Despite some heavy rain and winds, the Baton Rouge area was mostly spared serious damage from Hurricane Laura, and attention turned Thursday to the more severely battered western parts of the state.
Downed trees, water on roads and sporadic power outages were the main impacts in the capital region, particularly on the west side of the Mississippi that sits closest to the storm's path. But many local officials said the damage was minimal.
"We got lucky," said Mark Migliaco, director of operations for Iberville Parish.
East Baton Rouge and surrounding parishes made up about 10,000 of the more than 360,000 Entergy customers who lost power statewide Thursday. Laura's heavy winds delayed utility companies from safely dispatching crews to assess damage and restore power to homes and businesses.
As the storm passed, dozens of East Baton Rouge first responders were preparing Thursday morning to head toward the heaviest-hit Lake Charles area to help with rescues in the wake of the destruction.
The parish Urban Search and Rescue team deployed 36 people Thursday morning, team leader Mike Kimble said. The team includes members of the Baton Rouge, Zachary and Central fire departments and East Baton Rouge EMS.
They planned to meet up with other similar teams from across the state at a staging area near Lafayette, and together make a game plan, which Kimble said would likely include driving south toward Lake Charles.
The team brought boats to conduct water rescues and is trained in structural collapse, which involves rescuing people trapped in damaged buildings.
A team of Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office deputies was also deployed Thursday to help the hurricane-affected areas with patrols in the aftermath, given that there was no need for additional help in the Baton Rouge area after the storm.
The storm surge in the often-flooded lower Livingston Parish areas of Lake Maurepas and French Settlement was less than half what was predicted. That was a relief to local officials who are still weary of rising floodwaters after 2016.
"The Amite and Tickfaw (rivers) are full but will start going down now, and there are some roads flooded but that's starting to recede," Livingston Parish President Layton Ricks said Thursday. "Thankfully, we just didn't get the surge they expected we would get, in the grand scheme of things we fared well."
In Ascension Parish, many of its downed trees had already been cleared Thursday morning. Sheriff Bobby Webre said residents and local officials had a lot of time to prepare, and it showed.
"We've been so fortunate," he said.
Despite the minimal physical damage, some Baton Rouge-area schools decided to remain closed or study virtually Friday after cancellations Thursday.
East Baton Rouge Parish kept school buildings closed, citing "pockets of power and utility outages." Students have been learning virtually since the school year started, but teachers had been working from the buildings before Hurricane Marco arrived earlier this week.
The Diocese of Baton Rouge Catholic Schools made the early decision Sunday to close all week as both Laura and Marco moved through.
Other districts took mixed responses to Laura's aftermath, with some canceling schools Friday completely, some pushing for virtual instruction Friday and others reopening as normal.
LSU, Southern University and Baton Rouge Community College all reopened campuses for Friday.
Entergy crews began restoring power around midday Thursday, delayed by continued high winds. Entergy spokesperson Brandon Scardigli said Entergy policies require sustained winds to be below 35 mph in order to deploy bucket trucks to begin restoring damage.
"This is going to be a marathon, not a sprint, so we are asking that our customers be patient with us and other first responders as we work to recover safely," Vice President of Utility Distribution Eli Viamontes said in a statement Thursday. "Although this storm situation is unique in many ways, we have been through this before and, together, we will get through it again.”
Entergy has a restoration team of more than 13,000 including workers from 27 states, according to a news release from the company sent Thursday.
Entergy's outage map showed a significant decrease in the number of Baton Rouge-area customers without power by Thursday afternoon. As of 3 p.m., about 3,500 customers were still affected.
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'We got lucky.' Baton Rouge dodges worst of Hurricane Laura, though some lose power - The Advocate
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