| ; , LA AREA: (various) |
| 04/01/2006 36 Months |
| Current Status |
Effective Date |
Comments |
| Included in Recovery Plan |
04/07/2006 |
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This project consists of three phases:
1. Upgrade the plans for the "shelters of last resort" to better provide for evacuees' needs for the future hurricane season.
During the Rita hurricane, Allen Parish did not have a sufficient number of designated evacuation shelters. There were approximately 10 shelters operating at a capacity of approximately 1800-2000 evacuees. There is a need to upgrade "shelters of last resort" before the hurricane season. Firstly it would be vital to determine the needs of the existing shelters that operated during the Katrina and Rita and supply them with necessary tools to provide evacuees with basic human needs. Emergency power generation is necessary to provide continuing human services, and the requirement to communicate with one another is of high priority. Most available locations lack shower facilities or may need to upgrade kitchen equipment. Funding of $750,000 would provide 10 existing shelters with a 50K generators, communication assets, and any necessary human service improvements, i.e. showers, kitchens, etc.
2. Enhance existing or planned multi-purpose buildings to be used as "shelters."
Existing or planned multi-purpose buildings should be enhanced in the event they are needed for disaster response. A requirement of five Multi-Purpose facilities with evacuation shelter capabilities is necessary. It is estimated that one well equipped facility could well replace five of the less capable shelters. A preliminary evaluation has identified three multipurpose building enhancement candidates.
1) The Village of Reeves has received a grant to construct a recreation facility pavilion. With additional funding, the building, or part of it, could be enclosed. As an enclosed structure the pavilion could be used as a shelter, staging area for local emergency personal, and other community events.
2) There is a Community Center planned for the Town of Kinder. Before final approval, the center should consider evacuee capabilities.
3) The Town of Elizabeth has a community center that could be used as a "refuge of last resort". Funding of $2,500,000 would provide improvements to five facilities to be capable of being used as shelter for 300-400 evacuees. It would be sufficient to design improvements to equip facilities with proper assets.
3. Concurrent to the above plans, create a regional shelter plan to include all the parishes in SW Louisiana.
The creation of a regional shelter plan is needed to assist in the evacuation needs of all of SW Louisiana. This plan should take into consideration the State of Texas Evacuation Procedures; Texans are likely to come to Louisiana to seek shelter during emergencies. The current state evacuation plan assumed that residents of southern Louisiana would travel north past Allen Parish. Unfortunately, many people were left stranded in Allen Parish without fuel to continue farther north. The state plan also did not take into account that people would remain in southern Louisiana and travel east or west to avoid a direct hit from the storms, instead of trying to avoid the entire storm. A regional plan is needed to ensure that parishes work together on their efforts to provide the appropriate number of shelters in the best locations.
$30,000 (300 hours @ $100/hour)
The Project will eventually effect all aspect of evacuee assistance during hurricane.
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