FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
State of Louisiana Office of the Governor GOVERNOR BOBBY JINDAL |
September 1, 2012 Press Office: Kyle Plotkin Contact: 225-342-8006, (c) 225- 328-3755 |
Gov. Jindal Holds Unified Command Group,
Updates On State Response to Isaac
BATON ROUGE – Governor Bobby Jindal held a Unified Command Group meeting today and outlined the state’s response to Isaac.
Note: Facts and figures below are current as of this morning’s Unified Command Group Meeting. These numbers change throughout each day. Please contact the Joint Information Center (225-358-5361) to receive updated information.
SEARCH & RESCUE/EVACUATION UPDATE
• In St. John the Baptist Parish, the Guard has rescued and/or evacuated 4,801 citizens and 36 pets and is continuing security operations. Supporting efforts in St. John Parish, the Guard has provided and is using 63 Humvees, 13 high-water vehicles, and one Mobile Operations Command Center.
• In Ascension Parish, a National Guard 66-man engineer team is staged in Ascension Parish for HESCO Bastion barrier emplacement as needed, as well as eight Guardsmen and four high-water vehicles in support of Search and Rescue Operations. Current assets staged in Gonzales by the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries include 20 LDWF agents with 20 vessels and 20 trucks.
• In Ascension, DOTD utilized 5 trucks to move 4,000 sandbags to Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Ascension Parish to assist in flood protection efforts.
• In Tangipahoa Parish, the Guard is conducting Search and Rescue, Security and Evacuation Operations. The Guard has staged 566 Guardsmen, one LUH-72 Lakota helicopter, 72 Humvees, 42 high-water vehicles, 66 buses for evacuation operations and four Zodiac boats. The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has placed the Mobile Command Center, 29 LDWF agents with 29 vessels and 29 trucks in Tangipahoa for the operation. DOTD has 137 coaches pre-staged in the Tangipahoa area to further assist with any evacuation efforts related to potential flooding in the area.
• In Livingston Parish, the Guard supported Search and Rescue operations with six Humvees, rescuing 52 citizens and 22 pets.
• In St. Tammany Parish, the Guard has rescued 83 citizens and is continuing security operations with 90 Guardsmen.
• In Orleans Parish, the Guard has rescued 20 citizens, and provided security for six shelters and 270 Guardsmen to assist NOPD with security operations.
• In Plaquemines Parish, the Guard rescued approximately 152 citizens and 7 pets while assisting local authorities in Search and Rescue Operations and will continue those operations today.
• In St. Bernard Parish, the Guard has rescued 118 citizens and conducted security operations in support of local authorities.
• To date, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has rescued 1,522 people and 132 pets.
EXECUTIVE ORDER/DECLARATION UPDATE
• The federal government authorized Individual Assistance for the following parishes: Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. John the Baptist, Jefferson, St. Tammany, Orleans, Ascension, Lafourche and Livingston
• The state has also requested that the federal government amend its disaster declaration and authorize Individual Assistance and categories C-G of public assistance for the following parishes: Assumption, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Pointe Coupee, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. Mary, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Washington, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana.
AGENCY UPDATE
Louisiana National Guard:
• The Louisiana National Guard has 6,704 Soldiers and Airmen on duty in support of the response to Isaac. The Guard has assisted in the rescue and/or evacuation of 5,227 citizens throughout the state.
• The Guard is currently supporting 33 open POD sites in 10 parishes:
o Iberville – 3
o Jefferson - 6
o Lafourche – 4
o St James – 4
o St John - 4
o Terrebonne - 1
o Orleans - 5
o Plaquemines - 1
o St Bernard - 2
o St .Tammany-3
Bossier
• The Guard is assisting the Louisiana State Police by provided 32 Guardsmen for security operations at the Jewella shelter.
East Baton Rouge
• In East Baton Rouge Parish, the Guard has provided seven trucks to pick up seven 18-wheeler trailers of tarps and provided 30 Guardsmen to the Regional Staging Area.
East Feliciana
• In East Feliciana Parish, the Guard continues to provide a 4-man team to support security missions as needed.
Jefferson
• The Guard has rescued one citizen during Search and Rescue Operations. The Guard has moved one UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter to Jefferson Parish for a pump repositioning mission.
Livingston
• The Guard is conducting an Engineer route clearance mission in Livingston Parish.
Orleans Parish
• The Guard has supported Orleans Parish in clearing approximately 3.6 miles of debris.
Plaquemines Parish
• After reports of a possible chlorine leak at a water treatment plant near Braithwaite, the St. Bernard Fire Department stated that there was no leak. Although, in the interest of public safety, the Guard’s 62nd Civil Support Team, a specialized chemical detection unit, deployed this morning to test and verify the stability of the containers and to determine what further actions may be needed.
• The Guard deployed 30 Guardsmen to lower Plaquemines Parish to assist law enforcement with maintaining security.
• At the request of the Naval Air Station-Joint Reserve Base in Belle Chasse, the Louisiana Air National Guard is augmenting security forces on the base.
• In Plaquemines Parish, the Guard is continuing security operations in support of the Plaquemines Sherriff’s Office.
St. James
• In St. James Parish, the Guard is continuing security operations.
Sheltering/DCFS:
• As of this morning, there were an estimated 4,441 people registered in shelters across the state. The population at all state-run shelters (both CTN and MSN) – as of this morning – was 3,273 evacuees.
• There were 1,388 evacuees at the Alexandria mega-shelter, 1,767 evacuees at the Jewella shelter in Shreveport (an increase of 254 from yesterday because of continued evacuations from St. John Parish), 35 medical special needs evacuees at the LSU Field House and 70 at the Alexandria medical special needs shelter. There are also 9 evacuees at the Bossier City Civic Center MSN and 4 at the Southeastern MSN shelters.
• There are an estimated 1,986 evacuees located at other parish run, faith-based and Red Cross shelters around the state. This is a reduction of almost 2,600 evacuees since this time yesterday as some shelters are closing and evacuees begin to return home when possible. Of those, 29 (a reduction of 403 since yesterday) are at parish-run shelters in impacted areas, 196 are at faith-based shelters, and 894 (a reduction of 464) are located at Red Cross shelters around the state.
• There is one Federal Special Needs Shelter currently open, with another expected to open tomorrow. The Federal Special Needs Shelter at the Morial Convention Center in New Orleans has 49 evacuees.
• Most of the people who evacuated from Tangipahoa Parish because of the potential of a dam break have left shelters. There are currently 169 residents in these shelters, a reduction of 587 evacuees since yesterday. There currently are 9 evacuees at the Ponchatoula High School shelter. Red Cross shelters in the area housing evacuees are Amite High School, Hammond Jr. High, Kentwood High School, Natalbany Middle School, and Neson Elementary.
• On Friday, DCFS issued a request to USDA Food and Nutrition Service to activate the DSNAP program in Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. John the Baptist and St. Tammany parishes. DCFS plans to request DSNAP for the additional parishes that the state requested be added to the Individual Assistance declaration once those have been approved by FEMA.
Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority:
• As of this morning, the Braithwaite Park Pump Station continues to run at approximately 100 cfs to dewater to Scarsdale/Braithwaite area. The pumps have enough fuel to run for an additional four days continuously. SLPFA-E representatives will meet Plaquemines Parish operators on site today to repair the Scarsdale Pump Station to provide additional pumping capacity and also to assess a possible second breach location in Scarsdale.
• CPRA will provide assistance to the Pontchartrain Levee District to assess the extent of flood conditions in St. John the Baptist Parish.
• CPRA, with the support of BEOC (Business Emergency Operations Center), secured 700 pallets, which will facilitate transport of sandbags. 2,500 sandbags will be transported to the Lake Pontchartrain Levee District to assist in flood-fighting efforts.
• CPRA reviewed the dewatering plan for Myrtle Grove and the surrounding areas in Plaquemines Parish. The plan involved making 10 breaches on the Back Protection Levee. As of 9 p.m., last night (Aug. 31) seven of the 10 breaches had been cut.
• CPRA, along with the Corps of Engineers and local levee districts, is conducting damage assessments that will continue throughout the weekend. Teams are scheduled to deploy today (Sept. 1) to the following areas: West Bank – West of Harvey, West Bank – East of Harvey, Grand Isle and Plaquemines.
• CPRA has provided a total of 20 pumps to Plaquemines, St. Charles, Lafourche and the town of Lafitte in Jefferson.
o Seven of the 20 pumps were deployed to Lafitte. Currently, four of the seven pumps are in use. CPRA is working with Jefferson Parish on logistical details to engage the additional three pumps.
o Nine of the 20 pumps have been deployed to Plaquemines Parish. CPRA is currently working with the parish to identify additional needs.
Department of Transportation and Development:
• To date, DOTD has 887 staff and 423 trucks and equipment deployed assisting with hurricane response efforts. There are 4,584 miles of roads in the affected area and 75 miles have been cleared but 403 miles are still closed. To date, DOTD crews have picked up 824.27 cubic yards of debris, and repaired 99 traffic signals across the affected areas.
• To date, DOTD has provided 1,144 yards of sand; 4,000 sandbags and 750 linear feet of Hesco baskets. Additionally, DOTD has moved more than 424 cubic yards of sand and sandbags to assist in flood protection efforts and coordinated the mobilization of 276 coaches, 24 para-transit and handicap accessibly vehicles, 68 school buses and over a dozen pet transport vehicles to assist in the evacuation of people from the path of Hurricane Isaac and the subsequent area flooding.
• I-10 from Baton Rouge to New Orleans is now accessible for travelers. DOTD opened all lanes on I-10 East at LA 22 in Ascension Parish. The left lane is now open on I-10 East at Mile Marker 209 in Laplace, and the right lane remains closed.
• DOTD opened the Empire Locks in Plaquemines to assist in the removal of floodwaters.
• All movable bridges in St. Tammany Parish are closed due to flooding.
Department of Health & Hospitals:
• Twenty-one (21) nursing homes housing 2,520 residents across the state are currently operating on generator power. Since yesterday, there have been 16 net fewer nursing homes and 1,716 fewer residents residing in homes operating on generator power. 17 nursing homes returned to normal power operations and one new nursing home in Harahan was confirmed to be running on generator power.
• Twelve (12) hospitals housing 464 patients across the state are currently operating on generator power. Since yesterday, 1 net fewer hospital is relying on generator power, impacting 123 fewer net patients. Over the past 24 hours, three hospitals have gained normal power operations, one moved patients to its main campus (Children’s Calhoun) and three hospitals confirmed or came back on generator operation.
• There are 218 ambulances in the state, as follows:
o 90 State ambulances
o 4 Contracted Support ambulances
o 104 Federal ambulances
o 20 Para transit vehicles
Office of Juvenile Justice:
• Youth who were evacuated from Bridge City Center for Youth near New Orleans, to shelter at Jetson Center for Youth in Baker for the duration of hurricane activity, have been returned to Bridge City.
Louisiana Department of Education:
• As of now, there are two parishes that are closing schools on Tuesday (9/4).
Department of Corrections:
• The Department has returned OPP inmate evacuees to OPP and also returned Terrebonne Parish inmates to the parish facility.
Division of Administration:
• To date, state agencies have spent $76 million and parishes have spent $10.1 million.
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