Hurricane preparation is a yearlong endeavor

For the last 10 years, leaders from law enforcement agencies, fire departments, first responders, industries, local hospitals, non-profits and the St. Landry Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness have gathered in Opelousas to discuss the parish’s emergency preparedness plan each April.
“We are constantly preparing,” said Lisa Vidrine, director of the St. Landry Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness. “We monitored the most recent storm (Tropical Storm Bill) through several conference calls with the National Weather Service, including ones Wednesday morning and afternoon (the day before it made landfall in Texas). We are in constant contact with the Weather Service when something has the potential to effect us or nearby areas.”
During the annual meeting, any changes or updates to the parish’s hurricane preparedness plan are addressed, any questions anyone may have are answered and a National Weather Service presentation on what the upcoming hurricane season may be like is given to the group.
As for the emergency preparedness office itself, the first step taken prior to a storm is to make sure all emergency preparedness employees are accounted for and that families of those employees have a safe place to stay during the storm. Next, there will be a meeting with local officials, first responders, volunteer organizations, state agencies in the parish and in the region and federal agencies. Emergency preparedness will also take an inventory of sandbags.
“We will meet to make sure we have all our ducks in a row and make sure we have the items we need as far as preparing,” Vidrine said.
The last thing emergency preparedness will do prior to a storm’s arrival is distribute sandbags at the main parish location at the Yambilee Building on the west side of Opelousas. Emergency preparedness will also work with other municipalities and mayor’s offices in the parish to make sure those places also have enough sandbags.
Eunice Police Chief Randy and Brian Miller, Eunice Fire Department interim chief, attended the April emergency preparedness meeting.
“We don’t do much preparation because we know what to expect,” Fontenot said. “We do not do much preparation until one is headed this way.”
In the event that a storm heads this way, the department’s generator will be filled with diesel, and officers will be urged to keep their patrol cars full of gas. Next, officers will work to keep traffic flowing smoothly through town when evacuations have more travelers passing through the area.
“Then we pretty much hunker down and wait,” Fontenot said. “All officers are working or are on stand by, and we will patrol until the weather gets bad.”
As a potential storm passes through the area, an officer will be stationed at the 911 office in Opelousas to help coordinate emergency responses. Officers in Eunice will put up portable stop signs if the power goes out in the city, and officers will begin any emergency responses necessary.
“It’s routine,” Fontenot said. “We know it by now. We know what to do.”