Winds gusted in the upper 40s all day, uprooting large trees and scattering leaves and branches across LSU’s campus as Hurricane Isaac battered southeast Louisiana.
But who’s going to clean up the mess?
LSU has a special contract in place with a cleanup crew for situations like hurricanes. But they can’t begin assessing the damage until the storm dies down significantly, according to the LSU Emergency Operations Center.
Ashley Berthelot, EOC spokeswoman, said the sweep should begin sometime Thursday, but there’s no estimate on how long it might take.
“Once it’s safe for cleanup to begin” is when the contracted crew will scour the campus for damages and then begin removing the scattered debris, Berthelot said.
Several large trees toppled during Wednesday’s storm, including one in front of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity house and a palm tree in front of Evangeline Hall. Another tree split in half between University High and East Campus Apartments.
The National Weather Service observation post at Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport registered a peak wind gust of 57 m.p.h. Wednesday morning, with sustained winds in the 20s and 30s most of the day.
All flights were canceled at the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport Wednesday, and the earliest arrivals won’t land until sometime Thursday evening at best, according to an airport spokesman.
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Contact Ben Wallace at [email protected]