Northeast LA. experienced one of the worst ice storms in modern history this past week. Ouachita Parish was hit extremely hard. In fact, over 90% of the storm damage has been here. By Tuesday of last week, 45,000 residents in Ouachita Parish were without power. Damages consisted of down power lines, phone lines, trees, icy roads, no water just to name a few. Most hotels were full to capacity and the only hotel in downtown Monroe was charging over $300.00 per night. Although everybody including the rich and poor were affected, those with limited resources have been hit the hardest.
Governmental officials are the ones we look for leadership during times such as these. However, faith-based, clubs and organizations, community representatives just to name a few are looked to for support as well. We certainly appreciate those who step forward to show initiatives in coming to the rescue. Overall, we do not have a plan of action to address major emergencies where communication is wide-spread and the community is connected to the governmental officials. We have mostly new governmental officials on the state and local levels so they should look at the past strategies that were used by previous experienced officials or create new ones.
With all the chaos going on with politics, elections, and life in general, these weather related storms should teach us all that we should not only be prepared but stay prepared. When this happens, we will be able to Love where we Live and Live where we Love.
