HUD

On Thursday, September 4, 2008, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve Preston will visit Houma, Louisiana to obtain a first hand assessment of public and affordable housing that may have been affected by Hurricane Gustav.  Specifically he will tour a housing development at 100 Senator Circle and visit the Houma Civic Center where staff and volunteers are distributing emergency resources to residence.

Severe Damage 

The Baton Rouge Testing and Information Office in the Agriculture and Forestry Building on Florida Blvd. has sustained severe water damage from Hurricane Gustav. The office is closed until further notice.

There will be no Civil Service state testing for at least the next week. Please monitor the Department of State Civil Service Web site at civilservice.la.gov for future testing details.

In the wake of Hurricane Gustav, registered sanitarians from the Department of Health and Hospitals-Office of Public Health (DHH-OPH) are moving across the state inspecting restaurants and grocery stores. The goal of these inspections is to make sure that power outages and damage to restaurants and grocery stores does not affect food quality.

Assistant Secretary for DHH-OPH, M. Rony Francois, MD, MSPH, Ph.D., says that over the next week, sanitarians are expected to look at restaurants and grocery stores in areas that were hit by the hurricane and lost power. "We're not only inspecting food at these businesses, we also want to make sure the refrigerators and freezers are working properly so consumers do not receive spoiled food from these establishments," said Dr. Francois.

Sanitarians will look for signs of food spoilage and make sure refrigerators and freezers are maintaining proper temperatures. They will also check for structural damage to buildings. More than 40,000 businesses operate under permits from DHH-OPH, including restaurants, grocery stores, seafood processors and wholesalers, food and drug warehouses, milk and dairy plants, schools, day cares, nursing homes, hospitals and jails.

Businesses or consumers with questions concerning reopening procedures are encouraged to call sanitarians at their local parish health units. These phone numbers can be found at
http://www.dhh.louisiana.gov/offices/?ID=223

Household Chemicals

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality urge residents to use caution when returning to hurricane-damaged homes and buildings. In particular, the agencies advise the following precautions to prevent injury.

Be on the alert for leaking containers and reactive household chemicals, like caustic drain cleaners and chlorine bleach. Clearly mark and set aside unbroken containers until they can be properly disposed. Leave damaged or unlabeled chemical containers undisturbed wherever possible.

Keep children and pets away from leaking or spilled chemicals. Do not combine chemicals from leaking or damaged containers, as this may produce dangerous or violent reactions. Do not dump chemicals down drains, storm sewers or toilets. Do not attempt to burn household chemicals.

Building materials may contain hazardous materials such as asbestos that can be breathed in and cause adverse health effects. If materials are suspected to contain asbestos, they should not be disturbed. Some of the most common asbestos-containing materials include boiler/pipe insulation, fireproofing, floor tiles and roofing.

Fish

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality expects to see scattered fish kills across Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav. Most of these fish kills will be associated with low dissolved oxygen in the water. Low dissolved oxygen results from the organic matter washed into the streams, lakes and bays from storm debris and runoff. As the organic matter in the water is assimilated the oxygen levels will return to levels that will support aquatic life.

Debris

A debris site application form is currently available at the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Web site. This application is used for local governments to provide the department with information concerning a variety of debris-management procedures.

DEQ continues to work with local governments to ensure that the sites chosen by the local government meet state and federal environmental requirements. The application is under the order, waivers and variance button which is under the Gustav heading, at www.deq.louisiana.gov.

This same Web site has a list of approved landfills that can take Gustav-related debris.

In addition, the storm surge has pushed salt water further inland than normally found. This is anticipated to impact the aquatic vegetation that is intolerant to a salty environment. These conditions are expected to stabilize and diminish fairly rapidly.

A similar fish kill and vegetation disturbance effect was seen following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 and Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

DEQ will be conducting aerial and ground reconnaissance, and will be documenting and reporting these conditions.