Yesterday, Louisiana Boys State experienced a tropical depression. The Louisiana Bureau of Meteorology has it forecasted to develop into a category 2 hurricane, making landfall in Louisiana on Sunday afternoon. What have our parish presidents done to be safe for this storm?
Bogafalaya parish president and parish emergency manager Cooper Lingo and Hayden Burford made an agreement with Atchafalaya for assistance in relocating citizens and moving resources. Bogafalaya will also be using railroads for the transportation of resources. Cooper Lingo states that he and his other officials in Bogafalaya are confident that they will keep all citizens safe.
Phillip Cenac and Kay Stroud, the respective parish president and parish emergency manager of Sabine Parish, think the biggest concern of the parish is the flooding from Bayou Franklin Lake. Phillip states that Sabine has determined that the most important thing to protect is the people of Sabine.
Atchafalaya Parish President Ryan Sipes speaks on plans of helping Bogafalaya, projected to be impacted significantly by the hurricane, mainly through taking in refugees and allocating resources for these Bogafalya citizens. This will be done by opening schools for housing refugees and other public facilities.
Pearl Parish emergency manager John Parker stated that Pearl was the first parish to enact an ordinance for the storm. Pearl prided itself on working with all other parishes and was immensely thankful for the collaboration from others. Pearl had plans on paper and was ready to go the day before the storm. Damage to the program of Boys State and the order it brings was the biggest fear of Pearl Parish, followed by citizen safety.
Mississippi Parish President Franklin Bridwell and Michael Mouch have created a volunteer corps for individuals who would like to help people affected by the storm. Additionally, they created shelters for people who do not have a place to stay during the storm to provide a safe place to stay during the storm. All economic activity has also been shut down until next week to prevent fiscal waste. Furthermore, a search and rescue corps has been created for those who get lost during flooding. Lastly, Mississippi will be escorting prisoners out of the penitentiary, with the least dangerous inmates going first to Cameron and those held in maximum security being transported to the Superdome thereafter.
Cane Parish President Isaac Moore allocated $2 million for the storm; he also stated that he gave the citizens of Cane sandbags to protect their houses from the storm. Cane Parish has released the evacuation route for citizens to leave the state and head up north. Cane Parish shut down nuclear facilities and cancelled all flights coming in and out of Cane in preparation for the storm. Isaac is very thankful for his fellow parish presidents and the help that they provided in keeping Cane citizens safe.