Terrebonne Parish - Needs Assessment

Following the storm events of 2005, and in facilitation of this plan, primary responders, along with governmental and service agencies worked closely with the planning team to identify needs, forge new ideas and process information brought forth by residents, organizations, and government officials of Terrebonne Parish. In assessing all information and concerns received, the following general, overarching needs to the long term recovery of Terrebonne Parish are as follows:

• In Terrebonne Parish, there is never a single year in the life of any primary emergency responder or emergency preparedness personnel when they will not be deployed to facilitate pre and post disaster emergency operations. The memories of 2005 heighten the urgency to address the visceral needs to properly facilitate the response and communication capabilities in meeting the obligation to protect the health, safety, and general welfare of the citizens of our local and regional community.
  
  
• Immediately after Hurricane Katrina struck, criticism began about how slow the federal response was. While the damages in Terrebonne Parish from this event paled by comparison with the experiences of our neighboring parishes to the east, the fact remained that, but by the “Grace of God,” Terrebonne Parish was spared the brunt of these storms. Had the Parish had the similar misfortune of its neighbors to the east, similar death and destruction would have occurred.
  
  
• While the Parish has an adequate response mechanism for normal disasters, if a catastrophic event occurs, it does not have the facility/complex to stage a comprehensive unified command representative of all jurisdictions and responding agencies in the Parish. The Parish did not have a “centralized incident command post” that would signify to all concerned the location of a tactical-level, on scene incident command and management organization. It was voiced that a “base” of command, comprising the immediate staff of all other designated incident management officials and responders from federal, state, and local agencies, as well as private sector and nongovernmental organizations, should be established and function as the locus for the direct, on-scene control of response operations.
  
  
• There lacks a centralized staging area for the temporary location of available resources to enable positioning of and accountings for resources/equipment not immediately assigned. There is no facility in which personnel, supplies, and equipment can be temporarily housed or parked while awaiting operational assignment. There is no staging area to accommodate temporary feeding, fueling, and sanitation services of mutual aid responders.
  
  
• Citizens expressed concern regarding the availability and appropriateness of hurricane shelters and evacuation routes in the Parish. The American Red Cross decided several years ago that hurricane evacuation shelters in and around southeast Louisiana were unsafe. Accordingly, it made a policy decision to no longer sponsor and manage such shelters in the Parish of Terrebonne. The responsibility for maintenance and management of hurricane shelters is now the responsibility of the Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government. Specific to this concern was the ability of Parish Government to properly operate a shelter, as well as provide emergency response services in the immediate aftermath of a storm event.
  
  
• Additionally, evacuation out of Terrebonne Parish remains a major concern. The main evacuation route in the Parish is U. S. Highway 90. The delays experienced in the evacuation of coastal Louisiana and the metro area of New Orleans served to heighten the need for north/south access to Interstates 10, 12, and 55.
  
  
• A hurricane levee protection system is nonexistent in Terrebonne Parish. All levees, located south of the Intracoastal Canal were breached during Hurricane Rita. This lack of hurricane protection increases the vulnerability of the Parish to complete destruction, as witnessed in St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parishes subsequent to Hurricane Katrina.
  
  
• The extensive system of draw bridges in the Parish, coupled with the potential for power outages, leaves parish citizens residing in the southern areas of the Parish extremely vulnerable and at risk for being “cut off” from emergency responders immediately following major storm events.
  
  
• The lack of a DOTD maintenance facility in the Parish results in little or no heavy equipment or available manpower to clear state roadways of debris in a timely manner.
  
  
• The lack of parishwide community sewerage results in the contamination of flood waters and increases the potential for disease.
  
  
• More needs to be done to elevate homes located below the base flood elevation requirements so that future flood losses and residential damages are reduced. It was noted that, all structures elevated under the Terrebonne Parish Hazard Mitigation Programs did not sustain damages from either storm events.
  
  
• U. S. Highway 90 traverses Terrebonne Parish and serves as a critical east/west evacuation route for the entire Gulf coast of Louisiana. There is a need to establish a command and control center by which linkages/coordination with DOTD, the State Police, the LA Dept. of Homeland Security/Emergency Operations, local law enforcement and emergency responders can be facilitated in the implementation of traffic management protocols during times of evacuation.