CITY OF NEW ORLEANS PROVIDES UPDATES FOLLOWING ISAAC
Minh Nguyen
CITY OF NEW ORLEANS PROVIDES UPDATES FOLLOWING ISAAC
NEW
ORLEANS -This afternoon, the City of New Orleans provided a status
update on the ground conditions as Tropical Storm Isaac moves out of
south Louisiana. Mayor Mitch Landrieu urged residents to remain patient
and continue to be on guard as hazardous conditions remain outside and
on the roadways. The City also announced that the National Guard has
opened three Point of Distribution (POD) sites where citizens can pick
up critical supplies including ice, water, and MREs. The Mayor also
announced that the dusk-to-dawn curfew has been lifted.
"Tropical
Storm Isaac is moving out of our area and the worst of the storm is
behind us," Mayor Landrieu said. "However, there are still dangerous
conditions outside. Our city remains under a tornado watch and flash
flood watch and there are many downed trees and power lines. Conditions
on the roadways are hazardous. I urge you to stay off them as much as
possible. And when you move around the city, please stop at every
intersection. Please drive with extreme caution."
The National Guard is now opening three emergency POD sites where citizens can pick up critical supplies including ice, water, and MREs in New Orleans East, Bywater, and on the West Bank. POD sites will be open from 6am until approximately 8pm or until daylight allows. Those locations include:
- 5501 Read Blvd in New Orleans East near the intersection of Read and Lake Forrest Blvd;
- 2730 Vespasian Blvd on the West Bank; and
- 700 Poland Avenue in the Bywater.
. At day break today, more than 1,500 responders have fanned out across the city to begin clearing debris, fixing traffic signals and street lights, placing temporary stop signs, and restoring power.
More than 250 Parks and Parkways and Sanitation workers and contractors are clearing debris and downed trees. They are clearing major corridors, problem areas called into 311 and 911 and others identified during assessment.
Dozens of Public Works employees and contractors are restoring stop signs and street signals at intersections.
The most impacted areas of the city were outside the levee protection system. The City has
dispatched crews to Lake Catherine, Irish Bayou, Fort Pike, and
Venetian Isles to provide assistance and supplies as the water subsides.
Mayor Landrieu visited the area earlier today.
The City's Emergency Operations Center, which has operated around the clock since Monday, is continuing to coordinate damage assessments and cleanup efforts. The City's 311 hotline is also operating around the clock for residents seeking information and for residents to report street flooding, malfunctioning traffic signals or other issues of concern. The 311 hotline has received over 16,000 calls since Monday.
The
New Orleans Police Department has all hands on deck, with 1,200
personnel on duty to respond to public safety issues. Currently, 1,000
Louisiana National Guard troops are deployed city-wide in every police
district to supplement uniformed patrol. As of Wednesday afternoon, NOPD
officers arrested individuals for looting. Looting will absolutely not
be tolerated and anyone found will be arrested.
NEW ORLEANS FIRE DEPARTMENT
NOFD
has all hands on deck to respond to calls. In the last 24 hours NOFD
has worked three fires, including a house fire caused by a candle. Given
the ongoing power outages, residents should be extremely careful when
using generators and candles.
OPERATIONS
- The City has received numerous reports of downed limbs and debris. Crews have been deployed to take damage assessments and begin clean up.
- Regular trash collection will resume on Friday, August 31, 2012.
GROUND TRANSPORTATION
- A select number of RTA bus routes are back up and running. Streetcar service remains closed as crews clear debris from routes. An updated list of operating bus lines can be found at http://ready.nola.gov.
- ALL vehicles must be moved off neutral ground by NOON tomorrow, Friday, Aug 31. Violators will be towed.
CLOSURES
- City Hall will be reopened on Tuesday, September 4
- City libraries- The Main Library tentatively plans to resume normal business hours starting Friday, August 31 from 10am to 5pm. The Martin Luther King Jr. and Central City libraries, both normally open on Fridays will follow the schedules of the schools in which they are located, and remain closed until Tuesday, September 4th. All other NOPL locations, which are normally closed on Fridays, will reopen on Saturday, September 1st, operating their normal 10am to 5pm schedule.
- Public, Catholic and private schools will resume on Tuesday, September 4
- Colleges and universities will resume on Tuesday, September 4
Citizens that parked their vehicles on neutral grounds need to remove those by noon on Friday, August 31 or they will be towed. Parking
READY.NOLA.GOV
Citizens are encouraged to sign up for email and text message alerts by going to ready.nola.gov.
This service allows city officials to contact citizens during
emergencies, which includes life-threatening weather events, evacuation
or shelter in place information, and other pertinent emergency
information. In addition to the website, the City operates a twitter
handle: @nolaready
IMPORTANT NUMBERS TO KNOW
- For life threatening emergencies, call 911
- To report a non-life threatening problem or to get information, call 311
- Non-life threatening crime, call 504-821-2222
- Sewerage and Water Boards 24/7 line, call 504-529-2837
- To report power outages, call 1-800-968-8243 (1-800-9OUTAGE)
- Report levee issues on the East Bank to Orleans Levee District Police at 504-283-9800 and on the West Bank call the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority West at 504-340-0318
PREVIOUSLY SCHEDULED WEEKEND EVENTS
- The Southern Decadence Festival will go on this weekend
- Tulane University's home football game will be played at the Superdome this Saturday.
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Interim LSU Public Hospital to begin restoring Outpatient Services in the Wake of Hurricane Isaac Lallie Kemp Regional Medical Center Prepares for Influx of Patients Due to Possible Flooding of Tangipahoa River
Baton Rouge - LSU Health hospitals are resuming outpatient and other services in the aftermath of Hurricane Isaac. LSU Health's statewide network of hospitals remained open during the storm and stand ready to treat emergencies as the clean up begins.
Lallie Kemp Regional Medical Center - Independence - Outpatient Clinics, Chemotherapy Infusions, and Elective Surgeries are cancelled until Tuesday, September 4, 2012. Lallie Kemp will remain on Operating Room diversion until further notice due to a power failure.
Lallie Kemp has called in extra staff in preparation for an influx of patients due to potential flooding of the Tangipahoa River.
LSU Bogalusa Medical Center - Bogalusa - Effective Friday, August 31, 2012, Bogalusa Medical Center will resume normal operations and open Outpatient Clinic Services and Outpatient Services as per their usual schedules at the following locations:
Medicine Clinic, 400 Memphis Street, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Family Medicine Residency Clinic, 420 Ave. F, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Main Campus Specialty Clinics, 433 Plaza St., 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Outpatient Services, 433 Plaza St. main hospital building, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Outpatient Pharmacy, 400 Memphis, 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
All staff are to report to work at their regularly scheduled time and can call their supervisors if they have any questions or can call administration at 985-730-6706.
Earl K. Long Medical Center - Baton Rouge - Normal operations will resume beginning tonight, Thursday, August 30, 2012, at 7 pm - including business as usual for outpatients in clinic and perioperative for Friday, August 31.
On Friday, August 31, at 7 a.m., Inpatient and Outpatient Operations will resume full schedules, including all elective surgical and endoscopic procedures, and clinic operations.
All recovery and regularly scheduled employees are to follow their direct supervisors' instructions on reporting to work: it is the employee's responsibility to reach out and confirm this.
Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center - Houma - All inpatient and outpatient services will be fully operational at 7 a.m., Friday, August 31.
University Medical Center - Lafayette - University Medical Center will be opening all hospital and clinic services on Friday, August 31, at their normal times.
The Interim LSU Public Hospital - New Orleans - The Interim LSU Public Hospital (ILH) will begin its recovery phase as of 7 a.m., Friday, August 31, 2012. All recovery staff and employees are to report for work at that time. Employees who have questions or concerns are urged to contact 1-800-256-2311.
ILH's Urgent Care Clinic will resume normal operations starting Friday, August 31. Clinic hours are from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. All other hospital clinics will remain closed until Tuesday, September 4, when normal operations will resume.
ILH's Outpatient Pharmacy will resume normal operations on Friday, August 31, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Employees who have questions or concerns should call 1-800-256-2311.
Walter O. Moss Regional Medical Center - Lake Charles - All services are operational. The storm did not interrupt services.
The Health Care Services Division of LSU Health is one of the largest public healthcare delivery systems in the country. It has over 33,000 inpatient admissions, 172,000 inpatient days, 583,000 outpatient clinic visits, 1,118,000 outpatient encounters, and 269,000 emergency department encounters. Each year more than 1,200 residents and fellows from the LSU and Tulane Schools of Medicine and Ochsner Health System and 2,900 nursing and allied health students from many colleges and universities are trained in LSU HCSD facilities.
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NEW
ORLEANS - As Hurricane Isaac continues to move slowly across
southeastern Louisiana, Recovery School District (RSD) and Orleans
Parish School Board (OPSB) officials have announced that schools will
remain closed through Friday, August 31. All schools will reopen on
Tuesday, September 4, following the Labor Day holiday. The extended
closure will allow families time to return to the city after the storm
has passed and staff to fully assess facilities prior to the reopening
of schools. RSD schools in Baton Rouge, St. Helena and Pointe Coupee
will also remain closed through Friday.The RSD and OPSB administrative offices are scheduled to reopen on Friday, August 31, pending the restoration of power.
Schools
will resume normal instructional activities on Tuesday, and all
students, faculty, and staff are to report to their designated school
sites or office locations.
"We
took great precautions as this storm was announced to ensure the safety
of our students, faculty, and staff," said RSD Superintendent Patrick
Dobard. "Given the slow movement of the storm, we will not be able to
get into the school buildings as quickly as we would like. Over the next
few days we will continue assessing the facilities to ensure the
buildings are completely safe for our students and staff to return.
While early reports by our staff show very minimal impact of the storm
on our schools and facilities, we will continue evaluating the buildings
to determine if any repairs are needed."
A determination regarding the academic calendar and the makeup of missed days will be addressed in future communications with parents and schools.
School
administrators will make announcements regarding any cancelled
extra-curricular activities or athletic events that resulted from school
closures. Announcements will be shared locally with students and
parents.
The RSD
and OPSB will continue to share information related to the status of
schools through local media. For additional information regarding the
RSD and OPSB, please use any of the following communications channels:
Recovery School District Information
RSD web site: www.rsdla.net
RSD Facebook page www.Facebook.com/RecoverySchoolDistrict
RSD Twitter account: www.twitter.com/RSD_LA
Orleans Parish School Board Information
OPSB web site: www.opsb.us
--
Minh Thanh Nguyen
Executive Director, Vietnamese American Young Leaders Association of New Orleans
Fellow, 2012 New Leaders Council Institute
Board Member, Asian Pacific American Society of New Orleans
Board Member, JACL - New Orleans Chapter
Board Member, EngageNOLA
4646 Michoud Blvd. Suite D2
New Orleans, LA 70129-1816
minhn...@vayla-no.org | www.vayla-no.org
Office: 504-253-6000
Fax: 504-754-7762
Cell: 504-931-5878
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