Jefferson Parish Emergency Management Director Joe Valiente encourages all homeowners to be prepared for the upcoming weather event scheduled to arrive on Thursday, by having your home ready to face the cold.
“You’ll want to make sure you’ve run your heater, if you haven’t already done it, if it’s a floor furnace you want to check it for dust and you want to make sure there are no obstructions there. And then you just want to keep you house warm.
Mostly, Valiente says you want to make sure water pipes are wrapped and protected from the hard freeze so they don’t freeze up and burst, if so: “They’re going to lose water pressure and that person will be out of water for at least four days, five days. I’m sure before plumbers can regroup and get to them.
As for the Parish wide response: “We’re going to go on partial activation as soon as the temperature goes below 32 degrees. And we’re going to monitor the critical infrastructure. Primarily our water, our sewers, any street hazards like any areas that might freeze over from standing water.”
Valiente also has warm places for the homeless to sleep.
“We’re going to activate our freeze plan as soon as the temperature dips below 32-degrees. We have free hotels that we have on standby for any homeless individuals that are seeking safe harbor. And that’s paid for by a grant, so there’s no charge and we can get them out of harm’s way and into a warm environment.”
