Monday — Four more tropical depressions are menacing the Gulf of Mexico. The next one to get a name will be called Nana. I just got back to work from something approximating paternity leave, and it felt like all four storms were already here. Weekends are hardly breaks; this past one was full of Lafayette headlines, even in the national press. Protests regained steam lost to Hurricane Laura, attracting Boogaloo Bois and other armed demonstrators. Law enforcement responded in force to another fake “Antifa” event stunted by a parody page. And revelations that LCG stopped preliminary plans to coordinate shelter for hurricane evacuees with local churches blew up into a viral rebuke of the mayor-president and a headline in the Washington Post. More on that below, plus a council preview. — Christiaan
Take a breath and read on for the latest in Lafayette and coronavirus news.
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CORONAVIRUS UPDATES: Numbers continue hopeful trends
▸ The gist: Acadiana’s hospitalizations and positivity continue to slide. Over the last two weeks of available data, the number of positive test results fell below the 10% threshold established by CDC guidelines. Hospital numbers dropped to 110, safely below Acadiana’s first peak of 125 recorded in April.
Here’s the data, changes reported since Saturday, the beginning of the CDC week:
- 148,193 (+1,950) cases statewide; 4,787 (+46) deaths
- 21,845 (+270) cases in Acadiana (LDH Region 4); 530 (+7) deaths
- 8,275 (+59) cases in Lafayette Parish; 111 (+1) deaths
- 110 hospitalized in Acadiana, (-22) net change from Saturday
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Guillory’s hole grows deeper with shelter fallout
▸ The gist: In a knee-jerk response to the sight of armed protestors, Lafayette officials stopped ad hoc plans to stand up shelters for Hurricane Laura evacuees with local churches. The decision went viral Saturday when an email to local disaster relief organizations leaked, drawing wide rebuke from critics inside and outside Lafayette. Many read it as a callous denial of help for those most in need — one the administration attempted to justify by citing, without evidence, a material threat to public safety.
▸ The plans alluded to in the leaked email involved shelters planned with local churches. Responding to pressure from Rep. Clay Higgins, LCG coordinated with several pastors to figure out if local shelters could be stood up quickly in Lafayette. Because of the coronavirus, there are no plans for mass shelters for Laura evacuees in the Lafayette area.
▸ Demonstrators have accused the administration of overreacting to stir up fear among the city’s mostly white, conservative families. A woman barbecuing in protest in front of Guillory’s south Lafayette home was arrested and booked. Police showed up in force to a fake “Antifa” event promoted by a satire site at the Acadiana Mall, the second such reaction this summer. Before the weekend, Guillory signed an executive order prohibiting gathering and loitering Downtown, which protestors immediately read as an attempt to shut down dissent and which others have called an attempt to criminalize homelessness.
▸ The missteps are compounding already fraught tensions on the ground in Lafayette over the Pellerin shooting. Read more from Christiaan Mader
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Council Preview 9/1: Higher taxes, fighting for city autonomy, millions in new spending, new restrictions on citizens
▸ The gist: Tax increases, budget battles, new restrictions on citizens, short-term rentals, millions of dollars being spent on parish parks and the Buchanan garage are just some of what the councils will work through at tomorrow night’s meetings. All of this is set against a backdrop of rapidly deteriorating race relations and an increasingly embattled mayor-president.
▸ Higher taxes may be on the way in the city and parish. The City Council and Parish Council are both looking to move forward with increasing their millages to offset the fall in total assessed property values in the city and parish, respectively. Normally, increasing millage rates requires a vote of the public, but taxing authorities have the option to increase rates when total assessed property values fall to ensure local government doesn’t suffer from a shortfall in revenue.
▸ Dedicated legal counsel for the city could be approved. The City Council has selected Lea Anne Batson, former city-parish attorney for Baton Rouge, to represent the city’s interests in navigating contentious issues related to joint decision making in the new split council charter. Read more from Geoff Daily
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In Brief
▸ Laura’s insured property damage could double Rita. Early analysis pegs Hurricane Laura’s wind and surge damage in Louisiana between $8 billion and $12 billion; insured property damage from Hurricane Rita in 2005 was about $6.4 billion. CoreLogic’s analysis looked at more than 500,000 insured residential and commercial properties in the state. The vast majority of Laura’s property damage occurred in southwest Louisiana, where the Category 4 hurricane made landfall early Thursday with 150 mph winds; Texas’s estimated loss was $550 million. Hurricane Harvey's insured losses totaled $19.6 billion in 2017, and Hurricane Katrina in 2005 totaled $86 billion, according to insurance industry totals.
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Responders work to put out the Westlake chemical fire Photo via nola.com
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▸ Gov. Edwards says restoring power will be “long and difficult.” With more than 500 transmission towers downed or destroyed, the number of those in the state still without power Monday hovered at about 320,000. The governor acknowledged that power restoration efforts have been complicated further by the dozens of water systems also damaged by the storm. He said there are particular concerns about water systems in Lake Charles, Sulphur and DeRidder. More than 17,000 line workers were on the ground Sunday making repairs – the most ever.
▸ Westlake chemical fire extinguished Saturday. It took three days to extinguish the fire that broke out at a chlorine production plant just west of Lake Charles after Hurricane Laura made landfall, releasing toxic chlorine gas into the air. Gov. Edwards issued an emergency alert, telling residents who had not evacuated Westlake, Moss Bluff and Sulphur to shelter in place, turn off their air conditioning and close windows and doors. Chlorine gas can cause a number of health problems. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
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Mostly relevant reads
America is running low on monkeys, a crucial resource for COVID vaccines The Atlantic
America promised to learn lessons from Hurricane Katrina, but the events of 2020 say it didn’t Louisiana Illuminator
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