Mayor Cantrell, public safety officials urge residents to prepare for hurricane season
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Updated: 1:36 PM CDT May 14, 2021
WDSU Digital Team
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Updated: 1:36 PM CDT May 14, 2021
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a little glare. Well, good afternoon and thank you all so much for being here we are here. Um as it relates to our preparation for hurricane season, 2021, I'm joined as you can see by a United Uh command, I would say that is not only with city government agencies but also our partners that have always been here for the City of New Orleans you're gonna hear from. Uh you'll hear after following me. We'll hear from the National Weather Service, we're going to hear from of course our director, Colin Arnold of Homeland Security, you're here from Ramsey Green, who is our Deputy ceo of Infrastructure. You will also hear from dr jennifer vague no, from the Health Department and as well as our Commander from the U. S. Coast Guard along with the Louisiana National Guard and of course closing it out will be Colonel Terry Ebbert. However, we wanted to just demonstrate how we all collectively lean in as it relates to being prepared for hurricane season. As always, we remain in tight coordination with the governor's office Louisiana. State Police are tourism and hospitality partners, all transit services as well as our hospitals and shelters, nursing homes and the like. This is now our second hurricane season in the midst of a global pandemic. But we are ready and we are prepared last year. As you know, we face an unprecedented hurricane season being in the I really in the in the cone of uncertainty eight times and it took a direct hit. We did from Hurricane Zeta. Listen, when I listen to the National Weather Services presentation this morning, you know, and focusing on last year, we had nine storms that rapidly intensified. So nine storms in one year when the average is 1- two. That's something that we have to take heat of things are changing. Not only that being told that this season will be above average and above normal Again, think about nine storms last year. That's nine times that we had storms rapidly intensified. That's a big deal. And it's something that we should take heed that really speaks to our ability to be prepared not only as a city, but our residents as well. Now is the time to prepare. And the first step towards preparation is being vaccinated as it relates to this COVID-19. It only takes again one storm to make an active season. Only takes one storm. And as we have seen from the rain events that we've had and the tornado we just had throughout the past couple of weeks, we could have another active season ahead of us. Again, we have been worn above average and above normal. This is our time again to prepare ourselves. We're also preparing Absolutely. City government I share with you a while ago that we have transformed in terms of saying essential versus non essential employees. All of our people are now reserved. So should we need to respond to the needs on the ground in our city? It means that everyone that serves as a public servant is a reserve. And if we're called to work outside of our classified positions, that's what we do in order to serve. And so we're preparing again, all of our employees are departments for this change because this is something that we've learned moving through this pandemic. It's now more important than ever that you have a hurricane plan for you and your family. And this is also what we're telling and sharing with our employees who are all reserved. Again, the first step towards preparation is the vaccination and as always you are, let me tell you are partners in this. You have the teams behind me standing with me. But our residents are partners as well, gather supplies, have a plan stay connected. And remember to sign up to receive real time updates from the city of New Orleans. Through our No Loretty system. You text no loretty one word 277295. So with that, I'm going to turn it over now to our national weather service and we'll be hearing from our very own Benjamin shute. Give me straight. Well, good afternoon, I want to thank you madam Mayor for inviting National Weather Service uh to uh get us ready for the upcoming hurricane season. As she had mentioned already, we are definitely looking at the possibility of an above average season. The atmospheric conditions with the transitioning from a La Nina to a neutral condition will be uh very uh mm. Set up for tropical activity to be above normal throughout the entire tropical season. Uh, we're already seeing above normal temperatures in the gulf of Mexico, which will also allow fuel for those storms should they develop. So because of that, it's definitely time for preparedness now. Uh, like she mentioned, it's time to think about a plan where you would go, how you would evacuate what you may need to take care of yourself, your family, your pets. Uh, thinking about all those needs that need to be met when a tropical is impending on the area. Um, you know, outside of the kit, it's also important that we share with our family and friends the plans that we have. If you're thinking about possibly evacuating, let others know where you may be going. Um, It's a good way of making sure that everybody is safe and accounted for. And so that there isn't any confusion at a time where confusion can be easily found when communications can start to go down as they start to get to impacted heavily. I also want to mention that it's a very important for people to make sure they use in reputable sources. Uh, you know, when we start to have tropicals start to develop in the atlantic, there are a lot of places on the web and on social media that put out information that may not be the most reputable source available. So make sure using a solid source, whether B. S. The National Weather Service, the National Hurricane Center, your local media, um Emergency management. But please make sure you're getting it from irreparable source, especially if you're pulling information from social media is one of your main sources. I know a lot of folks, you know do not subscribe to cable T. V. Or to other means that some others use. And so you may be getting your sources of information from again from social media. And I just want to really illiterate as important for people to make sure they're getting it from a reputable source. There are some changes when it comes to the wireless emergency alerts. If you remember last year, a lot of folks were woken up at four a.m. with sally approaching the gulf uh and the coast here. So um that has been changed. We have the ability now at our office here in slidell to make sure that that the wireless emergency alert does not go off at four AM if there is not a direct impact to life and property and it will go off a little bit later in the morning. So that will be one benefit as we move through this season. Um though, if there was a tropical storm or hurricane that was developing right off the coast and quickly, uh we would utilize that early morning warning if we thought it would impact life and property, some other changes as well as we split Orleans Parish in half. So basically if you're inside the risk reduction system, you will not get a storm surge warnings over your wireless emergency alerts there as well. So we hope there won't be much bleed over across that line. But for those areas outside their risk reduction system, you still should receive those storm surge wireless emergency alerts if they reach that criteria. The last thing that I like to kind of mention is every storm is different and we've seen that over the course of even last year, uh you had lower, which was a rapidly intensifying storm all the way up to shoreline as it impacted southwest Louisiana and its main threat was winds. Uh You have sally, which though it dodged the area here and moved off to the east, slow down and dropped feet of rain across the area. Every storm is different. Everyone will have a different threat and you need to know what the threat is and you can't always use what the category of the storm is. We all know that that is where a lot of things are based off of. But at the same time for people making decisions on the safety of their family and friends, understand the threats of the storm that would be impacting the area because that is what the main concern is. It may not just be surged. Uh It may not just be wind, it could be rainfall as well. And we all know that the flooding and flash flooding Is obviously one of the number one killers when it comes to weather across the United States. With that, I want to again thank the mayor for having us here this afternoon. And if anybody needs uh anymore information, feel free to uh see our website at weather dot gov slash new Orleans and you can get all the information warnings, watches and advisories there. Thank you. Thank you so much. Benjamin, we'll hear from. Yeah. Mhm. Thank you. Mayor. Thank you team Today. Local state and federal partners brief mayor Cantrell on the 2021 hurricane season and the city's readiness. The initial Colorado State University 2021 hurricane season forecast is predicting an above average season with 17 named storms, eight hurricanes, four of those being major As a reference. It's about the same forecast as we had going into what proved to be a record breaking hurricane season in 2020. And of course, as we hear all the time, it only takes one storm. So we have to be prepared every year. And that's you're seeing the culmination of a lot of preparation uh, which is really year round in this city. Uh, That's occurring today. The Office of Homeland Security and Emergency preparedness remains committed to coordinating the city's response should a storm come our way and impact our area. Today's briefing was one of many actions the office has taken to ensure our readiness ahead of June one, the official start of hurricane season, obviously with the federal guidance starting tomorrow from the Weather service uh and from the National Hurricane Center. We wanted everything done by today and that's what we've done. We've made some changes to be able to. Weeks ago, we completed a exercise of the city assisted evacuation plan for our residents who have no other way as a last resort of evacuating ahead of a major storm. We've made some changes to that plan and able to move people in a shorter amount of time. We learn something new from every storm. Every storm is different, like Ben just said. So we're always updating and reviewing our plans for response and recovery. Most of this team behind me spent a full day last week reviewing the 2020 season and also undergoing senior level hurricane training for this season. We recognize that we cannot do this alone and are grateful for all of the partners standing with us today and in the months to come Now, it's your turn to do your part because we're encouraging residents to make preparations now. The first step and will keep saying this to prepare for hurricane season 2021 is to get vaccinated. It will keep your family safe. Should you have to evacuate, gather your emergency supplies, supplies, your go bag. If you have to leave or your home kit. If we're sheltering in place and make an evacuation plan that includes your family, special needs and your pets. As you know, we've done a lot of talk this week about a transition to uh to rave our new mass notification system for the city stay connected by signing up for no already emergency alerts by texting Nolan. Ready one word Nolo Ready to 77295 That's Nolan ready to 77295 Review your flood insurance policies and make sure you're covered for the season. And for all this information that we've been talking about, please go to ready dot Enola dot gov. And you can always follow us on social media at imola. Ready. I want to say that with this pandemic there is a silver lining and that is seeing once again in many ways how new orleanians come together during times of crisis. This hurricane season will be no different. Please get to know your neighbors, talk to them about their plans, join the know already volunteer corps help with evacuation, sheltering and call taking during the storm. We've seen an amazing response during the pandemic, both doing testing, covid testing and now vaccinations. And please continue to take care of one another in this great city and get vaccinated. Thank you. Thank you Colin. We're going to hear from dr jennifer banknote. Thank you, madam. Mayor. Hi everybody. Um I just want to briefly touch on what we're doing to protect and preserve health. Um Should there be a storm threat? Uh certainly last year taught us some very valuable lessons as it did everyone else. Uh, First of all, we're appreciative for our partners at D. M. S. O. P. C. D. Noel already and our other public safety department who are helping us go through our special needs registry. This is the way that if you are a loved one have any barriers. Uh, medically health wise, that would make evacuation on your own difficult. We want to know about it. Whether you're homebound, whether you have limited mobility, whether you have speech difficulties, whatever that is, we encourage everyone who has not yet done so to sign up for the special needs registry, you can call 311 You can go online as well. At 311 We are actively going through it, making sure we have the most up to date information so that in the event of an emergency we would know who would need assistance Getting to safety. Uh so I can't, we have about 3500 names on it now. So it's a good number for our city, but we know that there are more that we need to reach. We're also continuing our plans for any medical special needs that might arise in an emergency. We learned a lot last year from Zeta in terms of the need to provide electricity and oxygen to those who are dependent on those things. Uh And so we were going to keep working on those plans. We also are going to make sure that our full covid safety precautions will be taken in the event of any kind of sheltering. And then we're in very close communication with our healthcare institutions, with our hospitals, dialysis, hospice, uh nursing homes, anyone with vulnerable and medically fragile individuals who would need extra assistance. I'm happy to report. They all are very confident in their plans and we're going to keep in communication with them so that we can make sure there is no loss of life and no further suffering from an event. Thank you. Thank you so much. Doctor bag. No deputy ceo, thank you so much, Mayor and thanks folks for being here and big thanks to the folks behind me who represent every agency um that day or night, respond to these sorts of events. One thing I just really want to point out is that we've been, the mayor said things are changing april of last month was the fifth wettest april since 1960 in this city, according to National Weather Service Data. Um This May, the 1st 12 days of May is the third wettest May since 1960. That's 61 years, There's still 18 days left of May and we're already the third wettest May since 1960. I think those things are telling us um to be prepared at all times. And and one thing that we really saw this week was a tornado and thankfully no loss of life, no people hurt. But what we did see is bounty street on in Algiers, for example, cone and pine in Carrollton and throughout our city. Fountain Blue Within about 24 hours, those are largely passable. And that's because of the great work of the Department of Parks and Parkways, public works and sanitation that are all under new leadership. And you know, even though the people may change um the work continues and it only continues as long as the folks standing up here, talk to one another and empower their teams to do this work really well at this moment are to um energy, sewage and water board. All of our infrastructure partners are working well together. Everybody knows what their major responsibility is. Um DPW knows how to shift from the everyday work of potholes to just shifting towards preparedness and cleaning catch basins and draining and cleaning those lines. And last year we had eight moments of cones of uncertainty and covid pandemic. Uh and we also have a tremendous amount of work going on in this city and I feel like we prepared pretty well and and we're pretty good at it by this point. One thing I would really want the public to be aware of is I personally saw that this week is we had a lot of power lines down in some of those areas impacted by um the tornado stay away from it. Even if you think, you know there's no power. We lost a resident last year who touched a live power line that was down after a hurricane. And I prefer that we just don't ever see that again in our city. So please stay away from power lines, slow your vehicles when you're seeing a public vehicle doing its work in the wake of one of these events and follow Nicola ready. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you so much. And now we're going to hear from Lieutenant Colonel Lagarde Louisiana National Guard. Good morning, ma'am. Thank you very much. I just want to take this opportunity to mirror what you said this past year was unprecedented. Year with the storms and covid. And uh, even during that 2020 season, Louisiana Army National Guard started Preparing for the 2021 season. We just finished our disaster response training event in April and where we exercised our plan for 2021 and we stand ready and prepared to protect the citizens of this city and the state of Louisiana, protecting what matters. Thank you so much. And we're going to hear from Colonel linear Coast Guard. Sorry. Commander. Done. Thank you. Sorry. No worries man. But you know what the Guard got you right. Thank you Mayor. So first I want to echo the Mayor's comments that now is the time to prepare the best, the best way to be ready for a season or state of harm's way to prepare. Now please listen to your the guidance and the warnings by your local emerging managers uh to protect yourself. Coastguards worked very hard with federal state parish, um Port partners and maritime stakeholders to prepare for storm season. These partnerships are critical and as in the past we stand very close to the city of New Orleans to protect and serve uh your citizenship. Thank you. Mr. Mayor. Thank you so much Commander. And we'll hear from Colonel Terry ever Colonel. Thank you America. I just want to add to some of the comments that you've heard. First of all. Behind me stands one of the finest most experienced, trustworthy educated practice organizations in the United States dealing with hazardous situations. It's not by accident that we have performed more emergency actions in any other city in America over the past two years. The performance of these agencies, the troops that man him the education and the leadership they get are what makes this the heart and soul of our great region. We can depend upon them. The message though, that you've heard all of them talk about is we have to depend upon you to follow our orders, be prepared and work as a team if we're going to be successful, we've been successful in the past. We understand our mission and our mission is simple. It's to save lives, protect property and provide security. That's what we do and that's what we need to work with you and ensuring that we are able to accomplish through the long coming hurricane season. It's a great team of local state, federal non profit agencies that make this up and it only can perform when the citizens step forward and help us perform our functions. We've got a large challenge facing us. We've had it before and we're going to be successful. Thank you very much, Madam Erica. Thank you. Thank you again for being here. That concludes Our Press Conference Related to Hurricane Season 2021.