with Jennifer Wadsworth | Assistant metro editor
South Louisiana endured a third day of punishing heat and widespread power outages, one of the lingering effects of Hurricane Ida along with gas shortages and carbon monoxide poisonings. We learned more about the man who became the first confirmed casualty of the storm. We heard about another death out in St. James Parish. As Louisiana continues the long, arduous process of accounting for the damage wrought by Hurricane Ida, officials are trying to temper the compounding miseries of mass displacement and crippled infrastructure. Gov. John Bel Edwards urged people to apply for FEMA aid and ask for help through Operation Blue Roof. More federal help may be on the way once President Joe Biden assays the damage during his tour of southeast Louisiana planned for this Friday. In East Baton Rouge, meanwhile, the city-parish tried to offer some reprieve by opening a couple stations for folks who need a place to charge their phones and cool down. Over in Baker, Mayor Darnell Waites joined volunteers in handing out ice and water to residents. “I’m focused on making sure they’re as comfortable as possible,” Waites told our reporter Paul Cobler. “We always help each other, the neighbors are always doing that, so that’s what I'm trying to do.” The Advocate’s Elyse Carmosino rode through southern Livingston Parish Wednesday, where locals showed her Ida’s aftermath: strewn powerlines, blocked roads, tree-crushed roofs. Tristan Baurick and Mike Smith filed this dispatch from where Ida made landfall in south Lafourche. And Lea Skene retraced the hurricane’s path from 1,000 feet overhead.
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