Hurricane Isaac

When Hurricane Isaac blew through Louisiana, it caused an estimated $100 million worth of losses in agriculture. About 40% of the state’s citrus crop was destroyed, and in Plaquemines Parish, where most of our citrus comes from, nearly half the citrus acres were flooded.

Farmers in the worst hit areas are cleaning up. Meanwhile, the luckier farmers worry about the next time. All of them told Eve Abrams the future of Louisiana’s commercial citrus industry does not look good.

Hurricane Isaac killed so many fawns in parts of southeast Louisiana that Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission is limiting the deer season in Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes and the Lake Maurepas Basin.

The archery season remains the same, but others are shortened and limited to bucks.

Dates also were changed in several wildlife management areas.

In Plaquemines Parish, biologists report high fawn mortality, moderate adult deer mortality and severe damage to habitat from salt water shock and storm surge debris.

State crews will make a last pass to pick up Hurricane Isaac debris in southeast Louisiana starting Monday.

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development says this will be the third and final pass for debris removal in Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, St. Charles, and Terrebonne parishes and inside the levee system for St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes.

Storm debris should be separated into two piles — one for vegetative debris and the other for demolition debris. Household appliances should be placed separately and to the side.

Hurricane Isaac's winds paired with recent rains made a rough start for this year's sugar-cane grinding season. But industry officials are optimistic that weather will improve this month, helping the process along.

Jim Simon, general manager of the American Sugar Cane League, tells The Courier several mills started grinding last week. The remaining mills are scheduled to begin work this week.

Simon says the sugar cane industry has an annual impact of about $1.1 billion in Louisiana.

Damage from Hurricane Isaac will cost St. John the Baptist Parish about $2 million in property tax revenue.

The Times-Picayune reports Assessor Whitney Joseph Jr. told the parish council the value of the parish's tax roll will drop by approximately $14 million from previous estimates.

However, because of expiring industrial tax exemptions, Joseph says parish taxing bodies will still net about $6 million more than in 2011.

Tangipahoa Parish School Board members have recommended $220,000 in repairs to school buildings damaged by Hurricane Isaac.

The Advocate reports Loranger High School's gym and the main building at Chesbrough Elementary in Kentwood both require new roofs, at projected costs of $145,000 and $74,000, respectively.

The repairs to Loranger High's gym roof will have to be approved by U.S. District Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle, who oversees the parish's 47-year-old desegregation case. A standing order in the suit requires court approval for all non-priority repair costs over $125,000.

A 50-year-old contractor from Mississippi died in Plaquemines Parish after the bulldozer he was working in slipped into a debris covered pond.

Parish officials say the man from Wiggins was pronounced dead at a local hospital Tuesday. WWL-TV reports the accident happened just off La. Highway 23 near Point Celeste.

The victim's name has not been released.

An autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.

The school days for most Central, La. students will be extended by several minutes, and other adjustments are planned to make up for the four days of school lost when Hurricane Isaac blew through Louisiana in late August.

The Advocate reports the Central Community School Board on Monday agreed on how to make up the 1,500 minutes of lost instruction due to the hurricane.

In an explanatory letter to the board, Superintendent Michael Faulk said Central schools had different issues and legal requirements and, as a result, will have different makeup schedules.

St. Mary Parish residents affected by Hurricane Isaac have just a few days left to visit the State/FEMA Disaster Recovery Center in Morgan City.

The center, located at 728 Myrtle Street, will close at 6 p.m. Friday.

Recovery centers have opened in several affected parishes to help homeowners, renters and business owners who sustained uninsured or underinsured losses to their property as a result of the storm.

Nearly 26,000 people have received individual assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency after Hurricane Isaac, aid totaling $88 million.

FEMA spokesman Ray Perez provided the latest figures Monday.

The tallies are likely to rise, as the federal agency continues to review applications for assistance from the storm, which made landfall Aug. 28 and caused significant flooding in southeast Louisiana.

More than 187,000 people have registered for FEMA help.