NEW ORLEANS — Governor Jeff Landry arrived at Armstrong International Airport after a helicopter tour of south Louisiana communities hit by Hurricane Francine.
He went straight into a meeting with New Orleans area leaders to discuss the storm’s impacts.
Landry said he talked with Mayor Latoya Cantrell and New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board members about drainage pumps tripping offline and power generation problems during the storm.
The fragility of the city’s failing drainage system led to increased flooding in the city as the storm hit New Orleans.
“How we can recognize where the infrastructure deficiencies are today because we don’t know when we’re going to get another storm tomorrow.
Earlier this year, the SWBNO’s request for an additional $29 million in the state’s capital outlay budget was denied by state lawmakers.
The money would be used to complete the new power substation now being built to power the pumps in the future.
At the time, Gov. Landry said he would announce “funding improvements” for the project.
But months later, he still hasn’t delivered on that promise.
“It’s easy to say we need $29 million,” Landry said. “This area has received billions of dollars, and the question is why are we in the same position.”
Congressman Troy Carter, D-Louisiana who took a separate tour of the hurricane-hit areas with the U.S. Coast Guard on Friday said he would be petitioning the federal government for funds to help the Sewerage and Water Board.
“We cannot continue to have these misfires every time we have a natural disaster,” Carter said. “What we know we cannot do is continue doing what we’re doing. This agency is plagued. It has a tremendous amount of issues and it’s going to require all hands on deck, federal, local, and state to figure out how to get our arms around this.”
The board’s Executive Director Ghassan Korban said there is a possibility of drawing down federal grants to help complete the power plant.
“The structure is a little bit different where there’s a local share that is required to match what the Department of Energy gives us, but it’s a much better alternative than not having anything being offered,” Korban said.
“We’re going to sit down and put those numbers together. I think that is actually important,” Landry said.
In the meantime, the governor said he is working with the Army Corps of Engineers and FEMA to find ways to minimize the utility’s power problems in the event of another big storm.
The state provided a fleet of vacuum trucks to keep sewers flowing in New Orleans following Hurricane Francine.
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