Washington Parish - Disaster Impact and Needs Assessment

The damage Washington Parish sustained was limited to wind; storm surge was not a factor. Structural damage was caused by wind force and/or falling trees.

Economic and Workforce Development

• Sales tax receipts for August and September 2005, dipped by over $547,000 from the year previous. In October and November, tax collected was up by $751,000, reflecting to some extent the increase in population from evacuees.
• Job loss is estimated at 1,500, which pushed the unemployment rate to 17.2 percent from 7.2 percent.
• Timber losses are estimated to be $146.9 million, the second largest loss in the state due to the storm.
• Dairy losses are estimated to be $8.2 million, and livestock losses are $1.8 million.

Environmental Management

• Fallen trees and other debris blocked roads and drainage network throughout the parish.

Human Services

• Almost all the school buildings owned by the Washington Parish School System sustained some damage; 4 were severely damaged. All buildings have roof damage. Some textbooks were destroyed. Losses ran to $2 million. The system reports that 250 new students were enrolled.
• Bogalusa Schools report that 99 new students were enrolled.
• Louisiana State University HSC - Bogalusa Medical Center sustained some damage: water in the building; lost some bricks. Essential services were knocked out as there was no power or generators. Repairs estimated to cost $1 million.
• There was a lack of shelters, particularly for evacuated nursing home patents.
• Seven Acres Substance Abuse Center closed due to hurricane damage.

Transportation and Infrastructure

• Evacuation routes proved inadequate.
• Since the storm, traffic has increased substantially throughout the parish due in part to refugees and new residents.Traffic is up by between 13 percent - 40 percent in the west, while the Bogalusa area in the east showed an astonishing 71 percent increase.
• Washington/St. Tammany Electric Cooperative (WST) had 1,967 miles of power lines down. Cleco and Entergy lost all lines.
• BellSouth replaced 57 miles of telephone cable.
• Charter Communications repaired 500 miles of cable.
• Communications for First Responders failed.

Housing and Community Development

• As of 12-04-2006, 779 homes (5.5 percent of single family homes) inspected by FEMA were determined to have suffered major damage.
• An undetermined number of houses in the Parish had minimal insurance, if any.
• Utility companies report 215 new residential hookups net of disconnects since the storm, a 15 percent increase.