Mayor, City First Responders Support Hurricane Harvey Recovery Efforts In Port Arthur, Texas

NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (NOHSEP) and the New Orleans Fire Department (NOFD) are continuing to support the Hurricane Harvey recovery efforts in Texas.

         “Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Southwest Louisiana, and we continue to keep a close eye on Hurricane Irma’s impact,” said Mayor Mitch Landrieu. “Anyone affected by a natural disaster knows how it feels just to know people are thinking about you. Our first responders will continue to provide resources and support in any way that we can.”

         On Thursday, Aug. 31, NOHSEP deployed two personnel and NOFD deployed 19 personnel as part of Louisiana Task Force 1 Urban Search and Rescue Team (LATF-1 USAR) to provide search and rescue resources and an Incident Management Team (IMT) to assist the Emergency Operations Center in Port Arthur, Texas. The IMT conducted incident management support and established Incident Action Plans (IAP) before crews began searching. Since then, LATF-1 has been conducting secondary searches throughout neighborhoods across Port Arthur.

         The IMT, a regular component of NOFD operations, was expanded for this deployment to include two NOHSEP members, one member from St. Bernard Parish Fire Department, and one member from the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP).

         The NOHSEP and NOFD IMT is also providing emergency operations support to the City of Port Arthur officials and are helping to provide a preliminary damage assessment.

         The New Orleans IMT continues assisting Port Arthur city officials and department heads to develop daily briefings and provide support for the city’s incident command.

         On Monday, Sept. 4, Mayor Landrieu joined Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, Chef John Besh and the John Besh Foundation to serve 1,200 meals for lunch, and joined Taste Buds Management and the Louisiana Hospitality Foundation to serve 600 meals for dinner to those affected by Hurricane Harvey in Port Arthur. The mayor also met with Port Arthur city officials including, Mayor Derrick Freeman and Chief of Police Patrick Melvin.

         As a follow up to the Sept. 4 trip, Mayor Landrieu sent two senior officials back to Port Arthur on Sept. 6 for additional meetings geared toward long-term recovery.

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Mayor Landrieu joined Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, Chef John Besh and the John Besh Foundation to serve 1,200 meals for lunch, and joined Taste Buds Management and the Louisiana Hospitality Foundation to serve 600 meals for dinner to those affected by Hurricane Harvey in Port Arthur, Texas.