Avoyelles legislators tour utility work camp

An hour or two of nature's power can knock out man-made power for weeks -- or longer.

This simple fact was brought home to thousands of families and business owners this past week as utility crews from around the state and from other states gathered in a temporary "tent and trailer city" set up on the state's Cecil Picard Youth Center in Bayhills.

Cleco's Hurricane Recovery Center was set up to be a staging area and "home away from home" for crews working in Avoyelles and neighboring parishes. Crews from other North Carolina, Kentucky, Illinois and others were called in to assist local Cleco crews to address the widespread damage caused by the hurricane.

Avoyelles State Rep. Daryl Deshotel and State Sen. Heather Cloud toured the camp Sunday.

"There was not a lot of structural damage from this storm," Deshotel said, adding there were some homes that were hit by falling trees and small outbuildings damaged. "The biggest problem we had in Avoyelles Parish was that 50 percent of our people were without power for at least some period after the hurricane."

"This is the staging area for most of my Senate district," Cloud noted. "Crews from here are working as far away as Kinder."

Youth Center Director Chris Hines said the site -- now operated by the Office of Juvenile Justice but still known by many as a state Department of Education camp -- is a perfect location for such an operation.
He said utility crews leave the camp around 6:30 a.m. with their assignments and return around 8:30 p.m.

"This is a well-organized operation," Deshotel said. Pointing to a line of sleeper trailers, the Hessmer Republican said it is "a great asset to have these for the linemen so they are able to take a hot shower and eat a hot meal while they here working long hours to restore power in this area."

Cloud said that immediately after the hurricane passed through this area, her office was receiving numerous calls. She said she tried to answer questions and address needs as best as she could from the office, "but there is no substitute for putting on your tennis shoes or boots and going out there to see firsthand what your constituents are going through."

Deshotel and Cloud both said the Youth Center is "under-utilized" and efforts should be made to make needed repairs and make better use of a valuable resource.

Cloud said her office began receiving phone calls shortly after the hurricane passed through this area on Aug. 27. She did what she could from the office, but decided she needed to go into the communities to get a better understanding of what the district faced and what its needs were.

"There's no substitute for putting on your tennis shoes or boots and getting out to see for yourself what is going on and what needs to be done," Cloud said.