As Tropical Storm Isaac moves north, the city of New Orleans is gearing up for the clean-up. Officials want residents to stay inside — even it’s trying their patience.
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu says the storm is winding down, but dangers remain.
“The conditions on the roadways are hazardous. There are many, many trees and power lines that are down. There are many stop signs, traffic signals and street lights that have been knocked down,” Landrieu said.
Entergy reports more than 150,000 customers without service at mid-day. Top priority is being given to hospitals, nursing homes and the large areas still without service.
Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas says officers have been enforcing a dusk-to-dawn curfew, but that curfew has been lifted. “We had a very small number of looting to begin with," Serpas said. "We had a very small number of lootings in people’s personal homes, and we had opportunistic looting around convenience stores, gas stations, and things like that. But what I’m incredibly excited about is that the men and women of the department were on the spot.”
The city is planning garbage pickups Friday. Residents clearing out their refrigerators after a few days without power are asked to make sure it’s enclosed in plastic bags to keep rodents at bay.
