St. James ‘dodged a bullet,’ Hymel says

Staff Reporter

VACHERIE – Considering all the carnage wrought by Hurricane Gustav, parish officials in St. James said that the area fared considerably better than expected.

“Aside from having very little electrical power in the parish, things are slowly getting back to normal out here,” said St. James Parish President Dale Hymel late this week. “We really dodged a bullet.”

Hymel said there are downed trees and power lines all throughout the parish, and several neighborhoods experienced extensive damage, but overall the parish fared relatively well.

Hymel said as of late in the week, crews from Entergy reported that 90 percent of St. James is still without power. Hymel said Entergy is out working 12 hours a day to get power restored, but it will still take some time to get everyone turned back on. He said there is no timetable at this time. There is also no cable television service parish wide.

Despite the lack of power, Hymel said the parish sewer system is flowing and there is running water all throughout St. James.

“The water is safe to drink,” said Hymel. “We never lost pressure and there was never a boil order issued.”

Hymel said the parish still has a general population shelter in operation at the Lutcher High School Gym that is offering food, water and cots, but no air conditioning.

“This is mainly for people with substantial home damage that need a place to stay,” said Hymel. “If residents are still away, they should stay away for a few more days if they can.”

Residents were allowed to re-enter St. James on Wednesday. Hymel said there is still debris in the streets, but all major roads in the parish have been reopened for traffic except for Highway 44 between Occidental and the Sunshine Bridge. There is still a curfew in place from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. until further notice.

Hymel said an assortment of business including gas stations and grocery stores are returning to operation. A complete list of opened stores can be found on the Parish’s website, www.stjamesla.com. There are also three locations offering ice to St. James residents on a first come first served basis. On the east bank residents can check Grand Point Grand Truck Stop on Highway 3125 in Grand Point and Todd’s Catering in Lutcher, which is selling ice. West Bank residents can go to the West Bank Reception hall on Highway 18 in Vacherie for ice. Hymel said there is a limit of one bag of ice per adult per vehicle.

Residents can expect to have normal garbage service back on line by Monday, but Hymel said there are drop off sites within the parish if residents need to begin disposing debris from their yards. As of Thursday morning, postal services have returned to operation.

Finally, Hymel said that St. James has applied for public and individual assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Hymel said anyone wishing to file for individual assistance needs to contact FEMA at www.fema.gov. He said that the parish has placed orders for blue tarps, water and MREs, but there is no indication on when they will be delivered by FEMA.