Facilities designated for flood of residents fleeing hurricane
Nick Todaro, Reporter
08-28-2008
Lincoln Parish learned some lessons from Hurricane Katrina, and its
president hopes the on-the-job training from that event will keep the parish
prepared for whatever fallout comes our way from Gustav.Emergency preparedness officials met this morning to discuss details and get organized.
More meetings are planned as the week progresses into the weekend. Police Jury President Mickey Mays said it is likely the parish will see more evacuees than during Hurricane Katrina because of lessons learned in that storm.
First, the parish has to hammer out where evacuees will stay — Civic Center Director Judy Burt said she’s heard reports that say if the storm tracks directly into New Orleans, evacuees will be out of their homes for four to six weeks.
Dennis Woodward, Lincoln Parish Police Jury administrator, said plans call for evacuation of coastal Louisiana about 50 hours before hurricane-force winds hit the area. With current forecasts, that puts the mass of evacuations on Saturday.
Contraflow on state roads will begin Sunday, he said.
Red Cross shelters in the area would be called into action by that organization once the state’s major site at Hirsch Coliseum in Shreveport fills, he said. Those include the Ruston Civic Center, Emmanuel Baptist Church and Trinity United Methodist Church, and can house around 1,000 evacuees total. About 1,000 cots have already been reserved for the area’s Red Cross shelters, Woodward said. Burt said bedding is still being located. Plans have been laid out for Aramark to provide food where it can to Red Cross shelters, she said.
Louisiana Tech and Grambling State University have also prepared for incoming students.
Tech Police Chief Randal Hermes said Nicholls State University has already set up to evacuate to Tech. GSU Interim Police Chief Freddie Peterson said Xavier University has set up to bring 300 students to GSU. Tech will try to handle overflow from Xavier or others if the need arises, Hermes said.
Julie Roberts, gate supervisor at Lincoln Parish Park, said she is referring people to an Oak Grove RV park, to the town of Simsboro and anywhere else she can find them a spot because the park has already filled. James Ramsaur, director of the parish park, said Oak Grove has 155 spaces available and 30 50-amp water and sewage sites.
Ruston’s Fairfield Inn and Suites and Holiday Inn are completely booked, mostly with evacuees. Yvette Moss, Hampton Inn’s general manager, said the hotel is full to capacity with about 80 percent of rooms being reserved by evacuees.
The North Louisiana Exhibition Center is full until Tuesday morning when people clear out from one of the venue’s biggest events of the year, said Director Angela Manning. If people were to stay at the Expo Center, she said it would have to be short term.
“Having no sewerage is our main issue, and we already have a contract for next weekend for bull riding and the Louisiana Team Roping Association,” she said.
In the facility’s 4-H barn, Manning has agreed to house dogs from a shelter in Calcasieu Parish. The barn has 69 stalls, she said. During hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Expo Center received 29 dogs. Manning said she is willing to help in any way she can.
Mays was concerned about medical assistance for evacuees, which Woodward said likely will be the responsibility of the parish, at least for the first few days.
Another of May’s concerns was counseling services, which probably will be the parish’s responsibility as well.
“(During Katrina) when you saw somebody melt down in the lobby of the Civic Center, the best you could do was give them a hug,” he said.
Transportation is also a key factor, Burt said, and was a problem during Katrina.
Woodward will try to coordinate with the Lincoln Parish School Board and other community groups for bus use during the day to transport evacuees to showers and food centers.
Law enforcement will provide security at Red Cross shelters — the Sheriff’s Office will handle church shelters, and Ruston Police will man the Civic Center.
More information will become available as Woodward meets with regional emergency preparedness officials and the parish convenes for more briefings in the next few days.
A day after stalling off Haiti’s coast, Gustav was centered about 80 miles east of Kingston, Jamaica, and moving slowly toward the west-southwest near 6 mph at 8 a.m. EDT today. The storm was expected to pass very close to Jamaica later in the day, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Gaining strength over warm Caribbean waters, Gustav is expected to again become a hurricane later today.
The National Hurricane Center said maximum sustained winds rose from about 50 mph to near 70 mph overnight.
Meanwhile, a new tropical depression formed farther east in the Atlantic with winds near 35 mph. Forecasters said Wednesday that Gustav could strengthen to a Category 3 hurricane with winds of 111 mph or higher in coming days before hitting somewhere between the Florida Panhandle and Texas.
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