Broussard on Meet the Press... More dispute before the storm..

HEADLINE: Jeff may abandon evacuation compact; Broussard: Parish security comes first

A battle over the state's new evacuation guideline grew more heated Tuesday with Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard saying Jefferson could pull out of the plan and Gov. Kathleen Blanco suggesting it may be time to discuss whether state officials, and not parish leaders, should have the final say on evacuation orders.

In a stinging, four-page letter to Blanco, Broussard criticized portions of the evacuation procedure and some of Blanco's public remarks about the need for southeast Louisiana parishes to stick together and follow the plan, completed three months ago.

During a public appearance on an unrelated matter just minutes after getting the letter, Blanco said one issue that needs considering is whether the state's top emergency personnel, including State Police and Homeland Security, should have the final say on when or if parishes should evacuate.

Broussard said Tuesday that he wouldn't turn over decision-making authority unless the Legislature put the state in charge of the process

The new plan was written to correct mistakes that led to September's nightmare evacuation from Hurricane Ivan. It calls for residents from low-lying coastal communities to leave first, followed by the West Bank and, finally, the heavily populated areas of East Jefferson and Orleans Parish.

Last Friday, Broussard recommended that all Jefferson Parish residents begin a voluntary evacuation at noon as Hurricane Dennis approached Cuba, 50 hours from its eventual U.S. landfall. He also asked State Police to implement contraflow, a system of reversing interstate lanes that isn't called for in the state plan until the winds of a serious storm are about 30 hours from hitting the coast.

Broussard has said the plan isn't flexible enough to provide advance, daylight evacuations for residents in his parish, and he reiterated Tuesday that he would pull out of the arrangement before following procedures that he and his staff don't think are in the best interest of Jefferson Parish.

Blanco had little to say about the controversy Tuesday and offered no direct criticism of Broussard. But she suggested that when emergency officials meet in coming days and weeks to evaluate Hurricane Dennis, a topic of discussion will be who should be authorized to order evacuations.

Blanco didn't say she favors shifting responsibility to the state, only that the concept should be explored.

Although many Louisianians are hurricane-savvy and know when to evacuate, others rely on official direction. In those cases, Blanco said, a premature evacuation is just as harmful as a late one.

"A premature decision causes you problems," Blanco said. "If you do that constantly, people lose confidence" in officials and will not leave when a major storm imperils an error.

"I think this will all work out in the long run, but I think right now emotions are high and everybody's justifying their decisions," the governor said. "I think everybody will settle down and look at the needs of the region."

Broussard said Tuesday that he remains confident in his decision last Friday to recommend a midday evacuation to ensure parish residents had plenty of time to reach a destination before dark.

The contraflow requested by Broussard would have closed I-10, I-55 and I-59 to incoming traffic at a time when Hurricane Dennis had not yet reached Cuba and before any other parishes, including low-lying communities south of the Intracoastal Waterway, were being advised by their emergency officials to evacuate.

"But I learned my lesson," Broussard said Tuesday. "I won't ask for contraflow again. I'll recommend evacuation and leave it to state officials to implement contraflow."

State officials who helped write the new plan said using contraflow in the final stage of their three-phase evacuation will allow the efficient evacuation of the entire southeast Louisiana region.

"We can move the population out in 50 hours," said Lt. Chris Bodet, evacuation coordinator for Troop B. "Of course, we always like to see people leave early. It makes it easier for them, and it puts less people on the road in the final stage of evacuation. But lots of people can't do that, especially in Orleans Parish, and this is a plan designed for the entire region."

Broussard said he and his top advisers don't believe that the area can be evacuated in 50 hours. And even if it can, he said, the phased evacuation doesn't give him the flexibility to ensure that Jefferson Parish residents can always begin to evacuate during daylight hours.

Unless he is forced to pull out of the plan, Broussard said, he will continue to try work within the state's guidelines and always give low-lying parishes the opportunity to evacuate ahead of Jefferson.

"Emily is coming," Broussard said of the new tropical storm expected to be near Cuba on Sunday, "and I pledge to the other parish presidents today that I will endeavor to implement this (state) plan without endangering my residents."

Sheila Grissett can be reached at sgrissett@timespicayune.com or (504) 883-7058.

Some more info to demonstrate that there was serious ineptitude confustion in NOLA in the months just PRIOR to this event.

The Times-Picayune
July 13, 2005

SECTION: NATIONAL; Pg. 1

LENGTH: 946 words

HEADLINE: 'IT'S A MESS';
Contraflow call in Jeff stirs criticism. But parish president defends his decision

BYLINE: By Sheila Grissett, East Jefferson bureau

BODY:

Jefferson Parish's call for an evacuation with contraflow as Hurricane Dennis approached Cuba on Friday deviated from a new regional disaster plan and drew stinging criticism from some elected officials in neighboring parishes.

"If you are going to have a plan, you have to stick by the damn plan," said Larry Ingargiola, St. Bernard director of Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. "My biggest worry and the council's worry was that if Jefferson was going to pull the plug that early, what's going to happen to our people?"

The new plan calls for evacuating less-populated, lower-lying communities of southeast Louisiana ahead of East Jefferson and New Orleans, and using contraflow only if needed to finish evacuating the area's two most heavily populated parishes.

Parish President Aaron Broussard made the call at noon, ahead of all coastal parishes.

"I feel totally comfortable based on circumstances at the time and the advice I received from Dr. Maestri," said Broussard, referring to parish Emergency Management Director Walter Maestri.

But it was his request that State Police enact contraflow, or the reversal of interstate lanes, that caused the most consternation.

"Aaron Broussard has a right to order a voluntary evacuation for Jefferson Parish residents whenever he sees fit," St. Bernard Parish Sheriff Jack Stephens said. "But had contraflow been put into place, it would have placed the whole metropolitan area on an early forced evacuation."

Nagin didn't OK evacuation

Had contraflow started Friday at midday, all outbound lanes of Interstate 10, I-55 and I-59 would have been reversed to accommodate evacuees, and inbound traffic would have been blocked, officials said.

Under the new plan devised by the state and endorsed by Broussard and other local leaders in April, lane reversal is for use only in the final stage of an evacuation to accommodate drivers from heavily populated East Jefferson and New Orleans.

Nagin never recommended evacuation for New Orleans. And the presidents of St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes only suggested evacuation for their residents later in the day Friday, which was in keeping with Stage 1 of the plan to clear out low-lying communities 50 hours in advance of tropical-force winds hitting the coast.

Under terms of the new plan, designed to improve on the hair-pulling evacuation experienced before Hurricane Ivan in September, contraflow is intended to begin about 30 hours before a Category 3 storm or larger is expected to strike Louisiana, and it is employed only after the coastal communities and the West Bank have been evacuated.

None of those conditions was in effect Friday at noon, when the strike probability for New Orleans was at 14 percent, and the state refused Broussard's request.

"I achieved exactly what I wanted to achieve," Broussard said Monday. "I gave the people in Jefferson Parish who wanted to evacuate the impetus to do so on Friday and to get somewhere before sundown. . . . I feel totally comfortable, based on the circumstances at the time, and I would do it again if I thought it was best for the people of this parish."

Blanco opposed contraflow

Gov. Kathleen Blanco, whose approval is needed for contraflow to begin, said Friday that she understood Broussard was doing what he thought was best for parish residents. But because regional cooperation is essential to a successful evacuation of the entire southeast area, Blanco said everyone involved needs to keep talking.

But Blanco, supported by her emergency chiefs of staff, said contraflow was unwarranted.

"The governor spoke to Mr. Broussard late Friday. He explained his reasons for deviating from the plan," Blanco spokeswoman Denise Bottcher said Monday. "She listened, and she urged him to follow the plan."

Plaquemines Parish President Benny Rousselle said he also believes the plan can work only if it's followed by all the parishes.

"We didn't put it in blood," Rousselle said. "We agreed we were going to work together."

But he stopped short of criticizing Broussard, who he said called him Monday morning to explain his Friday evacuation decision.

Officials in St. John the Baptist and St. Charles parishes said Monday that they had no quarrel with Broussard.

St. Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis said he talked Friday morning with Broussard and "we were aware of what he was thinking about doing."

In New Orleans, a top official did not criticize Jefferson Parish but did emphasize the need for areawide cooperation.

"If the trigger is pulled by a local jurisdiction, ideally it should be done by all the players," said Terry Ebbert, director of the city's Office of Homeland Security, which supervises the Office of Emergency Preparedness

For example, Ebbert said that if New Orleans executed the plan independently "and clogged all the roads," it would be tough for St. Bernard and Plaquemines residents to evacuate.

"The idea is you roll it up from the coast outward and on up. You let them get out first and then deal with areas where the larger masses of people live. It's a well-developed plan."

"Coordination is essential, particularly in the greater New Orleans area," Bottcher said.

Broussard said he recommended the evacuation because he feared that waiting could have resulted in the kind of extreme congestion that marked the Hurricane Ivan evacuation or perhaps have forced evacuees from his jurisdiction to leave the area at night.

"In the abstract, this plan is a good one," he said. "But what it's missing is common sense.". .
. . . .

Sheila Grissett can be reached at sgrissett@timespicayune.com or (504) 883-7058.

Staff writers Karen Turni Bazile, Charlie Chapple and Frank Donze contributed to this story.

LOAD-DATE: July 12, 2005

When did the Gov. implement the "contraflow" evacuation procedures? Anyone got a good timeline of the events leading up to Katrina?

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