SLIDELL, La. — Tuesday, crews were working up and down Old Spanish Trail, cleaning up after the April 10 tornadoes that left a ten-mile path of debris scattered across Slidell and parts of unincorporated St. Tammany Parish.
According to new estimates, nearly 700 homes and more than 50 businesses were damaged by the tornadoes.
Slidell Mayor Greg Cromer says his city clearly bore the brunt of the storm.
“The numbers that have registered with us, so far, we had Red Cross registration over the weekend and there were 140 some people registered with Red Cross for some type of aid,” Cromer said.
Many businesses in the hardest hit areas of Slidell are already back up and running.
WWL Louisiana first met Alisha Smith and Essence Waller shortly after a tornado destroyed their hair salon on Pontchartrain Drive.
Nu’Me now has a new home.
“It was very hard, very emotional, but honestly getting this going actually kept me motivated and it helped me get through this,” Smith said.
Waller says she was anxious to get back to work.
“I still like look at pictures and can’t believe that we went through a tornado, but just getting back into doing hair, this is what I know and this is what I love,” Waller added.
Nu’Me is now located about five blocks from the original shop.
Like her famous grandfather Fats Domino, Smith and her staff didn’t a beat.
They salvaged furniture, rugs, even peel and stick wallpaper from the old building to help build out the new salon in less than two weeks.
“It showed me what I’m actually capable of doing because at one moment, the day after, I actually thought about giving up on wanting to reopen again because I put so much work into the other location,” Smith said.
The mayor is happy with the pace of the recovery.
“It’s just Slidell spirit, people are going to come back,” Cromer said.
He thanked those helping out in the city dig out from the storm.
“The response that we’ve had from the faith-based organizations across the region, the work we’ve been able to do with the parish together to support our community, the governor coming in and telling us go and take care of your people, get your community running and we’ll take care of the paperwork later.”
Slidell has come a long way in a short period.
Mayor Cromer admits they will need a little extra time to get all the tornado debris off the streets. He now plans to petition the state to extend Friday’s debris removal deadline.
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