http://www.lepa.org/Newsletter/Spring_2005.pdf
Louisiana Catastrophic Hurricane Planning Workshop
Brad Tiffee, IEM, Inc.
Sean R. Fontenot, LOHSEP
From July 16–23, 2004, over 300 participants from Federal, State, local, and volunteer agencies participated in the Louisiana Catastrophic Hurricane Planning Workshop at the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (LOHSEP) in Baton Rouge. The purpose of the workshop was to develop functional plans for response to and recovery from a catastrophic hurricane striking southeast Louisiana, including the City of New Orleans.
Driven by a predetermined scenario, entitled Hurricane Pam, the participants developed 15 functional plans over the course of the week, including: pre-landfall activities; unwatering of leveeenclosed areas; hazardous materials; billeting of response personnel; distribution of power, water, and ice; transport from water to shelter; volunteer and donations management; external affairs; access control and re-entry; debris; schools; search and rescue; sheltering; temporary housing; and temporary medical care.
The scenario involved a slow-moving Category 3 storm making landfall near Grand Isle in the early morning. In the scenario, the storm, sustaining winds of 120 mph at landfall, spawned tornados, destroyed over 75% of the structures in its path, and left the majority of New Orleans under 15–20 feet of water. The workshop was sponsored by FEMA and LOHSEP, with a weather scenario designed by the National Weather Service and damage and consequences developed by IEM, Inc. of Baton Rouge. IEM, Inc. also facilitated the workshop sessions.
From November 29–December 3, over 90 participants met in New Orleans to continue planning for three topics: sheltering, temporary housing, and temporary medical care. These three topics were chosen by the workshop’s Unified Command as areas that needed continued group planning.
The outcome of these workshops is a series of functional plans that may be implemented immediately. Along with these plans, resource shortfalls were identified early, saving valuable time in the event an actual response is warranted. It is because of the dedication of every workshop participant that Louisiana is much better prepared for a catastrophic hurricane.
I'd love to see the what the "functional plans" of the workshop actually said about evacuation, and what they actually said about the use of the Superdome and the Convention center.
Maybe someone's already posted these details from the "functional plans."