East Baton Rouge on Wednesday will start figuring out how much debris was strewn by Hurricane Ida in residential neighborhoods. For now, though, the main focus has been on clearing streets and turning on traffic lights.
As of Tuesday morning, crews armed with chainsaws were fanning out to clear roadways and remove down powerlines as tens of thousands of people remained without power.
Mark Armstrong, spokesman for Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome, said 180 traffic signals were still out early Tuesday and that crews had cleared about 57 of the 200-plus fallen trees that were officially reported. The actual number of downed trees was far higher; those blocking busy thoroughfares tend to be the ones that prompt people to lodge reports with the city-parish.
"Once we're complete with that, we'll be announcing debris collection," he said. "The big ask of citizens right now is that they be careful when working in their yards since there are still so many down power lines."
Residents cleaning yards are asked not to toss debris into ditches, canals and drains because the city-parish worked overtime to clean them before the storm, Armstrong added.
As of 7 a.m. Tuesday, 74 people were staying in the community shelter at F.G. Clark Activity Center and another 86 in the Raising Cane's River Center downtown.