[StBernard] Distribution of southwest Louisiana emergency evacuation guides begins

[Westley Annis]

Did anyone ever reply (don't think so) as to where the maps for SELA are
available in the parish?
 
I downloaded and printed out the one from the State Police website, but some
of it is really small to these myopic/presbyopic eyes.
 
Jim York


 

	-----------------------------------------------------
	Distribution of southwest Louisiana emergency evacuation guides
begins
	
	
	LAFAYETTE, La. - Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco announced today
that
	citizens of southwest Louisiana can now pick up their own copy of
the
	state's new southwest emergency evacuation guide at dozens of
locations
	throughout the area. 
	
	"Do not gamble with your safety," Governor Blanco said in urging
citizens to
	take hurricane evacuations seriously. "We learned important lessons
from the
	Hurricane Rita evacuation, and we used those lessons to develop a
new plan."
	
	Blanco said the guide should help every family develop its own
personal
	evacuation plan. 
	
	"Residents should educate themselves about the plan, decide where to
go and
	write down a personal evacuation plan. Make a list of all your
travel needs
	now and post it where you can easily find it," Governor Blanco
added.
	
	The state plan, developed by the Louisiana Department of
Transportation and
	Development (DOTD) and Louisiana State Police, would be activated in
the
	event of a western strike, as in Hurricane Rita, and involves two
points of
	contraflow, or reversed lanes of traffic, on the interstate system.
All
	traffic on both sides of Interstate 10 from the east end of the
I-210 loop
	to U.S. 165 will be directed east, and all traffic on both sides of
	Interstate 49 from I-10 to the town of Washington will be directed
north.
	Contraflow operations would be triggered when local officials call
for
	mandatory evacuations in Lake Charles and Lafayette, approximately
30-40
	hours before tropical storm force winds are predicted to hit
Louisiana's
	coastline.
	
	Contraflow operations were used very successfully in the pre-storm
	evacuation of the New Orleans area before Katrina. The state's plan
safely
	evacuated approximately 1.3 million people before the storm made
landfall.
	
	DOTD, Louisiana State Police, the Governor's Office of Homeland
Security and
	Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) and the American Red Cross urge
residents to
	take the following steps:
	
	1. Get a copy of the plan and read it carefully. The plan is
available at
	dozens of locations. A distribution list is attached.
	2. Come up with your own personal evacuation plan BEFORE the need
for an
	evacuation arises. Residents should know where they are going and
how to get
	there. 
	3. If a storm is approaching, leave as early as you can. The sooner
you
	leave, the safer you will be.
	
	Governor Blanco also said residents should be prepared to face
traffic
	delays during an evacuation. It is impossible for Louisiana's road
structure
	to handle a full-scale evacuation without motorists' experiencing
delays.
	
	"The best advice is to leave early," the governor said.
	
	Governor Blanco kicked off the guide distribution today at two news
	conferences: one at State Police Troop I in Lafayette and one at
State
	Police Troop D in Lake Charles.