Gustav damages nearly 500 homes

Hurricane Gustav’s ripping winds and rains damaged at least 487 St. Tammany Parish homes — more than twice the original estimate, and the count continues to rise, Parish President Kevin Davis said.

Since the Category 2 storm slapped St. Tammany Sept. 1, parish inspection teams canvassed the parish in search of damage homes. They find more and more every day, Davis said.

Davis, speaking to Parish Council members Thursday night at the council’s first meeting since Gustav, revealed the latest update.

In the days after Gustav’s rain and winds, parish inspectors found 226 damaged homes: 25 with flooding, 88 with wind damage, 96 with minor damage and 17 with major damage. Davis did not provide breakdowns Thursday.

At least one bridge — Hollyroad Bridge — also sustained damage, parish spokeswoman Suzanne Parsons Stymiest said. The extent of the damage was not revealed as of press time.

In other areas throughout Slidell, Mandeville, Lacombe and Pearl River, hurricane debris blockage underneath bridges clogged flow patterns and contributed to back ups that at times came within feet of cresting.

“But there were no issues that would be a threat to our citizens,” Stymiest said.

Parish officials started to pick such “green” debris like limbs, trees or bushes in southeast St. Tammany Friday. On Monday that program is expected to extend throughout the parish.

Construction debris such as Sheetrock and carpet will be picked up at an unannounced date later this year.