[StBernard] St. Bernard Gustav update

[Westley Annis]

ST. BERNARD PARISH ANTICIPATES CALLING MANDATORY EVACUATION SOME TIME
SATURDAY, AUG. 30 FOR GUSTAV

Parish assisted evacuation for residents with special and medical needs 

begins Friday, Aug. 29 

 

St. Bernard Parish President Craig P. Taffaro Jr. said Thursday night he
anticipates calling a mandatory, parish-wide evacuation for all residents
some time Saturday, Aug. 30, in anticipation of Tropical Storm Gustav.

 

Evacuation for residents with special and medical needs, who have registered
with the parish, will begin Friday, Aug. 29 by appointment. Any special
needs residents must register before midnight tonight by calling
504-278-1593.

 

Those who are not capable of self-evacuation and who need to use
state-provided transportation will begin the evacuation process Saturday
from 6 a.m. to noon. 

 

Once the mandatory evacuation is in effect, the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's
Office will enforce a 24-hour curfew where residents will not be allowed to
leave their homes and no one will be allowed to enter the parish, said Chief
Deputy James Pohlmann. The Sheriff's Office will begin monitoring the
neighborhoods with increased patrols assisted by the National Guard to
protect property. The parish prison will be closed, and anyone arrested will
be taken directly to Angola Prison. 

 

The Katrina Commemorative event at Shell Beach scheduled for Friday at 11
a.m. has been cancelled, but the 7:30 a.m. Mass at Our Lady of Prompt Succor
Church and the 8:30 a.m. Day of Reflection breakfast at Chalmette High
School are still scheduled.

 

St. Bernard Parish public schools, Our Lady of Prompt Succor and Lynn Oaks
School will remain open Friday, but there will be no after-school activities
and no after-school care. The jamboree football games at Chalmette High
School have been cancelled. 

 

Boaters should monitor media updates to learn when the locks at Bayous Dupre
and Bienvenue will be closed.

 

Residents who cannot afford to evacuate on their own and will need
transportation to a state-run shelter should show up at one of the
designated pick-up points along the St. Bernard Urban Rapid Transit
Evacuation Route. 

 

There are six pick-up points along Judge Perez Drive. A SBURT bus will come
by every 30 minutes Saturday from 6 a.m. to noon to pick up residents who
lack personal transportation or who cannot self-evacuate. They will be
brought to the staging area where they will be registered and placed on
state busses to be taken to state-run shelters. 

 

Residents who need assistance evacuating should remember to medicines and
prescriptions in their original bottles or packages and bring identification
and important papers. Residents will be allowed only one small carry-on bag
per person, no more than 45-inch total dimensions. Pet carriers, purses and
diaper bags will not count as your one carry-on bag. Pets must be in pet
carriers in order to be evacuated. Vehicles may be left at the pick-up
points below.

 

The pick up points are:

 

*	Celebration Church, 7500 W. Judge Perez Drive in Arabi
*	Our Lady of Prompt Succor Church, 2320 Paris Road in Chalmette.
*	Chalmette High School, 1100 E. Judge Perez Drive in Chalmette.
*	Corinne Missionary Baptist Church, 5620 E. Judge Perez Drive in
Violet
*	Beauregard Middle School, 1201 Bayou Road in St. Bernard
*	Fanz Mobile Home Park, 2100 West Fanz in St. Bernard

 

Tune to the local media for information. Also, St. Bernard Parish Government
will be issuing updates on its website at www.sbpg.net
<http://www.sbpg.net/> , on its cable access station at channel 76 for Cox
Communications customers and on its emergency communications radio station
at 1680-AM.

 

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