St. Landry Parish debris cleanup extended
ST. LANDRY PARISH, La. (KLFY) -- Recovery efforts following April's storms are continuing here in St. Landry parish as debris cleanup across the parish enters its second week.
St. Landry Parish President Jessie Bellard said contractors are still working to clean up debris across the parish.
"The way that storm came through, it affected the whole parish. We had debris from Bosco all the way to Melville. The parish is so big and so rural. So, the structure has to go a long way to pick up a pile of debris, but they get paid by the ton. So, they do it. And thank God we have those contractors helping us out," said Bellard.
Hiring the assistance of 5 contractors along with parish workers, Bellard says the state-funded cleanup process began with parish government expecting to collect roughly 800 tons of debris throughout the 10-day period.
However, with the size of the parish and the damage from the storm, expectations were quickly surpassed.
"We picked up 826 tons in the first week. So that's really, really good. I think after today we're going to be over a thousand, easy," said Bellard.
With the results seen so far, and feedback from residents requesting more pickup around the parish, Governor Jeff Landry has extended the state funding for the cleanup from May 8 to May 12.
"But again, we still need people to let us know if they see something that hasn't been picked up by now, call us so, we can go and make sure is picked up in time. Right now, the states paying us to pick this debris up after this week is over, it is going to cost the parish the money to pick up debris and do has to be done with it. So, we want to make sure we pick this up this week and get everything cleaned up and get back to regular work," said Bellard.
With the deadline now moved to May 12, Bellard advises anybody with debris left in their yard to please reach out to public works.