PRESS RELEASE Governor Jindal’s 5 PM Update on Hurricane Gustav Preparedness Efforts, Announces 4 AM Contraflow Across South LA and School Closures Governor Jindal said, “The National Hurricane Center is reporting that the storm went into a high-end category 3 in 24-hours. It is now up to a category 4 storm, and expected to be a category 5 by late tonight. On this track, the storm is expected to make landfall Monday on the Louisiana coast, anywhere from New Orleans to Lake Charles, and as a category 3 or stronger. “They are forecasting tropical storm winds around midnight tomorrow and a significant storm surge along our coast Monday and even up above coastal parishes. Fifty-four out of our 64 parishes in the state have now declared a state of emergency, including parishes as far north as Caddo and Bossier.” The Governor announced that the following parishes have declared mandatory evacuations, and state continues to work closely with all coastal parishes as they execute their evacuation plans:
The Governor also said that this morning he spoke to President Bush about the state’s response efforts, along with the Governors of Mississippi and Oklahoma (yesterday). Governor Jindal also met with Mayor Nagin again today in New Orleans. Governor Jindal issued an executive order today, closing schools in 30 parishes on Tuesday and Wednesday. This will allow those parishes to provide shelters to their population in case the storm comes their way, and to assist South Louisiana in their evacuation efforts. The parishes affected include those in central and North Louisiana: Avoyelles, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Catahoula, Claiborne, Concordia, DeSoto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, and Winn. NATIONAL GUARD UPDATE: The Governor announced that the Louisiana National Guard is in the process of requesting two multipurpose infantry battalions from Kentucky and Tennessee. These include more than 700 personnel each, who would help support possible response operations after the storm passes. The 28 aircrafts the Guard requested from other states will arrive today in Esler Field in Pineville. These aircrafts will then reposition with the other guard aircraft in MS or TX prior to the storm. They will support sandbag operations and reconnaissance flights over the impacted areas. Hundreds of soldiers and airmen from across the state are working in New Orleans as bus drivers and to assist in the evacuation operations. They will drive hundreds of school buses from the Department of Education to assist in New Orleans evacuation efforts. Guard headquarter units are deploying today to Rayne, Breaux Bridge, Iowa, Napoleonville and Lake Charles to assist local officials in their evacuation efforts and the security of communities as people leave their homes. Six guard boat teams are also being staged at those locations to stand ready to assist in possible rescue operations. CONTRA-FLOW UPDATE: EXECUTIVE ORDERS ISSUED TODAY: DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES UPDATE: Governor Jindal said DNR is calling all coastal parish EOC operations to identify fuel shortages and work with the industry to resupply fuel as needed. The Governor said that the state is working with St. Bernard Parish in particular to provide assistance to their personnel in evacuating, so they can remain at work in order to provide fuel supply for as long as possible before the storm hits. Jindal urged citizens to get the fuel they need to evacuate as soon as possible. Governor added that the EPA has approved the state’s requested waiver to allow the use of winter-blended fuel, which is more readily available, and the state is currently requesting a waiver on diesel fuel. EVACUATION UPDATE: Governor Jindal said that more than 100 commercial buses today, supplemented with hundreds of schools buses are assisting evacuation efforts across coastal Louisiana. The Governor said that the state has also identified additional spaces in several other states to shelter those citizens evacuating, including: MO, AR, TN, GA, TX, OK, KY. Governor Jindal added that DSS has established a phone number to be used for the reporting of any unaccompanied minor children in shelters, which can be accessed by calling 1-888-LAHELPU (1-888-524-3578). This phone number is currently active and is available 24 hours a day. DHH UPDATE: The Governor announced that the state will receive additional ambulances tonight from other states, including:
DHH has also today requested an additional 100 ambulances from FEMA, and they are working with Acadian Ambulance to identify additional units from other states. At 5PM, the Governor gave an update that 44 nursing homes have been evacuated, four have evacuated with DHH assistance, and DHH will be assisting six additional nursing homes that requested help. A total of 29 hospitals have evacuated, and five have fully evacuated. Additionally, the Governor said that DHH is asking the federal government to support them in adding 500 more medical special needs beds. SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAMS: The state has also requested four units manned for search and rescue operations from FEMA, which would be repositioned at Camp Beauregard along with the state search and rescue units. These units include one Type 1 (85 main team) and three Type 3s (35 man teams). Governor Jindal said the state has requested another 85-member team from Alabama, and one each from North Carolina and South Carolina. The state is also working with Texas to possibly get a team from them if their state is not as affected. SAR units will stage on Monday, and be ready to respond. Additionally, the Wildlife department has requested an additional 200 agents through the EMAC from other states, in order to relieve our LA agents in their response operations. DOC UPDATE: How to Sign Up for State Alerts – An Easy, Step-by-Step Process
If you decide that you would like to stop receiving emergency alerts on your cell phone, cell phone or other personal communications devices, simply return to the www.mystateusa.com website, go to the “AlertSense” page and click on “Unsubscribe Me.” ###
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