Landlords, property managers and residents in New Iberia are still facing the aftermath of Wednesday's fierce tornado.
The high winds targeted the Southport subdivision of the city, displacing many residents and leaving behind a path of destruction.
Douglas Schexnayder, Manager of Schexnayder Rentals said his mother owns 48 properties throughout the Southport area, but he was not prepared for the extensive damages.
"I anticipate I lost a million dollars when this thing happened on these buildings," Schexnayder said. "I don’t foresee being able to rebuild these, so it’s going to come down to the city, the government and any assistances I can."
Schexnayder said most of his residents are staying with family members, while others are in hotel rooms.
"I do offer low income [apartments] and I do have some subsidized units, so I’m praying for some kind of subsidy from the government and perhaps a grant to rebuild, otherwise this is just going to be a parking lot," Schexnayder said.
According to Iberia Parish President, M. Larry Richard, the Iberia Medical Center is also in need of major restoration.
"The Iberia Medical Center is probably the area that was hit the hardest as far as expense goes," Richard said. "We have the supplier room area where all of the supplies were totally destroyed. It’s going to be several months before we can get that facility back up and running the way it should be."
While crews are still responding to the outages throughout New Iberia, M. Larry Richard suggest people put their safety, first.
"We need to make sure that people are not going into their residence, if it’s not safe." Richard said. "We still have areas in Iberia Parish where CLECO is doing some work, as far as electricity."
Richard said it's the days, weeks and months following the tornado that really make a difference. He said he also wants people to be cautious of generators, which can be hazardous when trying to access electricity.
