Lights Still Out for La. Residents
As residents make their way back, small towns lack electricity and relief.
Sept. 4, 2008 — -- As residents forced to evacuate from the Gulf Coast make their way back home, many of them will quite literally be left in the dark.
Widespread electrical outages have left people without power to refrigerate food, turn on lights or run air conditioning, an essential in the sweltering September southern heat. Nearly half of the state's residents -- more than 864,000 -- don't have power. The hardest hit areas are near Baton Rouge.
In Donaldsonville, La., a small town where more than 93 percent of residents have no electricity, Dewayne Morris, a volunteer and professional rodeo clown, is begging America not to forget the devastation that Gustav left. This is his story.
Where are you right now and what are you doing?
Right now, I'm in Donaldsonville, La., and I'm with Angels with Hardhats, and I'm working with PRC Compassion. Tomorrow [Friday], we'll be in Houmas.
What are you doing in Donaldsonville?
We're cutting trees out of houses and tarping houses. It just keeps raining and raining, so we're trying to minimize the things that [residents] lose.
How badly is the town damaged?
Quite a bit. The big thing is not flooding. There has been some flooding but it hasn't been widespread. It's been more of roofs torn up, trees going through roofs and wind damage. Cars are torn up because of trees.
How are people handling it? Are there relief efforts in the town?
I don't see any. I've found one place in Donaldsonville where people are trying to get meals at a school. We're going to be heading there a little later. There's not any Red Cross here that I've seen.
Are the lines long at the school?
It was backed up at least a mile to try to get through. They're having them pull through the line in their cars -- I guess because people can sit in their cars and cool off. It's muggy and hot.
How are residents feeling? How are they reacting to your group's help?
Everyone has been more than gracious and thankful, but from a lot of them all I keep hearing is: Where can I go? Where can I get food? There's not really any communication with them here to let them know where to get certain things. And if I've answered it once, I've answered it 100 times -- I send them down to school. That's the only place I've seen anything here.
