LAFAYETTE PARISH — The Lafayette Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (OHSEP) is reviewing its response to Hurricane Francine.
“What we received was very positive feedback on the sharing of information and collaboration, which was the first time I’ve heard that happened in Lafayette,” said Christina Dayries, interim director for OHSEP.
Dayries stated that Hurricane Francine tested Lafayette’s emergency response capabilities, emphasizing improving the city’s preparedness for future storms.
“I think overall the feedback we received from the agencies we worked with was very positive. Everyone was happy with the unified structure we set up,” Dayries said.
Hurricane Francine made landfall in Louisiana less than a week ago, leaving more than 300,000 homes flooded and nearly 400,000 without power. In July, the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security identified 35 areas of weakness in Lafayette’s emergency readiness plan.
“We started addressing the recommendations, but we have a long way to go. We want to revamp our entire emergency operations plan, every aspect of it, and the biggest gap we found was identifying key stakeholders to staff the Emergency Operations Center (EOC),” Dayries said.
Hurricane Francine comes as the Mayor-President’s office is restructuring the Office of Emergency Preparedness, moving it from 911 to Lafayette Consolidated Government (LCG).
The mayor’s office is also interviewing candidates for the position of director.
“What we’re lacking here in Lafayette is that we have a base plan but no specifics—who’s really responsible for recovery and how do we coordinate that,” Dayries added.
Although Lafayette sustained minimal damage from the storm, LCG reports that the city provided shelter to at least 50 people, including one family evacuated from Houma and another traveling from California who sought refuge as the storm passed through Louisiana.
