One Team, One Fight Cooperation Bringing Recovery To Southeast Louisiana
Release Date: February 8, 2006
Release Number: 1603-335
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BATON ROUGE, La. -- At one end of the room are two flags. One is for the people of the United States ; the other, the citizens of Louisiana - the Stars and Stripes and the colors of "The Pelican State." The flags, like the people they represent, stand side by side. A sign on the wall reads "One Team. One Fight."
The "team," crowded around a large conference table, consists of federal, state and local officials, contractors and a host of others involved in the hurricane recovery effort. There are decision makers from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (OHSEP), Plaquemines Parish government officials, along with members of the local school board, social workers, government contractors and numerous representatives of community and faith-based voluntary organizations.
They are gathered to plan the temporary housing that is bringing displaced residents back home to this part of south Louisiana -- just one round in the "fight" to rebuild a demolished area.
They came from across the parish, from across the state and across the nation. Most didn't know each other five months ago, many have worked together on a daily basis ever since. There are smiles and familiar greetings all around. The meeting is presided over by Emily Campbell, a civil engineer for the parish and its de facto head of temporary housing.
This is the Plaquemines Parish Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Belle Chasse. It's not far from Hurricane Katrina's ground zero. Although several dozen miles downriver from New Orleans ' Lower 9 th Ward, ground zero is no less devastated than the better known neighborhood to the north. There's a forty-five mile stretch with virtually no habitable homes or buildings, says Lou Narciso, FEMA's housing coordinator for this area.
Suspended on the wall of the EOC conference room, watching over the congregation is a 686 pound blue marlin. At first glance it could be mistaken for a small submarine. If not for a little plaque below the giant, revealing the name of a lucky fisherman, one might assume this is just another reminder washed onshore by Katrina. "Caught off the South Pass ," says one of those gathered. "Best fishing in the world."
The record-size trophy on the wall is a symbol of better times not the ones in the past, but the ones in the future. This is the mouth of the ( Mississippi ) river, part of Sportsman's Paradise country and the people in this room are doing their best to get it back on its feet.
Although officials concede the temporary housing process is on a slower-than-normal pace due to the extreme devastation, a drive through the area shows progress being made. FEMA-provided temporary housing is a common site. The shiny white units stand in stark contrast to the dusty haze of the recovery efforts.
Spray painted communications on the sides of damaged homes between insurance companies and homeowners provide splashes of color in an otherwise mud-caked land.
Engineers and heavy equipment continue to shore up the levees. Grounded fishing fleets are prepared for salvage or stabilized for the move hundreds of yards back to the water. Countless lines of damaged and destroyed automobiles arranged door to door, stand ready for removal. Tangled fields of debris are being organized into orderly piles awaiting pickup. Workers drag heavy appliances to the side of the road and toss them onto trucks moving slowly along the highway.
Only when a sufficient amount of debris is cleared can utilities such as water, power and sewer be restored and allow the temporary housing program to get up to full steam.
Today's meeting at the EOC is aimed at building on the progress. The mood in the room is energized. The agenda centers around two large group sites in Plaquemines Parish being readied for occupancy. These are neighborhood sized concentrations of the FEMA units used by evacuees in their transition back to more permanent accommodations.
The team has established numerous smaller concentrations of the gleaming white homes occupied along Highway 23 and in other parts of the parish southeast of New Orleans . It is also providing single units to eligible property owners who have the necessary facilities. Group sites go far beyond the scope of these smaller clusters. Designed to house hundreds of families, group sites have special concerns and needs due to their larger size.
It's the team's job to recognize those needs and provide solutions. They are creating the model for the soon-to-open sites and the ones that will follow -- here and across the state.
Campbell runs through a list of issues; from security of the residents, to making sure the kids will have a place to expend the energy of youth; from school registrations and bus stops to laundry facilities; from crisis counseling to matters of faith. Each issue is quickly met with cooperative suggestions from someone across the table or across the room. Action items are noted and assigned to the responsible parties. The mission is not only to make residents feel welcome in these home-away-from-home sites, but to also make the sites welcome in their new neighborhoods.
The talk turns to establishing a community center in the group site as a center for activities and recreation for residents. Ideas come fast and furious from all sides of the room. "We need sports equipment for the kids." "It should have crisis-counseling facilities." "And, tutors." "Computers, the Internet..." "Can we get these things?"
"There are people out there with these things and they're willing to help," says Campbell . "Fish around and find them." It's an appropriate choice of words considering the location. If the fish on the wall is an indicator of the resolve in the group, it will be found.
The representative from the school board is excited. "I don't think these kids are going to miss a beat," she says.
Someone wonders, "At what point are we doing too much?"
"I would love for the people in these sites to tell me we are doing too much for them," responds Campbell . As the group shares a laugh, Campbell can be heard telling the person next to her, "This parish has a history of taking care of its people."
The members of this team intend to carry on that tradition.
FEMA manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, works with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.
Last Modified: Thursday, 09-Feb-2006 08:10:20