Press Releases
Date: 9/15/2005
Contact: Denise Bottcher or Roderick Hawkins at 225-342-9037
UPDATE: TASK FORCE PELICAN
Thursday - September 15, 2005
American Red Cross
- Important Red Cross numbers:
§ For Information: 1-866-GET-INFO (1-866-438-4636)
§ To Apply for Financial Assistance: 1-800- 975-7585
§ To Find Friends & Family: 1-877-LOVED 1S (1-877-568-3317)
§ To donate: 1-800- HELP- NOW (1-800-4357-669)
Department of Health & Hospitals
- An updated number of fatalities has been announced at 474.
o This number will be updated as often as possible when deaths are determined to be storm-related.
- DHH has contracted with Kenyon International Emergency Services to recover the bodies of deceased victims of Hurricane Katrina.
o For more information the contract can be viewed online at http://www.dhh.louisiana.gov/offices/publications.asp?ID=145&Detail=741
- Aerial spraying for mosquitoes in the Greater New Orleans area continued through today.
o Spraying in Washington is tentatively scheduled for tomorrow and Friday and Tangipahoa Parish is tentatively scheduled for Saturday.
- Jefferson parish restaurant owners wishing to reopen their establishments must call the Jefferson Parish Health Unit at 504-838-5140 for an inspection.
o Upon passing inspection, an official placard will be conspicuously displayed at that establishment.
o Food establishments that do not obtain the placard will not be allowed to operate.
Department of Social Services
- Currently, there are 318 general population shelters in Louisiana housing 52,640 displaced citizens.
o Another five special needs shelters house 318 citizens.
o In addition to Louisiana, 49 states now offer shelters to 58,466 citizens for a total population of 111,424 displaced citizens.
- From Sept. 2 - 14, the Office of Family Support has certified 268,596 households (with an average of 3 family members per HH) for total Disaster Food Stamp benefits of more than $98.9 million.
- The Office of Community Services has located 1,500 of the 2,000 foster children in the hurricane impacted area.
o There have been 50 displaced children taken into custody, mostly in Texas.
o Five hundred children have been matched and reunited with their families during the Hurricane Katrina aftermath.
o Twelve children still are in need of reunification.
Department of Education
- The Louisiana Department of Education Call Center has answered approximately 10,000 phone calls from concerned parents, teachers and school employees since Hurricane Katrina passed.
- In addition, our website has experienced record traffic logging more than 167,000 hits.
- Through our Teach Louisiana website, we have registered more than 4,000 teachers who have been displaced and identified more than 1,600 who are searching for jobs in the areas in which they are seeking temporary shelter.
- Additionally, the Department has set up a temporary office on the first floor of our downtown building to service walk-in's in need of school information, duplicate teacher certificates or just answers to their questions.
o More than 800 individuals have received help.
- Finally, we have preliminary numbers from Louisiana school districts indicating that 22,000 displaced students have enrolled in operating school systems statewide.
- Additional information can be obtained by logging onto our website, www.louisianaschools.net or by calling our toll-free helpline at 1-877-453-2721.
Department of Transportation & Development
- DOTD is completing its assessment of moveable bridges in the affected areas.
- Several contracts have been awarded and work is underway.
Department of Labor
- DOL has taken over 130,000 new claims for Unemployment Insurance benefits in Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
o At least 60,000 have been collected from evacuees in other states.
- Persons who filed unemployment insurance claims recently won't find the customary paper check in the mail.
o Instead, they will get a debit card from DOL that will allow them easy access to their benefits.
- DOL continues to list a schedule of job fairs set across the state.
- DOL continues to urge injured workers who were receiving workers' compensation benefits before Hurricane Katrina to call the Workers' Compensation office immediately to update their contact information.
o The toll-free number is 1-866-783-5567.
Department of Environmental Quality
- NOAA ship Nancy Foster will be taking water, fish and shrimp samples in impacted areas from Alabama to mouth of Mississippi River.
- Samples from Lake Pontchartrain continue to show elevated levels of bacteria.
o Samples will be taken twice a week
- Inside the New Orleans levees, results for samples collected through September 8th, show concentrations of metals and toxic organic pollutants to be below levels of concern.
Department of Wildlife & Fisheries
- Habitat Damage Assessment Continues
o Survey report on parts of St. Bernard Parish by LDWF Marine Fisheries and Fur & Refuge personnel: to determine extent of damage to infrastructure and marsh at ground level.
o In the Bayou Bienvenue area, most boat launches and marinas are in poor condition, with many sport boats scattered around parking lots, along with assorted debris.
o The Violet Canal served as refuge for a substantial fleet (perhaps 40-50) shrimp and oyster vessels.
§ Most of this fleet seemed to be afloat, though some vessels were listing, or exhibited some structural damage.
o Bayou Terre aux Boeufs was choked with areas of marsh grass and floating mud through the Reggio area, down to about Bayou Lery.
§ Below that junction, the bayou seemed much more passable, though there were still substantial amounts of marsh debris, mixed with debris from destroyed / damaged buildings and boats.
§ Access to these upper stretches of the bayou will probably be impossible for some time to come.
o Nearly all houses and other structures in the Reggio / Delacroix area were substantially destroyed.
§ The few structures remaining took severe damage.
§ The St. Bernard Parish facility in Reggio had a watermark about ½ way up the second floor.
o Marsh damage seemed to be severe in the area surveyed, with substantial clumps of marsh overturned, with the root masses exposed.
§ More was dislocated, landing atop other marsh, in trees, in structures, etc.
- Marine Fisheries - Administrative Update
o Marine Fisheries began the temporary move of Oyster Lease Survey Section records from the New Orleans office to Baton Rouge.
o That office is expected to be operational within a week.
Department of Corrections
- Summary of arrests to date processed at the temporary detention facility in New Orleans (as of 5:15 pm 9/14/2005):
o Total Misdemeanors: 9 male 2 female
o Total State Felonies: 218 males 47 females
o Total Federal Felonies: 8 males
- Initial or "72 hour hearings" were held for 13 detainees at Elayn Hunt Correctional Center on Wednesday.
o These are individuals arrested post-Hurricane Katrina and held temporarily at the New Orleans detention facility and then transported to Hunt.
o Court is scheduled again next Wednesday, September 21st, 2005.
- Family members inquiring about an inmate's transfer location (those evacuated from Jefferson and Orleans parishes) may call the following numbers for more information: 225) 342-5935 or (225) 342-3998
- Those offenders under probation or parole supervision who were forced to evacuate due to Hurricane Katrina are asked to check-in with the Department immediately. Probation and Parole agents are manning the following phone lines
1-800-869-2909 or (225) 342-0921; 342-0923 or 342-0933
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12:07P.M. - JEFFERSONVILLE, IN (AP): Three women have been charged with felony fraud, accused of trying to cheat the American Red Cross in Jeffersonville, Indiana, by posing as victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The three women claimed they were from Louisiana and asked for money and clothes. They were arrested after police determined they were really from Louisville, Kentucky.
Clark County Red Cross chapter director Phyllis Wilkins says they are also investigating reports that people have used Red Cross debit cards at Victoria's Secret, Circuit City and Hooters.
She says the agency's policy is to "err on the side of compassion" when someone claims to be a hurricane refugee and has no identification. They take digital photos of each applicant and try to verify their address.