As if planning for a busy hurricane season wasn’t enough for area emergency planners, adding the coronavirus and all it brings to the table, can be downright impossible.
But that is the task at hand New Orleans and Louisiana officials as they move forward with advance planning for disasters that could happen.
The Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate reports the chance of a hurricane hitting the region while the populace is still in quarantine is rare.
But reaction and planning still needs to be performed to see how the region will react should the unthinkable become the inevitable.
Hurricane prognosticators say we’ll have an above-average year for named storms due to warm water in the areas where hurricanes are generated.
Some of the actions planners are taking is staging temperature takers and distributing masks at Hurricane Evacuspots.
Anyone with a temperature above 100 will be transported aboard separate buses. Also, social distancing aboard buses will limit seating, calling for the need for more buses.
Fortunately, the pandemic and its effect on the tourism industry means there is a surplus of available buses.
In Jefferson Parish, they will start evacuating early, when the wind speed of the incoming storm hits 65-69 miles per hour.
“We estimate that 90% of our population will self-evacuate. Our clear message is that’s the preferred option,” New Orleans Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Director Collin Arnold told the paper.
“If you have medical needs or transportation issues that preclude you evacuating yourself, then city evacuation is for you,” Arnold says.
This year, Smoothie King Center will be the evacuation point instead of Union Passenger Terminal. Again, this will allow for more social distancing.
With Hurricane season starting June 1st, a region wide drill will be held shortly after the season gets underway.