ST LANDRY PARISH HURRICANE RECOVERY

September 18, 2005 - KLFY TV 10

The number of hurricane evacuees who still call St. Landry Parish home has gone down significantly, at least when it comes to those staying in shelters.

As of this week, there are about 260 evacuees staying in one of the parish's seven shelters. But, many others have found homes in the parish.

That's reflected in the high number of student evacuees, some 850, who have been added to the roles in the parish's public schools.

TV 10 visited with Parish President Don Menard who updates us on progress that is being made to help return his area back to normal.

Parish President Menard says St. Landry was lucky because the area escaped the main paths of both hurricanes.

But, there was minimal damage and now, government has a plan to clean-up the debris.

Menard says the parish decided it would enter into a contract with the U.S. Corps of Engineers and let them handle all of the debris pick-up and let them do all of the contracting. He says the corps already has contractors ready and they are supposed to hire as many local contractors as possible.

Menard says FEMA will be picking up that tab.

Living among the debris are thousands upon thousands of mosquitoes, so many that some residents flat out refuse to go outside after sun down. That may soon be a problem solved. Early Tuesday morning, Menard found out the state approved a plan for aerial mosquito spraying in the parish.

Menard says DHH said it is going to spray the most populated areas.

According to Menard, one-third of the parish will be sprayed at a cost of $313,000. He says that bill will be paid for by the Department of Health and Hospitals.

Temporary housing is also an issue. According to Menard, parish government and FEMA have been in talks about setting up temporary housing for evacuees.

Menard says FEMA is looking at properties, preferably trailer parks and areas that have infrastructure in place like sever, water and electrical.

Menard says no temporary homes have been set up just yet. Now, it's only a matter of when and where it will be done.

Parish President Don Menard says he is meeting with the Corps of Engineers to finalize the clean-up contract.

We'll let you know what happens.