New Orleans city leaders have set up a partnership with Amtrak for assistance in evacuations ahead of this hurricane season. New Orleans Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Director Collin Arnold says this should be an invaluable resource for helping to get people out of harm’s way in large numbers. “This would take trains full of evacuees to Tangipahoa parish where they would then be moved by bus,” Arnold explained. He added that moving citizens further north when the storms are hitting should help to keep more of the vulnerable population in New Orleans safe.
The process would entail those trying to evacuate a storm being picked up at RTA bus stops around the city, then brought to the Smoothie King Center. From there, evacuees would be triaged and given a wristband. Transportation assistance would then board evacuees to a bus, airplane or train. Arnold added that he expects the city’s partnership with Amtrak during hurricane season to be an ongoing and vital part of hurricane preparedness in the future.