Hopefully, this will be addressed.
All of us want to continue to Love where we live and live where we love.
