Monday, September 26

Iowa police chief: Get out, stay away

Iowa Police Chief Charles Ipes urges evacuees of the town to stay away, and those who stayed behind to leave.

Ipes said that while few houses in Iowa sustained major damage, and while there is drinkable water in the city, there is still no power and few services available.

"All of our manpower is in here working around the clock," Ipes said. "We've been controlling looting; we haven't had major problems with looting."

The town is awaiting National Guardsmen to help control traffic in Iowa, and is also working to get ice and more water, Ipes said.

He said the rising heat index and lack of non-emergency medical services should convince any who stayed behind — especially small children and the elderly — to take buses from town to the Lake Charles Civic Center, where people will be evacuated to shelters outside of the parish.

Ipes said "not many houses" suffered much more than roof damage, and that major damage was mainly in larger metal and brick buildings. He said tornadoes caused the most damage to parts of town, "wiping out" Boudreaux's Mechanic Shop on Hwy. 90. Also, he said parts of the city barn had disappeared.

He said the city, like the rest of Calcasieu Parish, is blocked off by military and state police, and residents cannot return until they are told it is safe.

"We are keeping close watch on their property and their businesses, and we'll continue to do that until it's safe for them to return," Ipes said. "We want them to rest easy and keep up with the news."

Garrett Guillotte
Staff writer

No comments: