SLIDELL, La. — Gov. Jeff Landry, R-Louisiana, got an aerial view of last week’s nearly 10-mile path of debris in and around Slidell.
Monday, the governor also saw firsthand tornado damage on the ground along Old Spanish Trail, where the storm destroyed a business and struck an apartment complex, leaving about 60 residents without a place to stay.
"If you’re in the roofing business in St. Tammany Parish, you’re going to have plenty of business, unfortunately,” Landry said. “We saw a lot of blue tarps. We saw a lot of homes that lost a number of shingles. When you got to this particular area, you see the destruction.”
An EF-2 tornado with winds up to 120 mph hit the Slidell area last Wednesday morning causing significant damage to about 100 structures.
Local leaders including St. Tammany President Michael Cooper and Slidell Mayor Greg Cromer briefed the governor on the status of the recovery.
“Any part of St. Tammany that has destruction is too much,” Cooper said. “We’re all here to help and we have a great coordinated effort from the state, parish and local officials.”
Governor Landry said he’s drafting an emergency declaration for Slidell and St. Tammany Parish at the request of local leaders.
“We’ve been taking our time. The way we’re going to do these declarations is in an effort to make sure that we concentrate the resources in the area that needs it the most.”
Mayor Cromer said they expect to ask for debris removal help and assistance getting residents back in their homes.
“The gratifying thing about the governor being here is he’s told us don’t worry about letting the paperwork get in the way,” Cromer said. “Take care of your community and get your people back together and put them back together, we will be there to stand with you and make sure we’re all made whole.”
An emergency declaration would allow the city and parish to draw down state assets with 75 percent state and 25 percent local cost sharing.
“We want to make sure we can clean this debris out,” Landry said. “Get all this vegetation out of the roadways and out of people’s yards.”
Governor Landry also visited tornado damage in the St. Francisville area north of Baton Rouge.
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