In rural Holly Ridge, Louisiana, Meta’s $27 billion “Hyperion” project is billed as a transformative economic milestone. But for many residents, it’s also upending everyday life. Since construction began less than a mile from Holly Ridge Elementary School, the quiet two-lane roads of this small town have turned into industrial corridors, carrying thousands of dump trucks and 18-wheelers — and causing safety emergencies at an unprecedented scale.
The school’s front playground has been shut down over fears that students could be hit by trucks driving to and from the construction site. Nine-year-old Penelope Hull misses the playground and says the traffic even disrupts class.
“You can’t pay attention,” she said. “And then you get off track and you lose what the teacher was telling you to do.”
Hull added that the crashes near the school feel frighteningly close to home. “On the school bus, the trucks make you feel anxious that they’re gonna wreck,” she said. “It’s really bad. I don’t like it.”
Police data obtained by the Gulf States Newsroom shows a more than 600% increase in vehicle accidents on roads surrounding the Hyperion construction zone. Many of the wrecks involve drivers heading to the site — and some drivers shouldn’t be on the road at all.
One wreck involved a trucker who “does not and has never had a driver’s license,” according to the crash report. Others show drivers abandoning vehicles, backing into cars they can’t hear, or racing trains, including one 18-wheeler that backed into another vehicle after trying to beat a train over the tracks.
Greg Fischer of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission said it was “shocking” to learn that unlicensed truckers were hired to operate heavy vehicles headed for Meta’s site. He emphasized the danger plainly: “The worst case scenario is a fatality — a fatal crash.”
Hyperion, expected to be the largest data center in the world, will create about 500 permanent jobs by 2030, and 5,000 workers in the construction phase. State leaders are hailing it as a generational opportunity. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry called it a “game-changer” and “a great example of how Louisiana is quickly becoming one of the best states in America to do business.”
Yet traffic fixes have failed to stop the crashes. Even after his visit and new stop signs, wrecks continued — including fatal ones.
Meanwhile, residents across Holly Ridge say Meta has never contacted them, despite filing complaints. Some say trucks park on their property and litter their yards without permission. Others live with constant dust clouds, cracked mailboxes and fear stepping outside.
“Nobody hadn’t come talk to me about nothing,” said resident Dorothy Lively, whose property sits at one of the busiest access points. She calls the truck lines “a train, one after another.”
Beyond roadway hazards, some residents say their water has turned “rust-colored” and their power goes out with no warning. The couple Joseph and Robin Williams said outages have lasted days since Meta’s construction began, forcing them to stay with friends.
“Entergy goes out here all the time. I guess with them now, they’re constantly turning off the power,” Joseph said.
Their calls to Entergy for answers went unanswered for hours. “I blew Entergy up,” Robin said, describing a string of delays and vague updates. Though Entergy denies construction-related outages, residents say the timing is unmistakable — and exhausting.
Hyperion will eventually require more power annually than the city of New Orleans, pushing Entergy to build new gas plants at a combined cost of $3.2 billion. Advocates warn this cost could raise utility bills for ratepayers far beyond Holly Ridge. While Meta is expected to pay portions of those expenses, the exact terms remain confidential under a private contract.
Even if infrastructure eventually improves, safety experts argue Meta must take immediate responsibility for daily public safety. LSU researcher Brian Wolshon summarized it plainly:
“Just because you’re Meta and you’re this trillion-dollar company… I think it’s incumbent of them to be a good steward of the public trust.”
Originally reported by Drew Hawkins, Gulf States Newsroom in WBHM.
