East Baton Rouge Parish may have dodged a bullet last night when Ida took a jog east and headed north, but the city is still mostly without power.
"Hurricane Ida has passed our community but the situation remains dangerous with down trees and power lines. Stay home and off the road," Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome posted this morning.
She said the parish-wide curfew expired this morning, but she reiterated that conditions aren't safe and she needed people to stay off the roads. Much of the parish is without power, she said, and asked citizens to use generators safely. Here are some tips on that.
She said 10 families were helped last night when trees fell on their homes. About 180,000 families are without power.
"We certainly were spared, but there were many communities around us who received significant impact. We want to help those communities," she said.
Essential workes and search-and-rescue teams have been sent to help, she said.
"Please, keep them in your prayers," she said.
The parish already has begun debris removal efforts. Forty crews with trucks and chainsaws are out in the city clearing roads, and that will continue at least for the next 70 hours.
To allow those crews to do their work, please stay home, she said.
Here's her message:
