March 31, 2009

Baton Rouge – The following parishes have requested assistance from the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) as a result of severe weather that moved through Louisiana March 26-28, 2009: East Baton Rouge, Lafourche, Plaquemines, St. Mary, Terrebonne and Washington. These parishes also declared a State of Emergency at the local level: Assumption, East Baton Rouge, Lafourche, St. Mary, Tensas and Terrebonne.

Beginning today, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and State Individual Assistance (IA) teams are conducting official assessments of damages by the recent storms in Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes. Remaining parishes will be assessed throughout the week. Along with representatives from the Small Business Administration, these teams are designed to review damages as a preliminary step to determine eligibility to the Individual Assistance program. If eligible, individual assistance goes to those whose personal property received damage. These Preliminary Damage Assessments (PDAs) are the first step in assessing whether the state should request a presidential declaration. The deployment of the federal and state teams were the result of preliminary assessments by the local governments.

Public Assistance PDAs will start this week. The assessment teams will determine: (1) The types of damage; (2) Emergency costs incurred by the local and county governments; and (3) The impact to critical facilities such as public utilities, hospitals, schools, and fire and police departments.

GOHSEP will review the results of the PDAs. If the information gathered during the assessment phase certifies that damages are beyond state and local recovery capabilities, the findings will be used by Governor Bobby Jindal to support a request for a presidential declaration.

 

Media Contacts:
Veronica Mosgrove, GOHSEP
225-573-3718 / 225-358-5667
vmosgrove@OHSEP.louisiana.gov