Tropical Storm Isidore, Hurricane Lili Milestones Also Reflect Preparation Activity Before Storms Arrive
Release Date: November 1, 2002
Release Number: 1435-108
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Baton Rouge, LA -- In theory, Tropical Storm Isidore and Hurricane Lili crashed into the Louisiana lowlands months before the actual events occurred. Their make-believe landfalls came in countless planning sessions conducted during the off-season by officials of the Louisiana Office of Emergency Preparedness (LOEP).
Despite their fury and terrible toll, the storms came as no surprise to LOEP planners.
Their planning sessions accurately reflected their agency's name, which includes the word preparedness. And prepared they were. Here is a sampling of events:
- Thursday, Sept. 26, 2002: Tropical Storm Isidore swept into Jefferson Parish near Grand Isle with heavy rains and rising tides. Emergency managers in the State Emergency Operations Center (EOC) followed the storm's path in an effort to determine its inland course.
- A LOEP operations status report dated 8 a.m., Sept. 27, 2002, the day President Bush signed the disaster declaration for Isidore and a week before Lili would arrive, shows that 21 boats with 40 agents already were on alert for possible coastal or interior lake use. On the same day, utility outages from pre-landfall winds totaled 2,934. Deployment of 15 medium-weight state trucks already had been ordered.
- Mid-afternoon, Tuesday, Oct. 1: After consulting with his emergency managers, Gov. Mike Foster declared 49 parishes a disaster area.
- The morning of Wednesday, Oct. 2: Lili came ashore and in minutes more than 417,000 homes and businesses lost electrical power. The LOEP committed 1,757 troops to help where needed.
- By mid-afternoon, Saturday, Oct. 5, four injuries were reported (two in Rayne, one each in Pointe Coupee and St Tammany), but no fatalities yet. Some 301,000-plus still had no electricity and more than 11,300 telephones were out. Workmen were performing their tasks day and night, however, as utility outages dropped to 228,000.
- Afternoon, Sunday, Oct. 6: One fatality was reported in Acadia. Electrical outages, which reached a staggering 417,000 four days earlier, were down to 80,000. Seven hospitals were still without power and only two without potable water. LOEP lowered its number of committed troops by almost two-thirds to 674.
- By Oct. 15, LOEP reported that 99.9 percent of electrical utility service had been restored.
- Oct. 17: All gas utility service again was on line. LOEP now functioned with only the Crisis Action Team active in the Emergency Operations Center (EOC). Only scattered telephone outages reported in the Lafayette/Lake Charles district.
- On Oct. 18, the state was declared clear of electrical and gas outages.
- Oct. 22 - All shelters were now closed and water and sewage facilities restored. About 500 telephones in the Lafayette/Lake Charles district were still reported as being out of service. The committed troop level dropped from 1,757 to six. All schools are open again.
Last Modified: Thursday, 24-Jul-2003 16:08:18