Beyond Katrina

Governor Jindal Update on State Response Efforts for Hurricane Ike

BATON ROUGE – Today, Governor Bobby Jindal gave an update on state response efforts surrounding the impact of Hurricane Ike in Southwest Louisiana.

Governor Jindal said that the state is continuing its focus on saving lives and helping to rescue people who need to be helped to safety. In total, state agencies worked to rescue an estimated 411 people today, in addition to the 179 rescues reported by the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries yesterday. The Governor visited Southwest Louisiana parishes throughout the day, and saw firsthand search and rescue resources working to transport people from flooded areas to higher ground. Governor Jindal surveyed the storm's impact on Delcambre, Erath, Abbeville, Pecan Island, and Lake Charles today, seeing many homes and businesses flooded throughout the southwest area.

Governor Jindal said, "Our people are working together to save lives and help each other to safety. Today, our Wildlife and Fisheries rescue teams rescued 118 people and National Guard teams rescued 293 people. I saw firsthand several homes that were flooded in Calcasieu and Vermillion Parishes, and we are working with parish leaders to begin recovery operations to get the people in these parishes, and all those affected by this storm all along our coastline, back on their feet as quickly as possible. Tomorrow, I will be meeting with local leaders in Terrebonne, Lafourche, and lower Jefferson parishes, in order to get a firsthand assessment of the damage and the recovery needs in those areas."

 NATIONAL GUARD OPERATIONS

((PLEASE NOTE – some of these details were from preliminary reports on the ground before the Governor's briefing at 7PM.))

Louisiana National Guard's high water vehicles responded to calls as early 2AM today for rescues throughout the storm-effected parishes.  In St. Mary Parish, 116 people were rescued from the Franklin Nursing Home, 99 people were evacuated by high water vehicles and parish buses, and 16 were evacuated by ambulance.

As soon as weather permitted, six Blackhawk helicopters began sweeping the coastal parishes moving west along the backside of Hurricane Ike, but reported no individuals on rooftops in need of assistance. National Guard Boat teams commenced operations with the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries in Cameron and Calcasieu Parishes at daybreak.

 Total National Guard rescues to date: 293

National Guard Resources Involved in Search and Rescue:

       High Water Vehicles: 255                                             High Water Vehicle Rescues: 275

      Helicopters:  20                                                            Helicopter Rescues:      6

      Boats: 41                                                                      Boat Rescues:   12

In addition to Search and Rescue missions, National Guard personnel continue to provide security support to eleven Food Stamp Distribution Sites.

Currently, Commodity Distribution sites are up and running in Ascension, Assumption, East Baton Rouge, Iberville, Jefferson, Lafourche, Terrebonne and Plaquemines parish, and additional points will be added as needed. As of today, we have cleared over four thousand miles of roads and seventeen thousand cubic yards of debris from hurricane Gustav.

Acadia Parish

The National Guard has 152 guardsmen, 82 high water vehicles, 8 boats, and a National Guard Satellite Communication team (ASOS) located in parish.

Assumption Parish

The National Guard has 275 guardsmen in the parish and the 239^th Military Police Battalion performing security operations.

Calcasieu Parish

The National Guard has 538 guardsmen and 117 high water rescue vehicles, and two boats in the parish. The Guard established a search and rescue lillypad at Chennault Airfield, and Guard helicopters flew to Carlyss to confirm reports of people in need of evacuation. Upon arrival, the flight crew discovered around 100 people being assisted by local firemen and six of them were determined to be special needs individuals who were immediately air evacuated to Chennault Airport.

Using Boats and high water vehicles, LANG personnel rescued 40 people from neighborhoods throughout Lake Charles, 12 people from the Laberge Casino parking lot, three adults, a two-year-old child and 2 dogs were rescued by a civilian boat and then transferred to a National Guard High Water Vehicle to the evacuation to lillypad. 17 people were rescued from St. Patrick Hospital in Lake Charles, and National Guard boat teams continue to conduct deliberate searches of flooded areas. The National Guard also moved 18 generators from their facility at Gillis Long to Chennault Industrial Air Park.

Cameron Parish

The National Guard has 40 guardsmen in the parish and National Guard boats working with Wildlife and Fisheries rescued 3 adults, 1 toddler and 2 dogs from Choupique Bayou. The Louisiana National Guard Special Reaction Team (SRT) located in Lake Charles is prepared to deploy to Cameron.  SRT is a quick reaction team composed of military police and national guardsmen who hold law enforcement occupations in the civilian sector. National Guard Satellite Communication Team (ASOS) will be in place tomorrow, Sunday, 14 September.

Iberia Parish

The National Guard has 157 guardsmen and nine high water rescue vehicles in the parish, and they will be providing additional personnel to assist in patrolling the parish during their 24 hour curfew period.

Jefferson Parish

The National Guard has 141 guardsmen and 58 high water rescue vehicles in the parish.

National Guard aircraft airlifting emergency food and water from Houma to Grand Isle. National Guard resources are also conducting security missions and standing by to support the town of Lafitte.

Jefferson Davis Parish

The National Guard has 79 guardsmen and 31 boats in the parish. Additionally, there is a National Guard Satellite Communication team (ASOS) also located there.

Lafourche Parish

There are 128 guardsmen in the parish, and 25 soldiers are assisting in sandbagging a secondary levee in Larose. Lilly pads for search and rescue are located at Thibodeaux Airport, Nicholls State Soccer Field, Raceland Recreation Center and the Greater Lafourche Port Commission Heliport. Three dump trucks have been sent to Larose truck stop to be prepared to handle the West 2nd Street Floodgates.

Orleans Parish

The National Guard has 792 guardsmen and 26 high water rescue vehicles. The Guard continues to provide security in New Orleans and an Engineer Assessment Team has been dispatched to inspect various hot spots in levee system.

Plaquemines Parish

The National Guard has 253 guardsmen and eight high water rescue vehicles in the parish. The Guard completed sandbag operations in Braithwaite and Scarsdale areas. 

St. Mary Parish

The National Guard has 40 guardsmen and a high water rescue vehicle in the parish. Guardsmen conducted door-to-door searches looking for personnel in the Pecan Acres subdivision and 18 people were rescued. Also, the Guard assisted in the evacuation of Franklin Hospital, and 12 Military Police are assisting the local sheriff with security efforts.

Terrebonne Parish

The National Guard has 150 guardsmen and a high water rescue vehicle in the parish. 22 people were rescued from locations in Houma, Dulac and Theriot, and parts of Houma Airport have standing water.

Vermillion Parish

The National Guard has 151 guardsmen and 19 high water rescue vehicles in the parish.

Reports from guardsmen throughout the parish indicate several roads impassable due to water. The Guard is prepared to launch rescue operations from several locations throughout parish, and there is a National Guard Satellite Communication team (ASOS) located there.

SEARCH AND RESCUE – WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES

In total today, the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries reports that they rescued 118 people, 13 dogs, a cat, and four ducks. This is in addition to the 179 people they rescued yesterday before Hurricane Ike made landfall.

There are reports of 42 rescues in Cameron/Calcasieu/Vermillion Parishes, including one case in Calcasieu of a rescue of 8 people, 13 dogs and ducks. Search and rescue missions are actively ongoing in Hackberry where some individuals are now choosing to leave.

Units are working night security patrols by boat in Vermillion Parish, and 32 people have been rescued in Terrebonne, and 26 in Jefferson Parish, where a majority of the Lafitte area is underwater. Six people were rescued in Plaquemines parish, and many more were rescued by the sheriff.

HEALTH CARE

Governor Jindal reported that four nursing homes are on generators, down from six earlier in the day. There are 1,600 people are in special needs shelters, while all medical special needs patients have been returned to Orleans and Jefferson Parishes from the PMAC at LSU. DHH visited 10 nursing homes personally today and will continue to monitor others in storm-effected areas.

 ((More timely updates included in the Governor's briefing on levees is being released through the Governor's Office of Coastal Activities.)), T

Hurricane Ike's flood waters reach Lake Charles, La.

LAKE CHARLES, La. — Hurricane Ike's storm surge inundated hundreds of homes in Cameron Parish and flooded parts of Lake Charles -- 30 miles north of the Gulf Coast -- as rescue teams waited for winds to calm Saturday before launching search and rescue missions. Storm surge levels in Calcasieu Parish, which includes Lake Charles, exceeded those of Hurricane Rita in 2005, local officials said. Continue>>>

Ike in Louisiana: 2:00 am update

From the American Press (Lake Charles) Storm Blog:

The 2 a.m. update from the National Weather Service at the Lake Charles Regional Airport.

Hurricane-force winds of 77 mph were recorded at 1:10 a.m.; sustained winds are 55 mph. Winds are expected to remain as intense or increase in the next couple of hours.

Rainfall since storm-related precipitation began Friday afternoon: 1/2 inch.

Tornado warnings are issued to Vermilion, Jeff Davis, Calcasieu and Cameron parishes, with three funnel clouds on radar at 2 a.m. Funnel clouds picked up in Lake Arthur, Hayes and Klondike areas.

Storm surge at 12 feet in Cameron, 13.5 feet at Sabine Pass; 7 feet at Grand Chenier and 8.5 feet at the Saltwater Barrier. Maximum surge is expected at about sunrise, with 15-20 feet expected in Cameron and 13 feet at the Saltwalter Barrier.

Hundreds of homes flood as Ike passes Louisiana

LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) -- Storm surge driven by Hurricane Ike has breached levees in coastal Louisiana and flooded hundreds of homes in areas still recovering from Gustav. Continue>>>

Louisiana braces for effects from Hurricane Ike

LAKE CHARLES, LA (AP) - A hurricane warning has been issued from Morgan City, Louisiana to Baffin Bay, Texas, as Hurricane Ike churned in the Gulf of Mexico on a path that forecasters said would likely bring it ashore on the Texas coast Saturday. Continue>>>

Storm Alert For Cultural Individuals and Organizations in Louisiana and the Gulf Coast

August 28, 2008 –  

The Office of Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu and the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism urge you to take every precaution to protect yourself and property in the wake of Hurricane Gustav. The Cultural Assets Rescue (www.crt.state.la.us/culturalassets) website was developed in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to serve as a clearinghouse and information center for artists, individual cultural workers, cultural organizations and businesses. It contains valuable information to assist in relocation, restoration and recovery from disasters.

Please use the resources provided here and register your contact information in the Directories section. For direct communication click the feedback link to generate an email message or call 225-342-8200.

 

Susan Brunner

Chair

Louisiana Parntership For The Arts

Governor Jindal’s Update on Hurricane Gustav Preparedness Efforts

Thursday, August 28, 2008

BATON ROUGE – Today, Governor Bobby Jindal met with the unified command of the emergency operation center at GOSHEP to receive an update on the state’s preparedness efforts surrounding the possible impact of Hurricane Gustav in Louisiana.

The Governor’s briefing from the National Weather Service reported that the center of the storm was broken up and has re-strengthened as it is approaching Jamaica. Currently, it is projected to be in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday, and move toward the Louisiana coast on Tuesday morning.

Governor Jindal said, “At this point, projections show that we could see tropical storm force winds along our coast as early as late Sunday night. This could potentially affect anywhere from New Orleans to Lake Charles, depending on the direction of the storm. Plaquemines and Iberia Parishes have already declared an emergency in their parishes, and other parishes are expected to declare emergencies today and tomorrow.”

The Governor added that 150 of the 700 buses on contract for an evacuation are arriving in the state today, and the state has requested federal help to assist in standing up the newly constructed shelter in Alexandria.

Governor Jindal also ordered the Louisiana National Guard to be ready to deploy more than 1,500 guardsmen to New Orleans as early as tomorrow to assist in securing the city as citizens begin to evacuate their homes, should an evacuation be triggered. Additionally, the Guard has requested possible aircraft assistance from Oklahoma (1), Colorado (4), Illinois (8), Nebraska (5), Pennsylvania (1), Ohio (1), Maryland (1), and Kentucky (5). The Louisiana Guard already has satellite equipment positioned in Terrebonne, Lafourche, Jefferson, Plaquemines, Saint Bernard, and Orleans Parishes to assist in first responder communications on the ground. Additional satellite equipment will be positioned in Southeast and Central Louisiana today.

The US Army Corps of Engineers was a part of the emergency operation center briefing today, and they reported that they are working to monitor levees and canals in coastal Louisiana. The Corps will ride out the storm in Louisiana and will then fly with the Coast Guard to assess levee conditions after the storm passes.

The Governor also announced today that the Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) is beginning to get twice-daily updates from nursing homes and hospitals to ensure they are on track to evacuate patients in need of assistance.

DHH is executing their contracts today for ambulance assistance, and they will be receiving 150 additional, requested ambulances from FEMA to assist in the evacuation of patients from nursing homes and hospitals. DHH will have mandatory evacuations of hospitals and nursing homes if the storm reaches a Category 3.

The Governor added that the Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) is stopping their road construction projects today, in preparation for a possible evacuation.

Due to the updated projections of the storm, the Governor updated the timeline of possible state events to include the beginning of phased parish evacuations as early as Saturday. Also on Saturday, critical needs and medical needs shelters are set to open, including the PMAC at LSU. Pet shelters would also open on Saturday and some hospital and nursing home patients would begin to be evacuated. On Sunday, contra-flow could be activated to assist in evacuation efforts. The state has requested four urban search and rescue teams from the federal government, along with a command center, and their arrival is expected this weekend. This is only a possible timeline of events to prepare citizens, and will be updated as the storm continues to move.

DSS UPDATE on Shelter Locations:

People who are evacuating on their own and who do not have an alternative shelter should stop at shelter-information points along the evacuation route to get the most up-to-date information about which shelters are open. <

The shelter-information points (also listed on the Louisiana evacuation guides) are located at:

Tourist Welcome Center, U.S. 65 & 84, 1401 Carter St., Vidalia.

Tourist Welcome Center, 836 I-20 West, Tallulah.

Paragon Casino, 711 Paragon Place, Marksville.

Sammy’s Truck Stop, I-49, Exit 53, 3601 La. 115 West, Bunkie.

Med Express Office, 7525 U.S. 71, Alexandria.

LSU-Shreveport, P.E. Gym, One University Place, Shreveport.  

Pickering High School, 180 Lebleu Road, Leesville.

Mowad Civic Center, Fifth Avenue and 10th Street, one block off U.S. 165, Oakdale.

DSS also will assist with the registration of New Orleans area evacuees who require city and/or state assistance in evacuation at the Union Pacific Terminal in New Orleans.

DHH UPDATE on Special Medical Needs Shelters:

Five locations are preparing to open as Special Medical Needs Shelters, located in Baton Rouge, Alexandria, Monroe, Bossier, and Hammond. Hirsch Coliseum in Shreveport is being prepared for Critical Transportation Needs populations and for pets, should this population be asked to evacuate.

Agriculture and Forestry UPDATE on pet evacuations:

A pet evacuation center for residents with critical transportation needs will be open in Shreveport in accordance with the timeline set by the local parish OEP officials. It is only for evacuees with critical transportation needs, and those residents are instructed to coordinate with their local OEP offices to arrange transportation for themselves and their pets to the shelter.

Pets under 15 pounds that are carried in a pet carrier will be allowed to travel with their owners on the bus transports (soft-sided carriers are preferred). Larger pets will be placed in size-appropriate pet carriers and bussed separately from their owners to the pet/owner shelter.

Other shelters for self-evacuators for pets and owners will open as storm and evacuation conditions dictate. Pets must have proper identification – preferably something permanent like a microchip or tattoo. Dogs and cats need to have proof of annual rabies and other vaccinations. It's also very important to have collars, leashes, harnesses and kennels for confining animals when necessary. Muzzles may be appropriate for animals that are apprehensive in unfamiliar settings. Pet owners should bring at least a three-day supply of food, water and medications for their animals.

BACKGROUND FACTS ON PREPARATION:

The state has 700 buses contracted – these are all within a 500-mile radius.

These 700 buses will accommodate 35,000 people.

These buses will be supplemented by an air and rail evacuation plan, which is led by FEMA.

The state has up to 10,000 spaces for Critical Special Needs evacuees - these are individuals that have no transportation of their own. These shelters are state run.

The state has 564,000 MREs pre-positioned in Louisiana.

The state already has 525,000 liters of water pre-positioned in Louisiana.

The state is ready to provide food and water to 350,000 responders and folks who remain in the state because they cannot evacuate.

FEMA has contracts in place for additional supplies, and they are currently working to load up these supplies and move them to Louisiana.

How to Sign Up for State Alerts – An Easy, Step-by-Step Process

Visit www.mystateusa.com.

Click on “Sign Up Here” under “AlertSense” on the left side of the homepage.

Provide your email and zip code.

Providing your name is optional.

(All personal information will be kept strictly confidential)

Indicate alerts you would like to receive by selecting from a list of weather and non-weather related options

This allows you to receive alert information direct to your email address.

To receive alerts via text message, provide your cell phone or other personal communications devices, and the name of your service provider.

Signing up for the alerts is free. Depending on the terms of your contract with your service provider, you may incur charges for receiving text messages.

Read the “Terms of Use” and if you are in agreement, check the box that says, “I accept the Terms of Use.” &

Click on the “Sign Me Up” button.

If you decide that you would like to stop receiving emergency alerts on your cell phone, cell phone or other personal communications devices, simply return to the www.mystateusa.com website, go to the “AlertSense” page and click on “Unsubscribe Me.”

END

SW Louisiana keeping close eye on Gustav (8/27)

Roger Erickson, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Lake Charles, said it's too early to predict whether Gustav will affect Southwest Louisiana. "The problem is that there are a lot of scenarios, and there's no forecaster confidence in landfall projections right now," he said. Local weatherman Rob Robin agreed, saying early projections should not be taken too seriously. "People should not get overly excited about this," the longtime broadcaster said. "However, everybody at this point should begin to follow this system very closely." Continue>>>

Group Seeks Site for Hurricane Center in Southwest La.

Though unsure exactly where it would be built or when, backers of a proposed National Hurricane Museum and Science Center in southwest Louisiana say they're confident the $100 million project will become reality. The 50-year anniversary of Hurricane Audrey's strike on Cameron Parish passed last month. That hurricane, along with familiar names such as Andrew, Katrina and Rita, looms large in the plans for the museum. Continue here.

Rare Pink Dolphin Seen in Louisiana Lake

Check this out. A rare pink dolphin was seen in Louisiana's Calcasieu Lake. Article and photographs here. Gallery with multiple pics here.