By Marshall Griffin, KWMU
Jefferson City, MO – Missouri National Guard soldiers are on duty in storm-damaged towns in Louisiana; days after Hurricane Gustav came ashore.
Specialist Donald Keener with the 1175th Military Police Company has been patrolling the streets of Opelousas, Louisiana, since Tuesday night.
Opelousas is about 140 miles west-northwest of New Orleans.
Keener says there is tree debris everywhere.
"Trees all over houses, power lines down in the road, and it's a lot worse than we thought we were (going to) run into...not much damage to the houses, per se, like awnings and stuff, but the tree damages is just ridiculous," Keener said.
Keener and his fellow MP's are keeping an eye on banks, pharmacies, and other critical businesses.
He says so far there have been no problems with looters.
Specialist Daniel Harrison says local residents are keeping positive, despite lacking air conditioning and other comforts.
"The locals that we talked to, they've been through this before, and they were kind of prepared for it...some of them, you know, they're wanting their power back, and they want their AC...but everybody seems to be in good spirits that we've talked to so far," Harrison said.