On Saturday morning, Governor Bobby Jindal met with the media to discuss the current conditions of Hurricane Gustav aftermath. Here is a press release from his office related to the press update:
BATON ROUGE – Today, Governor Bobby Jindal held a press conference to give an update on state response efforts relating to Hurricane Gustav.
Governor Jindal said again that he was frustrated with the slow flow of supplies from FEMA. He said that while they have promised supplies are coming that “it is beginning to sound a little bit like ‘the check is in the mail,’ so we are taking action on our own by working with state educational facilities, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and faith-based groups and other private companies to set up our own kitchens in parishes in need of help to feed their residents.”
Governor Jindal said that FEMA has reported that 63 trucks of meals, 53 trucks of water, 10 trucks of ice and trucks of tarps (which include 1.3 million meals, 1.9 million bottles of water, 21,00 tarps and 400,000 pounds of ice) are supposed to arrive in the state today, but that after having past promises of supplies not arrive in time, the state is activating its own initiatives to directly engage non-profits and private food suppliers to provide food and supplies to residents in areas where supplies may run short.
The Governor said that the state is working to coordinate hundreds of thousands of meals cooked in several perishing, including, Terrebonne, Lafourche, Orleans, Jefferson, Assumption, West Feliciana, East Feliciana, West Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge, Livingston, Iberville, and Ascension Parishes today. The meals will be targeted to those communities still experiencing significant power outages where restaurants and food providers are unable to open. The Governor said the state will work closely with parish leaders and local officials to track the expected FEMA supplies, but they will not wait for them to arrive. Instead, they are working to set up the meal kitchens now, in expectation that supplies from FEMA will again not arrive in time, and that some POD locations will run short.
Once meal kitchens have been set up today, parish officials and local leaders will announce the kitchen locations to local residents so they know where to go if they are in need of a meal.
OPERATION BLUE ROOF
Governor Jindal also announced today that FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers have launched their “Operation Blue Roof Program” to provide tarps to those residents with less than 50 percent of structural damage. FEMA reports that Hurricane Gustav cause damage to an estimated 25,000 roofs in the state.
The following parishes are covered under the Blue Roof program: Ascension, Assumption, East Baton Rouge, Iberville, Lafourche, Livingston, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Martin, St. Mary, Terrebone, and West Baton Rouge. Through the program, the tarp will be installed free of charge. Citizens can call for more information on how to use this program: 1-888-ROOF-BLU (1-888-766-3258).
EMERGENCY FOOD STAMPS
Governor Jindal also announced today that the state’s emergency food stamp program will be active by next Tuesday. The state’s Agricultural Department has approved 31 parishes for the use of the program and individuals can call 1-888-524-3578 (1-888-LAHELPU) to get information about the program (and beginning Tuesday, they can use this number to request assistance).
The 31 approved parishes for the emergency food stamp program are below (additional parishes could be added to this list):
