BATON ROUGE, La. — Gov. John Bel Edwards held a press briefing on the potential impact of Tropical Depression Cristobal and Louisiana's ongoing response to COVID-19 at the state capitol.
At the press briefing on Friday, Edwards said that current projections from the National Weather Service show that Cristobal is not expected to reach hurricane status.
While the state prepares for landfall, the governor's office has been in contact with all officials in South Louisiana to discuss their preparations and aid in their requests for assistance if needed. Edwards said that project rain totals could be 4- 6 inches for the western side of the storm, while 6-10 inches could be seen on the eastern side.
The storm is projected to move north quickly after landfall, so the storm dumping rain for several days is not expected. Edwards say that to combat flooding 201 floodgates have been closed in the state so far.
Franklin closed their floodgate on Friday,read more here.
Residents are asked to prepare for Tropical Storm Cristobal. Parishes have already begun distributing sandbags. Find locations in Acadiana here. Edwards also asks that resident go to getagameplan.org to better prepare.
DOTD is asking that drivers take precaution once the storm makes landfall. Road closures can be found at 511la.org Edwards reminds drivers to turn around when encountering high water.
Edwards said that D-SNAP will not be authorized to the state and will not be activated because of the storm. If D-SNAP must be activated, residents who are not on these benefits will need to pre-register.
Because of the weather some COVID-19 test sites will be closed. Early next week, they should be reopened as of Tuesday June 9, 2020.
"Prepare for the worst, but pray for the best," Edwards said.
In regards to protests, Edwards says that he is thankful that protests have been peaceful. He urges that those going out to these types of events take social distancing seriously and wear a mask.
The governor's press briefing will follow a meeting of the Resilient Louisiana Commission, and a Unified Command Group Meeting.
On June 5, by the Louisiana Department of Health reported that the number of coronavirus cases in the state increased by 427, and the number of deaths increased by 29.
The number of cases in the state is now at 41,989. This is 427 more cases than were reported on Thursday.
A total of 2,802 people have died of the disease in Louisiana as of Friday. This includes 29 more deaths than were reported yesterday.
The LDH is reporting that 31,728 coronavirus patients are "presumed recovered," which is updated weekly.
The LDH reports that 604 people are hospitalized and that 75 require ventilators.
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