By Kimberly Hopson

L’Observateur

CONVENT – With hurricane season swiftly approaching, St. James Parish Director of Emergency Preparedness Eric Deroche would like to inform parish residents about some of the changes his department has implemented.

“Hopefully its a quiet season where we don’t have to worry about dealing with a hurricane. We need a break,”Deroche said. “Isaac came in and everyone said ‘Oh it’s a category one storm. It’s nothing.’ But it came in and sat over us for 36 hours. People get complacent with the small storms. There were a lot of lessons learned from Isaac and that we, St. James Parish, have never seen before with previous storms,” said Deroche.

After Isaac, the parish conducted a post-storm assessment and found that less than 1 percent of the tarps they gave out to residents were actually being used on roofs. Because of this, more scrutiny will be placed on the distribution of commodities such as water and pre-packaged meals.

Deroche said the parish is working with the state on formal guidance that will give citizens a better idea of requirements and thresholds for receiving commodities. The guidance is currently in draft form but is expected to be completed by mid-June. The parish also has a plan that will estimate the number of sandbags needed in an emergency according to the square footage of homes.

Next month, parish officials will hold brief sessions at the senior citizen centers to show the elderly how to sign up for the text notification system and discuss other available means of communication.

Deroche said criticial facilities in the parish will have a new generator. The facilities are listed as follows: water treatment facilities in both Vacherie and Convent, the Vacherie Courthouse Annex, the Louisiana Emergency Operations Center behind the Convent courthouse, the St. James Parish utilities office, both the east bank and west bank road and bridge shops, the Lutcher High School gymnasium and the bus barn in Convent.

Deroche also mentioned that the parish would be increasing the use of technology and Geographic Information System data for planning. The parish is currently working with a surveying/engineering firm to get current elevations at monuments. St. James Parish has also revamped its website, a much-needed update, according to Deroche. The new website has more efficient mobile capabilities and will automatically post updates during a disaster.

Deroche encourages residents to sign up for free texting notifications from the parish. Standard text messaging rates apply. As always, the parish encourages the community to prepare for the season by to developing a game plan and stock up on essential items. For more information, contact the Department of Emergency Preparedness at 225-562-2346, or visit the St. James Parish website at www.stjamesla.com.