To-date, the collection of debris pickup from the August flood in East Baton Rouge Parish exceeds $40 million, and city-parish officials expect to pick up much more debris—in the form appliances, electronics and household waste—in the coming months.
Adam Smith, the city-parish’s interim environmental services director, told the Metro Council at its Wednesday meeting that crews have pickup and hauled off approximately 1.83 million cubic yards of debris from residences.
“As soon as we wrapped it up, people were bringing it out as quick as we picked it up,” Smith said, adding the demand led the city-parish to request an extension from the state to continue flood debris removal operations.
Mayor Sharon Weston Broome made the request to the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness on Jan. 18, also gaining approval to address abandoned and flooded homes in the next phase of cleanup.
The extension allows for the continuation of the cost share agreement the city-parish has with the federal government through Aug. 13, under which the feds are picking up 90% of the bill. Broome says the city-parish will use its condemnation process to tear down abandoned houses that pose short- and long-term public health risks.
Also at Wednesday’s meeting, the council unanimously granted an extension to a waiver that permits flood victims to live in trailers, mobile homes and other temporary structures in front of their flood damaged homes for another six months.
—Alexandria Burris
