City Of New Orleans: CITY OF NEW ORLEANS CELEBRATES THE COMPLETION OF CITYWIDE EMERGENCY GENERATOR INSTALLATION PROGRAM

Press release from the City of New Orleans:

October 4, 2021

NEW ORLEANS —Today, Mayor LaToya Cantrell was joined by State Representative Candace Newell of District 99, Interim Councilmember-At-Large Donna Glapion, Councilmember Kristen Gisleson Palmer of District C, Councilmember Cyndi Nguyen of District E, and other local and federal officials and community members to celebrate the completion of the City’s Emergency Generator Installation Program.

“We are creating and building a Recreation Department for the future, that will meet the needs of residents where they are in times of emergencies,” said Mayor LaToya Cantrell. “We were tested front and center during Hurricane Ida, and these facilities were equipped with manual generator transfer switches that allowed them to connect to emergency generators. This is a great example of doing what we said we would do to move this city forward and to continue delivering with the spirit of residency that we are known for across the country and the world.”

Manual generator transfer switches were recently installed at eight (8) NORD facilities across the city, and the NOHSEP Warehouse, to provide temporary standby generator power. Participating facilities include Cut-Off Recreation Center, Treme Recreation Center, Joe W. Brown Recreation Center, John P. Lyons Recreation Center, Gernon Brown Recreation Center, Stallings St. Claude Recreation Center, Milne Recreation Center and Rosenwald Recreation Center.

"We can't lose sight of the fact that the cooling centers at NORD facilities saved lives after Hurricane Ida. Unfortunately, these storms are coming in faster, stronger, and shutting off our utilities for weeks. Mayor Cantrell, NORD's leadership and staff, and NOHSEP have worked together to provide an innovative response to not only Hurricane Ida but for future storms and disasters," said Councilmember Palmer. 

"This project has already served invaluable to the City's emergency recovery. The conversion of our NORD community centers enabled us to get food and critical resources to New Orleanians in need at convenient, safe, and comfortable locations,” said Councilmember-At-Large Glapion.  “I commend the leadership of Mayor Cantrell, NORD Director Larry Barabino and Director Colin Arnold for their leadership to bring this project to fruition and look forward to working together on more ways to serve our people in the aftermath of extreme weather events."

This press release was produced by the City of New Orleans. The views expressed here are the author’s own.