[StBernard] Parishes prepare for hurricane season

[Westley Annis]

Parishes prepare for hurricane season
June 4, 2007   


Friday, June 1, 2007, saw the beginning of Hurricane Season, and several
local parishes claim they were ready. All agreed, though, that the West Bank
of the Mississippi, which escaped flooding in Katrina, is the area in the
most danger. 

At a press conference at City Hall Thursday evening, the Mayor and his staff
laid out the city's evacuation plan in the event of a Cat 3 Hurricane. "The
nation will be watching next time," Col. Terry Ebbert, New Orleans' Homeland
Security Director told the press on the eve of the first day of Hurricane
season, emphasizing that the city's economic future is in danger another
evacuation is botched. 

For safety's sake, the Homeland Security Director urged people to leave in
the event of another Category 3 storm. "There were will be no shelters in
Orleans Parish," Ebbert said. At 84 hours out, the city will implement its
evacuation plan. 

"When that storm clears Cuba, its time to leave," he added as Mayor Nagin's
entire executive staff gathered Thursday night in the City Council Chambers.
General evacuation begins at 50 hours, with contraflow instituted. 

The Mayor echoed his Emergency Director. "There are areas in our levee
system, and I'm talking about the entire metropolitan area, where we have
sections of our levees that are not up to the new standards." 

"We will have some over topping in some areas where we have warned people in
the past," Nagin continued. 

"Some of the low lying areas of New Orleans East and some of the low lying
areas of the Lower Ninth Ward, if another Katrina comes in the same
direction, our levees will most likely hold, but there will likely be some
overtopping because the gates that are needed right at the point where the
levees come together have not been constructed." 

But, those in the greatest danger, he said, live in the area that escaped
Hurricane Katrina basically unharmed. "In Algiers, the levee system, and the
West Bank of Jefferson Parish, those levees have not been built up to the
new standards." 

Flooding from the Harvey Canal area could sweep the population away in the
next great flood, so the Mayor warned against "any false sense of security."
Those that need help to evacuate should call 311, and enter their name on a
special list. City buses will pick up the population that cannot leave and
deposit them at pre-arraigned evacuation points. Locations will be
determined by the direction of the storms. The city will also be premiering
an new text messaging and voice warning system in time for the next storm.
It's called NOLA Ready and was developed by the Roam Secure Alert Network
(RSAN). RSAN will power the system so that real time emergency messages are
delivered to first responders, local government officials, business owners,
tourist and registered residents of New Orleans. This system will also allow
for shared emergency information with surrounding parishes, across Louisiana
and across the country. "NOLA Ready ensures that we can stay connected in
the event of another major disaster or even routine emergency situations. We
are urging all residents to register with this system through their cell
phones so that we can deliver vital information to them and they can be
prepared for any emergency circumstances that may arise," said Mayor Nagin. 

Text communication was the only effective means of communication in the
aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita when most of the region's
infrastructure was severely damaged. According to Ebbert, All registered
participants will receive information about necessary evacuations, possible
flooding, power loss, and communications disruptions. The system will
deliver real-time text messages and will also provide situation reports and
life-saving alerts to emergency managers via email, cell phones, pagers,
blackberries and Treos. A demonstration of the text system will be offered
during the briefing. 

"In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we understood the necessity of
communication not only with federal, state and local officials, but more
importantly with our residents," said Ebbert. "The city's communication
tools are an important part of emergency preparedness and a major part of
our hurricane season plans for the future." 

"We're getting ready for any type of event that may occur because our main
objective is to provide vital public safety information to all of our
citizens," said Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Sneed, Director of the Mayor's
Office of Emergency Preparedness. "NOLA Ready offers that additional tool in
a chest of plans and preparations for a major hurricane and any other type
of disaster." 

Jefferson Parish 

Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard agreed with Nagin that the West
Bank was in terrible danger, due to the paupacity of levees along the area's
major industrial waterway. "On the West Bank east of the Harvey Canal, is
still a tremendous vulnerability for us because it's not a federal levee.
It's not a levee that was built by the previous West Jefferson Levee
District. It's really a hodgepodge levee that was built by the businesses,
along the Harvey Canal, to protect their businesses. So as a result of that,
you have everything from railroad ties, to sheet piling to compacted earth,
none of which is suitable to withstand a concerted hurricane threat." In
fact, prior to Katrina, many corporations fronting the Canal resisted the
idea of levees, arguing that it would be destructive to their business
activities, explained Chip Cahill, Chairman of the JP Hurricane and Coastal
Restoration Committee. He added, though, that since Katrina, they have
embraced the floodwall system, but it is only in the early stage of
construction. 

Like Nagin, Broussard maintained that West Bankers should not fall into a
fall comfort level because they avoided the worst of Hurricane Katrina. 

While Broussard said his parish has never been in better shape, however, he
added, "It doesn't mean we don't have our vulnerabilities. On the East Bank,
when they closed the surge gates-that the Corps built at the lake
intersection with the 17th Street Canal-they effectively cut off a great
amount of the pumping capacity of Canal Pumping Station # 6 which drains Old
Metairie and Old Jefferson." 

"When those surge gates close, that effectively cuts off today, half of our
pumping capacity," from 9000 to 4000 CFS per second, he explained. There is
a plan in place by the Corps of Engineers to increase pumping to 7500 CFS,
but it will not be in place in time for this Hurricane season. 

The Jefferson Parish President, in consultation with the state, has
developed an active plan for evacuating those that cannot leave on their
own. State buses will pick up the evacuees and take them out of the region.
"We're going to have our stand bus routes pick up our people on the standard
bus routes pick up people along the public transit routes and take them to
two designated areas. On the West Bank, they'll be taken to the Alario
Center. On the East Bank, they'll be taken to the Yenni Building." 

Nor need anyone worry that the pumps may not be turned on in the next
Hurricane, he said. "Our brand new plan in Jefferson Parish dictates that no
essential personnel will ever be evacuated from Jefferson Parish ever
again." 

"At all the major pump stations, East bank and West Bank, that have backflow
vulnerability, we have already built safe houses, and tested, so our pump
operators can go directly from the pump stations and into the safe houses." 

In fact, Parish Emergency Director Deano Bonano added, "We have a new
philosophy in approaching emergency planning in Jefferson Parish. The
philosophy is that we have to be able to sustain our own emergency
operations for seven days without outside help." 

Back up fuel and supplies can last personnel and those trapped over a week
in case of an emergency. 

Nor will communications cut off those working amidst the floodwaters. A new
interoperable, 700 Megahertz radio system will allow personnel not only in
Jefferson, but in St. Bernard, Plaquemines, and Orleans to communicate. 

Katrina, Bonano explained, taught his office lessons, and allowed his people
to write plans, that had never been on the books before. 

For example, Jefferson now provides parish businesses with a disaster
reentry plan designed to repopulate the parish in tiers. For residents, a
"LOOK AND LEAVE" policy will be maintained, just like after Katrina. 

Plaquemines Parish 

The Sheriff of Plaquemines Parish asks that if a storm comes, do not take
the risk. 

In an interview, Jeff Hingle emphasized the importance of evacuation. "First
of all we would ask them not to stay in their homes. They've got to realize
that following Katrina and Rita, we lost substantial wetlands. So, there's
going to be less resistance to the water coming in." 

Katrina left Plaquemines in greater danger than ever before, he explained.
"Our barrier islands are totally gone now, so you're going to see more
flooding than you have ever seen before." 

And, the storm protection created by the Corps of Engineers is not ready. "A
lot of the levees that have been rebuilt since the hurricane are not ripened
yet. They have not been tested. So, I do suggest that you do leave. We'll
take care of your property." Police and Parish officials plan to stay on
duty throughout the storm and its aftermath. Supplies are on hand to survive
without contact for over a week. 

However, the Sheriff recognized that not all could depart on their own. "We
ask them to call the Sheriff's office either through 911, or at 564-2525.
Let us know where you're at. If you have no transportation, the deputies
will pick you up. They'll bring you to a site where you can be put on public
school bus, and moved to a site out of the area." 

The state has planned a series of evacuation centers in different parts of
the state, depending on the course of the storm. Officials in Plaquemines
have worked closely with Gov. Blanco's Department of Homeland Security to
make sure that the evacuation centers can move the immobile population of
the parish out of danger. 

St. Tammany Parish 

'Never Again' became the anthem of Parish President Kevin Davis. He pledged
that his parish will never have to rely on an outside agency to survive. In
the first days after Katrina, a thirty foot storm surge had cut of swath of
destruction from the Lake across Slidell and as far inland as parts of Pearl
River, yet as Governor Blanco spoke in the aftermath of the hurricane, she
told St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Orleans, and Jefferson "help was on the way."
She had no idea the level of destruction in St. Tammany. At that moment,
Parish President Kevin Davis pledged that his parish would rely on no one in
the case of a storm. He and his council embarked on a crash project to build
the most sophisticated emergency operations center in the state. "Many of
our staff calls it the War Room," Davis said, "It's a glass room where about
fifty or sixty people sit around a large table with their own computer
system and phone system, and we monitor everything." With banks of computers
and commo gear, it does resemble a cross between the White House Situation
Room and the Cabinet War Rooms in London "All of the different fields of
specialty are in that room. Utilities companies, police, fire,
municipalities, all of us sit there." 

But, that is not the extent of the Emergency Operations Center, located in
the steel and concrete Old Court House in downtown Covington. Food supplies
are available for hundreds for weeks. Not only do independent electrical and
a commications lines sit in the building, but a separate satellite uplink
keeps the emergency center in touch with the state's computer disaster web
servers. (In fact, the software that the state plans to use to gather
information after a hurricane has been in use in St. Tammany successfully
for several years.) Still, Davis acknowledged that a large population might
decide to stay, despite his many calls to leave before a storm. The parish
needed to be ready to care for that population. "If you remember one of the
issues were trying to get food, water, and gasoline. So, this time we have
partnered with many of those inside of St. Tammany Parish, so we can be
better prepared the next time a hurricane hits." The Northshore leader,
though, recognized that some may have trouble evacuating. Prior to Katrina,
Davis urged all to go with a 100,000 recorded telephone blast, done three
times prior to the Hurricane's land fall. Not all heeded the call. This
time, he explained, there can be no excuse. St. Tammany has created "our
special needs shelter for those that have special needs." 

"They need to be pre-registered, and they can do that by calling our [985]
898-2323 number. So that, if there is some issue, transportation and the
like, we can help them." 

Still, as St. Tammany Emergency Direct Dexter Accardo added, not take the
risk of staying. "As everybody knows, a storm can turn for the best away
from you, or turn for the worst toward you." He urged people to stay turned
to the media and evacuation calls. 

Some are even more vulnerable in St. Tammany Post-Katrina. "At our last
count, we're probably at 5,000 FEMA trailers still in this parish-which will
equate to a minimum of at least 10,000 people that are not in a regular,
rigid structure home. We know that those people are going to need to get out
of those trailers." 

St. Bernard Parish 

Parish leaders agreed St. Bernard is better prepared for a hurricane now
than before Katrina struck but they also contended a Category 3 storm today
could bring water again to the parish, although probably not as much as in
the past because the levees are taller and built better. 

A mandatory evacuation would be issued for approaching storms that are a
Category 3, which have the potential for heavy destruction, and when storm
surge is predicted to be 13 feet. Residents should be ready to leave if a
mandatory evacuation is ordered. President Rodriguez added that he believed
a strong storm would see more residents heed evacuation warnings because of
the experience of Katrina. But if they did not, he warned, there would not
find any shelters of last resort opened in St. Bernard in a strong storm
because they wouldn't be deemed safe. And at some point it would be unsafe
to send out emergency personnel to help people who didn't leave. "I've been
in office 32 years and this is the best we have ever been prepared'' for
hurricane season, Parish President Henry "Junior'' Rodriguez said in
presiding over the conference that brought together the Parish Council,
Sheriff Jack Stephens, Fire Chief Thomas Stone, parish Dave Dysart, manager
of the parish's Office of Emergency Preparedness, State Commissioner of
Agriculture Bob Odom and parish Coroner Bryan Bertucci. Also present were
officials from the National Guard, National Weather Service, State Police,
State Homeland Security, Acadian Ambulance, the Coast Guard, state Wildlife
and Fisheries Department and utility companies and oil refineries. The
parish has a new emergency plan that includes use of warning sirens and a AM
radio station for residents to get instant reports of what is happening,
Rodriguez said. 

Stephens said communications systems between parish agencies and with the
state and other parishes are vastly improved since Hurricane Katrina. The
sheriff also said his department has plans for neighborhood patrols during
evacuations that would continue until "it is imprudent for officers to be on
the streets'' because of safety concerns. 

Stephens also said his office has 18 boats for rescue operations and SWAT
team members are trained in boat patrol. 

In the event of a flood, 50-60 officers would stay at the Domino's sugar
plant in Arabi and 60 National Guard troops would be stationed here along
with some heavy equipment. 

"The Fire Department will be ready'' if there is a hurricane, Fire Chief
Thomas Stone said. Mindful that so much equipment was lost in the flood
waters of Katrina, Stone said, his department has an agreement in which all
apparatus and half the manpower of his department would be moved to
Tangipahoa Parish before a hurricane strikes. 

Rodriguez, Parish Council members Joseph DiFatta, Craig Taffaro Jr., Judy
Hoffmeister and Mark Madary, who last week toured the Mississippi River -
Gulf Outlet by boat along with officials of the Corps of Engineers, and Bob
Turner of the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority office in St.
Bernard, all said it's evident the levees on the MR-GO are in the best shape
they have ever been in. They are built to 20 feet and made of better
material, clay, than in the past. 

Let, Difatta in an interview conceded that the levee system stops at the St.
Bernard Parish line, allowing storm surge to loop around from the
uncompleted levees in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans. The Corps has promised
to extend the levee system to 20 ft to the Industrial Canal, but work is
still underway. Every panel member acknowledged that residents, though, many
still living in FEMA trailers that aren't built to withstand winds of much
more than 40 mph, should be ready to evacuate if a strong storm is
approaching and should already be compiling a list of what they need to be
bringing with them, including prescription medicines, phone numbers, copies
of insurance documents, deeds and titles, cash for extended stays and
supplies for themselves and their pets. 

For those who cannot bring pets, the animals can be brought to an announced
location during an evacuation and they will be buses to areas in Alexandria,
Shreveport and Monroe where they will be taken care of by the state
Agriculture Department, Commissioner Odom said. 

Disabled residents who need help with evacuation should now call the parish
Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, at (504) 278-4268,
to get registered on a list for those who need help. "We lost 154 people''
in the last hurricane, Coroner Bertucci said. "You need to evacuate'' if it
is mandated, he said. "Leave in a timely manner.'' St. Bernard has learned
from Katrina, the Council members said. Now, "one of the most important
things citizens can do is evacuate if an order is issued,'' DiFatta said. 

Hoffmeister said early evacuation is key to survival if a strong storm is
coming. "The number of disabled people living in FEMA trailers'' who would
need assistance is very High, she said. Madary, who has worked to make sure
animals at the parish animal shelter would be evacuated as well parish
residents, said, "Success begins with preparation'' for a storm. "All of us
can look at Katrina as a learning lesson.'' 

Dysart said there are specific timelines for action based on where a
hurricane is. 

The Office of Emergency Preparedness would go on alert when gale force winds
are an estimated 72 hours from the Gulf Coast, Dysart said. 

At 60-55 hours out, special needs residents could be evacuated, while at
50-40 hours out, residents would be ordered to evacuate areas outside the
levee protection system, and at 40-30 hours out there could be an order of
evacuation for the entire parish. The state's contraflow plan would start at
30 hours out from land. 

Stephens said his office can't force people to evacuate but they would be
told at some point that emergency personnel couldn't help them because of
safety factors. "They would be on their own'' if they didn't leave, the
sheriff said.