Tuesday, May 21 2013 6:18 AM EDT2013-05-21 10:18:45 GMT
Authorities said a 15-year-old girl may be facing charges after driving without a license and losing control of a car in a crash that left a 10-year-old girl dead Monday afternoon. The crash happened onMore >>
Authorities said a 15-year-old may be facing charges after driving without a license and losing control of a car in a crash that left a 10-year-old dead.More >>
Monday, May 20 2013 11:48 PM EDT2013-05-21 03:48:15 GMT
A woman has been arrested after she allegedly locked her four young daughters out of their home for days at a time.A witness told police that the four girls, ages 7, 5, 3 and 1, had been in the same dirtyMore >>
A woman has been arrested after she allegedly locked her four young daughters out of their home for days at a time.More >>
Monday, May 20 2013 11:45 PM EDT2013-05-21 03:45:38 GMT
A widespread power outage has affected a large portion of Ascension Parish. Small portions of neighboring parishes are also affected. As of 5:40 p.m., the Entergy website reported 20,981 homes andMore >>
A widespread power outage affected a large portion of Ascension Parish and part of EBR Parish Monday. More >>
Tuesday, May 21 2013 7:04 PM EDT2013-05-21 23:04:33 GMT
Residents in tornado-stricken Moore, OK, await news on missing love ones Tuesday, a day after a massive tornado devastated the city, killing at least 51. Rescuers worked all night, with particular attentionMore >>
The tornado, with winds up to 200 mph, cut a 20-mile stretch as wide as two miles through the Oklahoma City metro area. The medical examiner's office reported 24 people died, including nine children. More >>
Tuesday, May 21 2013 10:36 AM EDT2013-05-21 14:36:49 GMT
(RNN) – A day after long track tornadoes devastated Shawnee and Edmond, OK, another round has begun near Oklahoma City.KOCO broadcast a slow rotating cloud that slowly extended down towards the groundMore >>
Dozens of people have died after a second day of tornadoes twisted through Oklahoma, this time taking aim at the town of Moore, south of Oklahoma City.More >>
State of
Louisiana Office of the Governor
BATON ROUGE - Governor Bobby Jindal held a Unified Command Group meeting and a press
conference where he provided an update on the state's response to the storm.
The Governor later traveled to Lafitte and Grand Isle to meet with local
officials and survey flood damage.
Governor
Jindal said, "I'm again reminded every day about the resilience and generosity
of our people. These storms are presenting challenges to our people and
there will be folks without power for some time, but I am amazed at the
strength and resilience of our people.
"When
we were at the River Bend Nursing Home in Plaquemine, we met a caretaker who
lost his home in Katrina and yet stayed on duty to help nursing home patients
in a sister facility. Seven years later he was again working at River
Bend Nursing Home, when he lost his home again due to Isaac. Yet he was
still working to help take care of others. This is another amazing
example of Louisianians putting others before themselves. In St. John's
Parish, many Sheriff's deputies worked all through the night to rescue others,
even though they had damage to their own homes.
"I'm
in awe of the generosity and resilience of our people. I know we'll get
through this storm and we'll build back our state better and stronger than it
was before Isaac."
EVACUATION/SEARCH
& RESCUE UPDATE
For
the Percy Quinn dam response, the National Guard task force commander is
co-located with the parish president at the Emergency Operations Center.
The
Guard has a response force staged at two locations and is providing a 10-man shelter
security team at the Ponchatoula High School.
Overall
for the response effort in Tangipahoa Parish, the Guard has 566 Guardsmen, one
LUH-72 Lakota helicopter, 72 Humvees, 47 high-water vehicles, 142 buses for
evacuation operations and four Zodiac boats.
The
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries assembled a search and rescue response
force for the dam situation consisting of 118 wildlife agents with vessels, 80
state Urban Search and Rescue personnel with 15 vessels, 10 La. National
Guardsmen with vessels and five DEQ personnel.
DOTD
has restaged bus assets to assist with evacuation efforts in Tangipahoa Parish.
153 buses are en route or have arrived at the affected areas.
Tangi
Pines in Amite is approximately 3,900 feet from the Tangipahoa River. Out of
precaution, Tangi Pines was evacuated to its sister facility in Gretna.
Incidentally, Bayside had earlier evacuated to Tangi Pines because of power
outage, but power has since been returned to that facility.
DHH
assisted in the evacuation of 140 patients and 10 caretakers using two coaches,
four paratransit vehicles and 49 ambulances. All but 11 patients when to
Bayside. Those 11 were transported to nearby Hood Memorial Hospital.
In
terms of the dam breach, the water is down another six inches since 2 AM.
The
water is low enough that the emergency spillway is no longer discharging.
There
was some rain which slowed dirt work on the controlled breach but they are
still progressing.
The
slide area does not appear to be deteriorating. This process will take a
few days according to the folks on the ground.
The
water level is down enough though that the emergency spillway is completely dry
which has reduced pressure on the dam.
In
St. John, the National Guard has evacuated 3,647 people and rescued 398 people.
To help with the efforts, the Guard is using16 High Water Vehicles, 42 Humvees,
4 boats, and 270 Guardsmen conducting security operations.
In
St. Tammany, the National Guard provided 90 Guardsmen for security support and
a 16-man team with 8 Humvees to support the Sherriff Department in Search and
Rescue operations.
The
National Guard is also supporting Search and Rescue operations at Fountain Blue
High School in Mandeville with eight Guardsmen and 4 Humvees.
In
Lafourche, the Bayou Boeuf levee overtopped. We offered assistance to the
parish to help stop the flooding and help with search and rescue efforts.
Local
officials did a voluntary evacuation of 1,000 people.
The
National Guard provided a 30-Guardsman team to support a sandbag mission in
Lafourche to help stop the flooding.
In
Livingston Parish, the National Guard supported Search and Rescue operations
with six Humvees.
In
St. Charles Parish, Guardsmen are supporting Search and Rescue operations with
six Humvees and 12 Guardsmen.
In
Acadia Parish, the National Guard supported aerial Search and Rescue operations
with seven Guardsmen.
EXECUTIVE
ORDERS/LETTERS
The
Department of Defense did not approve the state's first request for Title 32
authorization for the National Guard. The state is sending a letter today
asking the Department of Defense to reconsider.
Yesterday,
the Governor issued an Executive Order regarding the emergency occupation of
hotels and motels by utility restoration personnel.
AGENCY
UPDATE
NATIONAL
GUARD
The
National Guard is conducting more than 100 missions across the state.
They have assisted in the rescue and/or evacuation of more than 3,000 citizens
throughout the state.
The
Louisiana National Guard currently has 6,269 Soldiers and Airmen on duty in
support of the response.
Ascension
Parish
In
Ascension Parish, the LANG has emplaced 200 feet of HESCO Bastion barrier and
prepositioned 66 pallets of HESCO and plastic sheeting at the Lamar Dixon Expo
Center.
East
Feliciana
In
East Feliciana Parish, the LANG has provided a 4-man team to support security
missions as needed.
Iberville
In
Iberville Parish, the LANG has set up a POD site and delivered commodities,
which they are staffing.
Jefferson
The
LANG is setting up and staffing a POD site at the Grand Isle Town Hall and at
the Lafitte Town Hall.
Lafourche
In
Lafourche Parish, the LANG has opened and staffed a POD site.
Orleans
In
Orleans Parish, the LANG has a roving patrol at the Super Dome, a Security Team
for six shelters, and staged 270 Guardsmen to serve as a Rapid Response Force
and Search and Rescue Team.
The
LANG also has a 12-man Security Detail at the Morial Convention Center.
The
LANG has supported Orleans Parish in clearing approximately 3.5 miles of
debris.
There
are three PODS open in Orleans.
Plaquemines
The
LANG has provided 12 Humvees and 24 Guardsmen to support the Plaquemines EOC.
The
LANG has airlifted 1,300 MREs and 1,000 bottles of water from the Hammond
Airport POD site to 150 people at the Plaquemine Parish School football field.
The
LANG has provided airlift support to deliver 1,300 MREs, 1,000 bottles of water
and ice to 150 people at Point La Hache Fire Station.
The
LANG has established a POD site at the Bayou Sorrel Volunteer Fire Dept. New
Government Complex.
Pointe
Coupee
In
Pointe Coupee Parish, the Guard has Security Teams staged at three shelters.
St.
Bernard
In
St. Bernard Parish, the LANG has provided a 28-man Security Team at the Domino
Sugar Factory and is supporting a 12-man checkpoint security mission.
St.
Tammany
They
have also staged 500 cases of MREs at Clearwood Jr. High School in Slidell.
St.
James
In
St. James Parish, the LANG has opened and is staffing two PODs.
St.
John
The
LANG has established six POD sites in St. John Parish.
The
Guard has staged a 5,000-gallon tanker at the New Wine Christian Center.
The
LANG is providing a 100 Military Police Team, along with a 170-man security
team, to St John the Baptist Parish to assist security officials.
SHELTERING/DCFS
As
of this morning, there were an estimated 5,186 people registered in shelters
across the state.
This
is a reduction of almost 1,000 since this time yesterday. While
populations at State run shelters continue to rise, some Red Cross and Parish
run shelters are closing.
The
current population at all state-run shelters (both CTN and MSN) was 3,200
evacuees. This is double the number of evacuees at state-run shelters this time
yesterday. There were 1,497 evacuees at the Alexandria mega-shelter, 1,513
evacuees at the Jewella shelter in Shreveport, 96 medical special needs
evacuees at the LSU Field House and 82 at the Alexandria medical special needs
shelter.
There
are also 9 evacuees at the Bossier City Civic Center MSN and 3 at the
Southeastern Louisiana University MSN shelters.
There
are an estimated 1,986 evacuees located at other parish run, faith-based and
Red Cross shelters around the state. This is a reduction of almost 2,600
evacuees since this time yesterday as some shelters are closing and evacuees
begin to return home when possible. Of those, 432 are at parish-run shelters in
impacted areas, 196 are at faith-based shelters, and 1,358 were located at Red
Cross shelters around the state.
In
Tangipahoa Parish – There currently are 8 evacuees at the Ponchatoula High
School shelter that evacuated because of the situation in Tangipahoa Parish.
These evacuees are in the process of being moved to a nearby Red Cross
Shelter.
Red
Cross shelters in the area housing evacuees are Amite High School, Hammond Jr.
High, Kentwood High School, Natalbany Middle School and Neson Elementary (87
evacuees)
The
American Red Cross did note that there are Louisiana residents in the following
states that evacuated and are being sheltered -- Alabama, Arkansas, Florida,
Mississippi, Missouri, Georgia, Texas.
49,570
meals and snacks have been served to evacuees in state shelters through this
morning. Another 30,000 hot meals will be served today at state shelters
and points of distribution.
DEPARTMENT
OF HEALTH AND HOSPITALS
Thirty-seven
(37) nursing homes housing 4,236 residents across the state are currently
operating on generator power. All but three had HVAC-ready capability. All have
identified other cooling solutions or obtained needed generators.
Thirteen
(13) hospitals housing 587 patients across the state are currently operating on
generator power.
There
are 214 ambulances in the state, as follows:
86
State ambulances
4
Contracted Sprint ambulances
104
Federal ambulances
20
Para transit vehicles
DOTD
DOTD
has equipment ready to assist with relief efforts, including approximately 750
chainsaws, 188 dump trucks, 49 skid steers, 41 excavators and 27 front-end
loaders.
DOA
The
Division announced state office closures in 16 parishes for today, and will monitor
conditions, working with GOHSEP, State Police, and DOTD, to make a
determination about re-openings prior to Tuesday.
To
date, state agencies have spent $56.4 million and parishes have spent $10.1
million.
The
Office of Community Development/Disaster Recovery Unit is working with DCFS on
sheltering in Tangipahoa Parish. OCD/DRU is also working with St. John Parish
on recovery planning, as well as with the Louisiana Housing Corporation to
prepare for long-term housing needs in the state, should they arise.
DEQ
Yesterday,
DEQ did 67 rapids needs assessments. Of DEQ's 241 debris sites, 61 have been
activated.
PUBLIC
SERVICE COMMISSION (PSC)
The
PSC reports that there are 617,000 power outages, or 229 percent of the
state.
The
Waterford 3 is expected to be back online tomorrow.
