Hurricane Gustav: What the Government is Doing
Hurricane Gustav made landfall in southwest Louisiana on September 1, 2008. New Orleans instituted a mandatory evacuation order. Nearly two million people left the Gulf Coast, including residents with special needs, such as nursing home residents and hospital patients. President Bush made emergency declarations for Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas ahead of the storm.
The federal government, coordinated by FEMA, is responsible for meeting requests from the state—before, during and after the disaster. This includes
- providing logistical support for search and rescue,
- providing food, water and ice,
- establishing disaster centers and processing federal disaster claims, and
- participating in short- and long-term public works projects, such as debris removal and infrastructure rebuilding.
Federal agencies have taken the following steps:
FEMA
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Operating National Response and Coordination Center and Regional Response Coordination Centers in Atlanta, Ga., and Denton, Texas, around the clock, coordinating the federal response to state and local requests for assistance.
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Operating Joint Field Office in Baton Rouge, La.
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Deployed emergency teams and resources.
- Deployed Incident Management Assistance Teams (IMAT) to Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
- Deployed Urban Search and Rescue task forces and incident support teams from around the country, supporting search and rescue efforts after the storm.
- Pre-staged life-saving and life-sustaining commodities such water, meals, and tarps in various strategic locations to be made available to residents of affected areas, including:
- More than 2.4 million liters of water (137 truckloads)
- More than 4 million meals (203 truckloads)
- 478 emergency generators
- 141 truckloads of tarps
- 267 truckloads of blankets and cots
Coast Guard
- Put additional ships, fixed and rotary wing aircraft, medical teams, disaster assistance response teams and other personnel on call to ensure a rapid response to Gustav and Hannah.
- Preparing to conduct port assessment operations post storm activity, aiming to open the ports as soon as possible.
- Working with local, state and federal agencies to coordinate severe weather response operations, including search and rescue support, waterway and facility assessments, restoration of aids to navigation, responding to hazardous materials spills, transport of victims and providing airborne logistics support.
- Conducted pre-storm over flights of estimated landfall locations.
- Posted USCG Cutters Decisive and Northland to provide a post-storm command and control platform.
- Have 19 Search and Rescue (SAR) helicopters and 10 SAR fixed wing aircraft available at Mobile, New Orleans, Corpus Christi, and Houston. 4 DART teams are on standby.
- Activated 300 Coast Guard reservists to assist in recovery operations.
- Activated four Disaster Assistance Response Teams trained and equipped for evacuating citizens from flooded areas.
- Identified 32 Search and Rescue capable to support pre- and post-storm operations.
- Designated three Coast Guard cutters to support post-storm operations.
Transportation Security Administration
- Deployed 45 Transit Teams and 150 Transit Security Officers to facilitate the evacuation of critical transit need individuals.
- Processed more than 32,500 passengers since evacuation efforts began, more than 25,500 passengers during the past two days.
- Deployed 275 transportation security officers to New Orleans to operate the airport's four checkpoints as well as a six-lane checkpoint in a special hurricane evacuation facility.
- Screened more than 7,000 local residents to leave on chartered flights over the past two days.
- Deployed transportation security officers from nearly 40 airports across the country.
- Have more than 300 employees on standby, ready to deploy to other airports in the region.
Customs and Border Protection
- Deployed 35 law enforcement personnel to help protect Urban Search & Rescue efforts.
- Provided reconnaissance and streaming video to improve situational awareness.
- Posted trade alerts regarding the closing of seaports.
- Provided 100 law enforcement personnel to help with evacuation and contra-flow traffic issues.
The National Communications System (NCS)
- Activated the Shared Resources (SHARES) High Frequency Radio Network and is supplemented by FEMA's National Emergency Coordination Network and the Center for Disease Control's National Public Health Radio Network.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
- Completed its first installation of a temporary generator in Alexandria, La., for a special needs shelter.
- Deployed to the Gulf Coast both local and regional teams from across the nation to assist in debris removal, commodities procurement and delivery, temporary emergency power, temporary housing, temporary roofing, infrastructure assessment, and support to urban search and rescue missions.
Department of Defense (DOD)
U.S. National Guard Bureau (NGB)
- Has nearly 12,000 people positioned and equipped to support operations in the Gulf Coast region.
- Has more than 70 National Guard aviation assets are staged in Meridian, Miss., and will deploy for immediate search and rescue missions
- Forward positioning an Operational Command Post for command and control of deployed military forces responding as part of a federal hurricane relief effort to England Airpark, Alexandria, La.
- Providing a wide range of military aircraft to conduct movement of personnel and supplies, and search-and-rescue efforts in support of disaster operations
- National Guard units are standing by with people & equipment to assist civil authorities and first responders in Tex., La., Miss., Ala., and Fla.
U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM)
U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)
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Managed contraflow between Louisiana and Mississippi via I-55 and I-59.
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Providing safe haven aboard a ship in Beaumont, TX to the Coast Guard, Corps of Engineers and local responders.
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Monitoring energy platforms in the region.
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Deployed team of transportation experts to assist states with evacuation procedures and to provide bus and rail car safety inspections as needed.
- Manages planned contra-flow traffic on major highways to allow for expanded evacuation efforts and tracks fuel availability along evacuation routes.
- Provides air traffic control to support air evacuations, with standby mobile air traffic control equipment on standby in Houston to serve as back-ups in case the storm damages equipment.
- Stores port local fire and police vehicles on ready reserve vessel in Beaumont, TX during storm to avoid flooding.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- Working with the American Public Human Services Association to recruit additional workers who can be deployed to help process Disaster Food Stamp Program applications.
- Encouraging schools serving as shelters to utilize existing food inventory to help support mass feeding.
- Will lease two food safety mobiles to deliver food safety and cleaning supplies to areas affected by the hurricane and will conduct cleaning and food safety demonstrations for the public.
- Stands ready to help individuals needing payment assistance on their existing USDA Rural Development Single and Multi-family loans who are affected by Hurricane Gustav. They are encouraged to contact the Centralized Servicing Center at 800-414-1226.
- Will give rural communities and businesses priority consideration for funding through its Rural Community Facilities programs and the Rural Business Enterprise Grant program to help with programs and rehabilitation needed as a result of Hurricane Gustav.
Department of Justice (DOJ)
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
- The Katrina Fraud Task Force is providing the following contact information so that the public can report fraud, waste, abuse or allegations of mismanagement involving disaster relief operations:
- Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721
- Disaster Fraud Fax at 225-334-4707
- Disaster Fraud e-mail at disaster@leo.gov
- The Critical Incident Response Group from Quantico is forward deploying a small team to Louisiana. Field offices in Houston, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida have their crisis response plans in an early stage of activation. Division crisis managers are available for deployment if needed. The field offices will remain staffed with critical personnel.
- Two command post vehicles are situated in Dallas and two additional vehicles are deploying from the DNC in Denver to the Southeast.
- Regional SWAT Teams have been placed on standby status. FBI assets, including investigators, analysts, evidence response teams, hazardous material teams and others, are available.
- Continue to monitor the path of Hurricane Gustav and are ready to respond to any law enforcement matters, as needed. The Joint Field Office in Baton Rouge has responded to all requests that have been received.
- Operating command posts and have positioned appropriate response teams. Currently, 400 interagency personnel are on alert and another 2,300 remain on standby. These resources consist of uniformed officers with marked vehicles, criminal investigators, and tactical teams from Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Marshals Service, Customs and Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, FPC, Drug Enforcement Agency, Office of Personnel Management's Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Forest Service, Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General, and U.S. Mint Police.
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Regional SWAT Teams have been placed on standby status. FBI assets, including investigators, analysts, evidence response teams, hazardous material teams and others are available if requested.
- FBI's field offices in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida have enacted their crisis response plans and will remain staffed with essential personnel. Command posts to monitor the situation have been stood up at FBI Headquarters and in the field offices. Numerous command post vehicles have been pre-staged in critical areas
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
- Has staff on the ground in the Gulf region.
- Monitoring its Emergency Response Center 24 hours a day, where experts are analyzing real-time data on energy infrastructure in the Gulf region.
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
- Declared a public health emergency to ensure that individuals, including those enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama continue to receive their health care items and services.
- Has been working with prescription drug plans to ensure that rules preventing early refills are waived.
- Is working with the health insurance industry to ensure there are no barriers to allowing beneficiaries in Medicare health plans to go out of network during this emergency for those enrolled in these plans.
- Expanding the definition of "home" to allow those Medicare beneficiaries who are receiving home health services to receive those services in alternative sites.
- Activated the National Disaster Medical System.
- Has approximately 1,100 personnel in place in the Gulf Coast region, with another 400 on alert.
- Placed nine Federal Medical Stations, each with a 250-bed capacity, five in place in Texas and four on alert in Louisiana.
- Stored caches of medical supplies in place into the Gulf Coast region, with additional caches of medical supplies ready to deploy.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- Emphasizing three key messages in their communications to the public across the gulf coast region and through public service announcements on television in the area:
- Before the storm, learn about your community's plans and prepare your family: learn about your community's emergency plans, warning signals, evacuation routes, and emergency shelters; stock your home with supplies and have emergency kits for your car and home; make arrangements with friends or family for transportation if you don't have a vehicle.
- Help elderly and disabled family and neighbors to stay safe during an evacuation: take their prescription medicines with you; turn off gas, electricity, and water and disconnect appliances before you leave; put their livestock and pets in a safe area.
- Help elderly and disabled family and neighbors to stay safe during a storm: if you are told to stay at home in a storm, everyone should keep indoors and away from windows and exterior
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Will conduct post-storm reconnaissance of facilities containing oil and hazardous materials and will conduct assessments of any spills caused by Gustav in Mississippi and Alabama.
- Granted a fuel waiver requested by the state of Louisiana to increase the flexibility of fuel supplies in Louisiana during preparations/evacuations for Hurricane Gustav. The waiver is effective through September 8 and allows the sale of conventional gasoline in 16 parishes that otherwise require low RVP (Reid vapor pressure) fuel during the summer ozone season.
- EPA's potentially impacted regional water programs are coordinating with their state counterparts in preparation for potential support should Gustav impact the water sector and overwhelm local and state capabilities.
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
- Working closely with other federal and local agencies to protect patients, staff and operational capability.
- Medical centers and clinics near the affected area are prepared to absorb any extra patients and will contact their regular patients to reschedule appointments if necessary.
- Veterans who receive monthly compensation for disabilities, education, pension or other benefits will continue to receive regularly scheduled payments.
- National cemeteries in the affected areas have activated their emergency response plans and are standing by to reschedule burials if necessary.
- Encouraging veterans who need prescription refills are advised to call in their requests, rather than travel to a VA health care facility.
- Evacuated at-risk patients from the most exposed VA hospitals to facilities in Oklahoma City, Okla., Little Rock, Ark., and Dallas, Tex.
- Providing emergency managers to federal and state operations centers and has 190 medical staff on-hand to staff additional Federal Medical Stations as needed.
U.S. Department of Treasury
- Working to expedite check and direct deposit payments in the affected areas for certain federal benefits that are scheduled for regular delivery in the first week of the month.
- Has requested that financial institutions in the Gulf Coast states honor the paper checks as well as consider making Direct Deposit payments available.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF)
- Issued two open letters to all federal firearms licensees and federal explosives licensees and permittees with recommendations to store and secure inventories.
- The open letters provided recommendations if one needs to evacuate their premises and/or store records and inventory at alternate location.
- The open letters provide recommendations on actions to take if one's premises or inventory is destroyed or partially damaged.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
- HUD staff are helping to manage the evacuation of public housing units in Louisiana and will work on additional evacuations as necessary.
U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)
- Louisiana, Texas, Alabama and Mississippi to coordinate activities with federal and state partners.
- Reservists have been activated to staff SBA's Disaster Customer Service Center (25 customer service reps), the Field Inspection Team (111 on stand-by), and the Processing and Disbursement center (59 loan offices; 10 attorneys).
- SBA's field offices are using marketing materials to get the word out about preparedness to residents and business owners in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC)
- EMAC is coordinating requests from other, non-impacted states for support from Louisiana and Texas. Pennsylvania, Delaware and Ohio are among the states providing support for medical evacuations.
Social Security Online
- Based on the latest information regarding Hurricane Gustav, a number of Social Security offices will be closed this week in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
- Shut down the Waterford nuclear power plant.
- Throttled back the River Bend plant, 25 miles north-northwest of Baton Rouge, to 75 per cent power at the request of the grid operator because of decreased demand.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
- Continuing to monitor the track and intensity of Hurricane Gustav.
- Ready to deploy post-landfall functions such as navigation response teams, hazardous materials incident scientific support.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- Monitoring the progress of Hurricane Gustav with Earth-observing satellites.
- Closed John C. Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Miss. and Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans are closed throughout the duration of the storm, with the exception of ride-out crews who are protecting key facility elements.
USGS National Wetlands Research Center
- Studying hurricanes is critical to the USGS National Wetlands Research Center's research mission. Although headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana, NWRC's hurricane researchers find themselves at work throughout the world. Presented here are some examples of NWRC's wide-ranging hurricane research efforts.
U.S. Postal Service (USPS)
- May temporarily close post offices, curtail mail delivery services and suspend mail collection schedules from mailboxes depending on local conditions.
American Red Cross (ARC)
- Allocating national resources to the effort and moving key items into place, including: 119,000 comfort kits; 196 Emergency Response Vehicles; 99 Shelter Support Trailers containing 112,000 cots and 226,000 blankets; 21 Kitchen Support Trailers and 5,500 Medical Cots.
- Managing more than 330 shelters across the region caring for more than 44,350 evacuees.
- Encourages evacuees to register as "Safe and Well" at www.RedCross.org. Concerned family and friends can search the list of those who have registered themselves as "safe and well."
This page was last reviewed/modified on September 14, 2008.
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