[StBernard] UPDATE: TASK FORCE PELICAN

[Westley Annis]

UPDATE: TASK FORCE PELICAN

-- Sunday -- September 25, 2005 --

-- 1:30 PM-- 

 State of Louisiana

 

·        This is Day 26 since Hurricane Katrina made landfall and Day 1
since Hurricane Rita made landfall.  

 

·        Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco asked President Bush to combine
the response for Hurricane Katrina & Hurricane Rita so that resources and
aid can be expedited to Louisiana families quickly and efficiently

o       The full text of the letter is available online at
www.gov.state.la.us.

 

·        Governor Blanco also asked President Bush to allow FEMA to pay the
base salaries of local police, deputies, and firefighters     

o       Current regulations (Force Account Labor Costs) do not allow for
reimbursement of the straight and regular-time salaries of public personnel 

o       The full text of the letter is available online at
www.gov.state.la.us 

 

·        Governor Blanco also announced the creation of the Family Recovery
Corps

o       A unified recovery effort which combines the response of both storms
under a centralized command

o       Family Liaisons will be trained to cut through red tape, navigate
bureaucracies and assist families in getting the benefits they need and
deserve

 

To date, there are nearly 18,000 National Guard soldiers on the ground under
the command of Governor Blanco. 
This increase from yesterday reflects the arrival of some of the additional
guard troops requested by Governor Blanco earlier this week. 
 

·        National Guard primary missions continue to be: saving lives
(including providing meals, water, and ice), enforcing security, evacuating
residents and supporting existing critical infrastructures

o       These operations are currently underway in the areas affected by
both Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita.  

 

To date, approximately 4,000 National Guard troops have been dedicated to
Task Force Rita.  
There are currently National Guard engineers in all of the areas severely
affected by Rita. 
Search and rescue, commodity distribution and debris removal operations are
also currently underway in all of the areas severely affected by Rita 
Task Force Rita is conducting these vital operations with more than 30
helicopters, 30 boats and many high water vehicles.  
 

 

Louisiana Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness

 

·        OHSEP is working with its state, federal and local partners
including Louisiana State Police, Local Emergency Management Officials,
National Guard, LA Department of Wildlife & Fisheries and FEMA

 

·        The Louisiana OHSEP is responding to Parish OEP needs 

o       Ongoing search and rescue missions

o       Setting up commodity distribution points, per parish needs

o       Working with shelters to accommodate bedding requests

o       Providing generators for critical government infrastructures 

o       Ongoing aerial and ground damage assessments 

o       Working with utility providers to restore power and communications

 

As of 9:00 am today, 47 parishes have declared States of Emergency due to
effects of Hurricane Rita. 
 

These parishes include: 
Vermillion
 Jefferson Davis
 Tensas
 
Lafayette
 Cameron
 St James
 
Iberia
 Sabine
 Calcasieu
 
Vernon
 Natchitoches
 St. Mary
 
Caddo
 Bossier
 Ouachita
 
Jefferson
 Acadia
 Allen
 
East Baton Rouge
 Franklin
 St. Landry
 
Tangipahoa
 Rapides
 Livingston
 
Orleans
 Terrebonne
 Evangeline
 
Beauregard
 Richland
 West Baton Rouge
 
Plaquemines
 Winn
 Morehouse
 
Avoyelles
 Iberville
 Concordia
 
East Carroll
 West Feliciana
 Union
 
West Carroll
 Pointe Coupee
 Jackson
 
Madison 
 Red River
 Caldwell
 
Catahoula
 Ascension
  
 

 

Power outages have been reported in all 64 parishes. 
o       Preliminary reports* indicate: 

§         More than 630,000 Louisianianas are without power

·        Approximately 401,000 outages are Rita related

·        Approximately 238,000 outages are Katrina related

 

§         More than 350,000 Louisianians are without telephone service

§         More than 24,000 Louisianians are without natural gas utilities

     *Data provided by the Louisiana Public Service Commission

 

 

Louisiana State Police

 

Troop D News Update - Hurricane Rita                 
 

At 7:30 am Saturday, after the eye of Hurricane Rita passed, troopers from
Troop D began clearing paths from fallen trees on state and federal roadways
within the troop area.  
 

They were assisted on U.S. 165 by the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Department
and Lake Charles Fire Department.  
 

There are numerous trees and power lines down across the area.    
 

U.S. 165 and U.S. 171 are passable with travel limited in places to one lane
of travel.  
 

Drivers in the outlying parishes are urged to limit travel and to use
extreme caution when doing so.  
 

Calcasieu Parish is CLOSED to entering traffic for the next 48 hours.  
Checkpoints will be set up on highways entering the parish to prevent
persons from entering. 
 

A curfew is in effect from 6:00pm until 6:00am in Calcasieu Parish.   
 

The I-10 Bridge over Lake Charles is closed due to a barge striking the
bridge during Hurricane Rita.  
 

Louisiana DOTD will inspect the bridge and will advise when it is safe to
reopen.   
 

In Cameron Parish roadways are flooded to the south of both the Ellender
Bridge and Gibbstown Bridge. 
 

Sunday morning, 50 California Highway Patrol officers will be assisting
State Police in both patrol and search and rescue operations.  
 

State Police- Troop D will also be assisted by a detachment from the Oregon
National Guard. 
 

 

Department of Transportation & Development

 

Roads in Southwest Louisiana are littered with debris. 
 

DOTD assessment crews are working to determine which roads need clearing
priority. 
 Debris crews will follow to clear either one lane for emergency traffic or
will clear "from white line to white line," depending on the amount of
debris on the road. 
 

DOTD also has a diving crew in the water to help determine the extent of
damage to the    I-10 bridge in Lake Charles. 
 

The I-220 loop around I-10 in the Lake Charles area is open. 
 

 

Department of Environmental Quality

 

·        Hurricane-related debris, such as trees, limbs and leaves, will
continue to be picked up in Orleans, Plaquemines, Jefferson and St. Tammany
parishes. 

 

·        A staging area is being set up to begin collecting trees and limbs
blown down from Hurricane Rita in Lafayette Parish.

 

·        Today, EPA is flying over the western part of the state with
Blackhawk helicopters to conduct an assessment of the area. DEQ and EPA will
also have teams on the ground in the recon efforts in Lake Charles. 

 

·        Flood water, outfall water and sediment sampling continues in the
city of New Orleans today in the area impacted by Hurricane Katrina.

 

 

Division of Administration

 

Commissioner Jerry Luke LeBlanc will make an announcement later today
regarding state office re-openings and closures. 
 

In the interim, Commissioner LeBlanc has instructed essential state office
personnel to report to work as directed by their supervisors. 
 

Affected state employees are urged to monitor local media and stay updated
by calling on the state office work status hotlines. The work status hotline
numbers are: 1-800-360-9660 and 225-342-0498. 
 

 

Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries

 

A combined force of Enforcement Division, Office of Wildlife and Office of
Fisheries boats totaling 245 boats and 260 personnel responded to the
effects of Hurricane Katrina from Calcasieu and Cameron parishes on the
state's western border to Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes on the
state's southeastern tip. 
 

Working with parish sheriffs' flotillas, other agencies and volunteer
boaters, the response into flooded areas was more widespread than the
Hurricane Katrina response. 
 

Efforts in the southwestern part of the state were hampered by rising water
levels and strong winds throughout the day Saturday. Small boat SAR will
resume at 7 a.m. on Sunday. 
 

Totals for the number of individuals rescued are not complete due to the
numerous response points around the state and cooperative agency reports
that still must be filed. 
 

 

Department of Natural Resources

 

The Mineral Management Services (MMS) is reporting in a preliminary
assessment that the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) platforms seem to have
suffered little damage from Hurricane Rita.  However, the platforms remain
shut-in as a result of both hurricanes.  
 

The Department of Energy is reporting that the Lake Charles and Trunkline
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facilities are reported shut down. 
 

7 0f 7 major refineries in Southwest Louisiana were shut down, as of 7:00 pm
Saturday. 
These refineries include: Citgo, ConocoPhilips, Calcasieu, ExxonMobil, Shell
(Motiva), Total and Valero.  
 

 

Louisiana Colleges & Universities

 

Louisiana State University A & M in Baton Rouge has cancelled all classes
and operations on Monday, Sept. 26. 
The class make-up date will be Thursday, Oct. 6.  
In addition, LSU had been notified by state emergency officials to expect
the arrival of special-needs evacuees at the Maddox Fieldhouse. Contingency
operations are also under way to begin resumption of acute-care activity in
the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. 
 

The McNeese State University Campus (Lake Charles) is secured and closed to
all personnel. 
McNeese will be closed until Wed Sept 28, 2005. 
 

All classes and operations on the Nicholls State University campus will
resume on Monday, Sept. 26, 2005. 
 

All Northwestern State University campuses will be open Monday, Sept. 26,
2005. 
 

Southeastern will reopen on Monday, Sept. 26, 2005. 
 Employees and students are urged to put personal safety first when
returning to campus. 
 

UL-Lafayette plans to resume operations and classes on Tuesday, September
27, 2005. 
The administration will rework the class schedule for the remainder of the
fall semester. 
 

Fletcher Technical Community College (Houma) will not resume classes or
office operations on Monday, September 26th.  
The current plan is to resume normal operations on Tuesday, September 27th. 
 

Students and employees of Baton Rouge Community College; River Parishes
Community College (Sorrento); South  Louisiana Community College
(Lafayette); SOWELA Technical Community College (Lake Charles), and affected
campuses of  Louisiana Technical College should continue to monitor
developments as posted on each respective university's web site, or the news
media. 
 

 

Louisiana Department of Education

 

DOE continues its efforts to assist school districts impacted by Hurricane
Katrina and is also preparing to assist any school district impacted by
Hurricane Rita. 
 

DOE is coordinating and scheduling staff for the Education desk at the state
Office of Emergency Preparedness 24 hours, 7 days a week, until otherwise
notified. 
 

Every school district in the state was assigned a cabinet level contact
person within the Department of Education after Hurricane Katrina, and we
will attempt to remain in contact with our "buddy districts" for as long as
possible as Hurricane Rita continues to affect the state.  
 

The Department of Education will assess the impact of Hurricane Rita on our
local districts as soon as the storm passes and communication can be
established.  
 

 

Department of Social Services
 

Residents of Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard, Plaquemines and St. Tammany
parishes may continue to apply for emergency food stamp benefits through
Sept. 29. Applicants from these parishes, as well as Washington Parish, who
already have emergency food stamp benefits, will continue to receive
benefits through the month of October. 
 

Shelters housing more than 25 displaced citizens and not currently
registered with the parish Office of Emergency Preparedness should call
(866) 310-7617 or in Baton Rouge, 925-1938. 
 

There are 3 Louisiana children separated from their parents, due to
Hurricane Katrina, remaining on the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children's website. 
 

Of the 2,000 foster children from the Katrina-impacted area, 209 have yet to
be accounted for. 
 

27 of the 60 children separated from their parents and taken into custody
have been returned to their families. 
 

 

Department of Labor

 

DOL has planned for possible benefits claims in the coming days and weeks
ahead from people who will be out of work temporarily or permanently due to
Hurricane Rita. 
 

DOL has taken 178,807 Katrina-related claims for Unemployment Insurance and
Disaster Unemployment Assistance benefits. At least 157,937 were determined
to be eligible. 
 

 

Department of Corrections

 

Power outages remain an issue for the following facilities:  Allen
Correctional Center in Kinder, C. Paul Phelps Correctional Center in
DeQuincy and the former youth facility in Jena that was temporarily opened
in response to the large number of inmate evacuations.  All are operating on
emergency generator power at this time. 
 

Several institutions reported only minor damage as a result of Hurricane
Rita.  There is no threat to institutional operations or public safety at
this time. 
 

Approximately 550 Terrebonne Parish inmates were evacuated on Saturday to
three state institutions.  The transfers occurred without incident. 
 

The Department is beginning to gather damage reports to parish facilities
that had to be evacuated due to Rita and will reassess placement of
evacuated inmates in the next two days. 
 

A breakdown of inmate evacuees to date: 
 

Katrina evacuees:     
 

2,466 inmates in local facilities 
3,503 inmates in state facilities 
920 inmates at Florida federal facility 
 

Rita evacuees:                      
706 inmates in local facilities 
1,592 inmates in state facilities 
 

-30-
 

The Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation (LDRF), Louisiana's fund for
Louisiana's people, has been established by Governor Kathleen Babineaux
Blanco in order to support long-term family restoration and recovery and
help provide assistance to our citizens in need through a network of
Louisiana charities and non-profit agencies.
 
877.HELPLA1 (877.435-7521)
www.louisianahelp.org