OEP SAYS ST. MARY READY FOR HURRICANE SEASON

Duval Arthur, director of St. Mary Parish Emergency Preparedness, said he is ready for Hurricane Season 2010, and so is the parish.

“We have an agreement with Rapides Parish government which allows us to evacuate all of St. Mary Parish, including pets, to the Rapides Parish Coliseum, should the need arise,” Arthur said. “This is wonderful agreement between the two parishes. People won’t have to drive all over the country anymore, God forbid.”

Additionally, last year Arthur said the parish bought generators for most of the water and sewer plants.

“We have everyone situated, and all of our services are up and running,” he said.

“I think we’re in pretty good shape. We also have a lot of mres (meal’s ready to eat) on hand, and a lot of bottled water, in the event we have to go an extended period without electricity,” he said.

If the need arises, Arthur said persons who choose to evacuate to the Rapides Coliseum must bring three days worth of food, water and medication, normal toiletries, a clean change of clothes, and two or three days off underwear, t-shirts, sand socks.

“Normal stuff, strictly up to the individual,” he said. “There will also be a pet shelter outside of the coliseum for pets.”

In 2008, in the wake of Hurricane Gustav, the parish evacuated 890 people, and 12 dogs and 1 parakeet to Alexandria, in a trial mode of the present plan.

Arthur said the parishes used buses from the St. Mary Community Action then, and will do so again this year.

The St Mary CAA will provide the bus pick-up transportation to five sites throughout the parish, with the coach buses leaving for the Rapides Coliseum.

On another topic, Bill Hidalgo, commissioner of the St. Mary Parish Levee Board, said plans to thwart incoming tidal surges from the Gulf of Mexico into the Franklin Canal, should move to a construction phase in July.

In the wake of Hurricane Ike, the lack of flood gates in the canal to keep away rising tidal surges, caused more than 1,000 homes to flood from Franklin, to nearly Garden City. A similar situation occurred in 2005 after Hurricane Rita, which caused 300 homes in the city of Franklin to flood.
The Franklin Canal is only seven miles from the Gulf of Mexico, and cannot handle any surge of 7ft or more. “The project is in the last days of permitting. It’s very close,” Hidalgo said.