Louisiana is a high-risk State for emergency events and disasters. In addition to numerous natural disasters – hurricanes, floods, high winds, and others – that threaten our State, we are home to critical supply routes and energy production resources that are attractive targets for man-made disruptions.
Emergency Management
The Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) was created by an act of the Louisiana Legislature – Louisiana Revised Statute (LRS) Title 29:725, the Louisiana Homeland Security and Emergency Assistance and Disaster Act (Louisiana Disaster Act). We are the agency responsible for coordinating the State’s efforts throughout the emergency management cycle to prepare for, prevent where possible, respond to, recover from, and mitigate against to lessen the effects of man-made or natural disasters that threaten our State.
The Director of GOHSEP is appointed by the Governor as the Governor’s Authorized Representative (GAR) for all disasters and acts on behalf of the Governor in the event of an emergency or disaster.
The Director of GOHSEP is also appointed by the Governor as the State’s Homeland Security Advisor (HSA) for all homeland security-related matters.
State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC)
Louisiana’s Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) – a state-of-the-art command and control center – is operated within and staffed by GOHSEP. The State’s response during an emergency or disaster is managed through the SEOC. When activated, the SEOC serves as a central operations center for emergency response.
The SEOC serves as the state Multi-Agency Coordination Center (MACC) in order to coordinate and synchronize state agency and federal agency responses to all incidents.
Grants Coordination
Federal grants are awarded to the State for a variety of purposes. Non-disaster related grants – also called preparedness grants – help the State build capacity so that it is better able to respond to and recover from an emergency or disaster. Disaster-related grants are enabled by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Management Act (Stafford Act) and provide funding for response, recovery and Mitigation efforts as a direct result of an emergency or disaster.
GOHSEP is also a gateway for grants and technical assistance to other State agencies, local authorities and eligible nonprofits (those providing critical governmental-type services). We help those entities identify, get, and keep Federal assistance through preparedness or post-disaster grants awarded to GOHSEP (Grantee) and sub-granted to others (subgrantee or sub-recipient). As the Grantee receiving Federal grant funds, GOHSEP administers Federal grants, subgrants, and programs, helping to ensure Louisiana subgrant recipients are in compliance with Federal requirements.
Organizational Structure
GOHSEP is organized around five (5) focus areas: Prepare – Prevent – Respond – Recover – Mitigate and comprised of the Executive Office and five (5) divisions:
Grants and Administration
Emergency Management
Homeland Security and Interoperability
Public Assistance
Hazard Mitigation Assistance
Training + Exercise + Community Education + Outreach
GOHSEP has a robust training and exercise program for first responders. It offers significant training opportunities for preparedness and emergency operations planning, as well as emergency and disaster prevention, response, and recovery planning.
GOHSEP also offers program-specific education and stakeholder outreach for Louisiana grant sub-recipients for Public Assistance (PA), Hazard Mitigation (HM), and Preparedness grants offered through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
