Gustav Deaths

Please find the attached memo sent from Louisiana Chief Medical Officer Louis Cataldie, M.D., regarding fatalities related to Hurricane Gustav:
From: Louis Cataldie, M.D.
To: Secretary Alan Levine
Date: September 7, 2008
Re: Fatalities Related to Hurricane Gustav
This memorandum delineates the current number of confirmed hurricane-related fatalities. As Chief Medical Officer for the state of Louisiana, I am working closely with local coroners and police departments to identify fatalities as a result of Hurricane Gustav and offering assistance to local authorities.
There were 23 fatalities related to Gustav confirmed as of Friday, Sept. 4. There were no confirmed fatalities yesterday, and one additional death was confirmed today, bringing the total fatalities related to Hurricane Gustav to 24.
The fatality confirmed today was the death of a Jefferson Parish resident ! who died of natural causes while evacuating in Mississippi.
Any death that is determined by the jurisdictional coroner to have been caused as a result of Hurricane Gustav will be counted as a storm-related death. General criteria for classifying a death as hurricane-related include:
- Death due to activities associated with evacuation (i.e., evacuation stress precipitates a heart attack)
- Death due to the effects of the storm itself (i.e., a tree falls on a person during the storm)
- Death associated with recovery efforts (i.e., a person is electrocuted by a fallen electrical line while cleaning up fallen tree limbs)
I will continue to notify you at the end of each day of newly-confirmed deaths related to Hurricane Gustav.
For the latest information on the recovery from Hurricane Gustav, visit emergency.louisiana.gov or call the state's emergency hotline at 1-866-288-2484 to listen to a recorded message with the most up-to-date information.

Agriculture and Forestry

BATON ROUGE -The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry announced today that all producers who wish to become eligible in 2008 for the Farm Service Agency's Supplemental Agriculture Disaster Programs must visit their local parish FSA office and fill out the proper forms by September 16.

To be eligible for the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees and Farm-raised Fish (ELAP), Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP), Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP), Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments (SURE) Programs or Tree Assistance Program (TAP), producers must purchase at least catastrophic risk protection (CAT) level of crop insurance for all insurable crops and/or Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) coverage for non-insurable crops.

Therefore, for the 2008 crop year only, producers who were eligible to obtain at least CAT level crop insurance or NAP, but did not, can "buy-in" to be eligible to participate in the applicable Supplemental Agriculture Disaster Assistance programs by paying the administrative fee that would have been applicable if the producer had timely applied for CAT or NAP.

The buy-in fees do not provide any CAT crop insurance coverage or NAP coverage but do allow producers to gain eligibility to participate in the applicable Supplemental Agriculture Disaster Assistance programs.

For the latest information on the recovery from Hurricane Gustav, visit emergency.louisiana.gov or call the state's emergency hotline at 1-866-288-2484 to listen to a recorded message with the most up-to-date information.

Government Employees

Based on an assessment of state government facilities, Commissioner of Administration Angele Davis announced today a general reopening of state government facilities statewide for Monday, September 8th. All state employees should report to work Monday unless instructed otherwise by their supervisors on an individual facility basis to either not report to work, or to vacate their work sites due to electrical outages or damages.

This message will be emailed to state employees and recorded on the 800 number and the local phone number, which employees have been notified to utilize to obtain information regarding office closures and re-openings. The numbers to call: 1-800-360-9660 or 225-342-0498.

Jindal

On Sunday, Governor Bobby Jindal has surveyed storm damage and recovery efforts in the parishes of Livingston, East Feliciana, and West Feliciana.

Power and Drinking Water

Hurricane Gustav has caused widespread power outages and damage to drinking water systems throughout Louisiana.

Click here for a list of water systems that are under boil advisories until further notice from the Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH).

Click here for a list of drinking water systems that have water that is safe to drink.

If you live in an area under a boil advisory or you have lost water pressure at your tap, or if the water pressure is extremely low, State Health Officer Jimmy Guidry, MD, recommends that you disinfect your water by any one of the following methods prior to consumption (including drinking, cooking, brushing teeth or preparing food):

Boil water for one full minute in a clean container. The one-minute boil time begins after the water has been brought to a rolling boil. (The flat taste can be eliminated by shaking the water in a bottle or pouring it from one container to another.);

If the water is clear, mix 1/8 teaspoon of unscented, liquid chlorine laundry bleach with one gallon of water and let it stand for at least 30 minutes prior to consumption;

If the water is cloudy or colored, use 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water. Be sure to mix thoroughly.
If treated water has too strong a chlorine taste, it can be made more palatable by allowing the water to stand exposed to the air for a few hours or by pouring it from one clean container to another several times.

Boiling is the most effective method of disinfecting water, particularly for people who are severely immunocompromised (infected with HIV/AIDS, cancer and transplant patients taking immunosuppressive drugs, or anyone born with a weakened immune system) and for infants and the elderly who wish to take extra precautions.

People obtaining water from a public water system (a system providing water to 15 homes and businesses or more) must continue to disinfect their drinking water by one of the above listed methods until a public notice is issued by DHH that the water has been tested and is safe to drink. It may take as long as three weeks before a water system is declared safe.

People who have been affected by loss of water service may expect some irregularities with their water while efforts are being made to ensure that the water is safe. It is expected that water may have an unusual chlorine odor as well as possible sediments appearing in the water while these special precautions being taken. Flushing household taps for a few minutes should fix this problem.