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Hurricane threats impact Rhodes, FEMA |
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Thursday, 11 September 2008 |
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By MICHELLE ZLOMKE
Chief Managing Editor
• Former Custer County official works in Gulf Coast region
• Offices relocated by weather threats
BATON ROUGE, LA. -- George Rhodes remained in a temporary Baton Rouge, La. office early this week, working toward recovery from two disastrous 2005 hurricanes while seeking refuge from a string of current storms.
Rhodes, Custer County’s former Emergency Management Director, now works for the Federal Emergency Management Agency assisting in the rebuilding of areas devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
His office and staff relocated from New Orleans to Baton Rouge Aug. 29 in anticipation of Hurricane Gustav’s strike on the Gulf Coast.
The office will continue to operate from Baton Rouge, both because of damage to the New Orleans location, and in anticipation of the landfall of Hurricane Ike late this week.
“It (Gustav) took the roof of our office building in New Orleans and dumped two feet of water inside,” Rhodes said.
Rhodes’ fellow FEMA staffers took turns making the 80-mile trip back to New Orleans to check on their own homes.
Rhodes said he would wait until later this week, or until the threats of Hurricane Ike had passed, to check on his own home.
Rhodes said the decision to relocate to Baton Rouge came Aug. 27, as the region’s FEMA offices observed the three-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s strike.
That was four days before Gustav hit the Gulf Coast.
That kind of advanced disaster preparedness is much different from the last-minute notice for some weather events Rhodes saw in Nebraska.
“These hurricanes are so different from tornadoes,” Rhodes said. “You can see them coming days and days ahead. Sometimes, you have up to a week.”
As evacuations were discussed and announced in the coastal areas of Louisiana, Rhodes said people took the warnings very seriously.
“At all levels, from government to individual residents, because of Katrina, it was all taken much more seriously,” Rhodes said.
He said there was a much better effort to move two million residents inland. Buses and trains were filled with people who didn’t have their own transportation, and medical facilities were evacuated early.
Additionally, Rhodes said, local officials made it clear that there would be no shelters of last resort for people who decided to stay put in New Orleans.
“It was all very different this time,” Rhodes said. “About 95 percent were evacuated and that was a big difference.”
Rhodes chose to leave New Orleans and head for Baton Rouge at midnight Saturday, Aug. 30. He hoped to avoid heavy traffic, but still shared packed highways with other evacuees.
Traffic was not the only challenge Rhodes faced in leaving New Orleans.
“I spent much of my day Saturday driving around looking for a gas station that still had gas,” he said.
Rhodes has been in Louisiana for nearly a year. He is the operations section chief for recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He works in FEMA’s transitional recovery office.
“This is probably the highlight of my life as far as challenges,” Rhodes said. “I enjoy the work I’ve gotten to do here.”
Rhodes said the transitional recovery office was established after urgent recovery needs had been met following those hurricanes. He said the role of FEMA’s transitional office is to aid in rebuilding the New Orleans region.
Rhodes manages agreements with other federal agencies to facilitate recovery, rebuilding and moving residents back to the area.
For instance, he said, FEMA has contracts with the Coast Guard to remove debris in the extensive waterways, with the Environmental Protection Agency to oversee the demolition of property and with Health and Human Services to help transport people with medical needs.
Like most FEMA recovery employees, Rhodes has a temporary position, and was expected to work in the department for about two years.
He said he anticipates damage from Gustav, and any other damage this year, may extend his role there.
“When Gustav occurred, there was a national response team that came in right away,” Rhodes said. “It’s very likely once the response effort is over everything will be handed over to our transitional recovery office.” |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 18 September 2008 )
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Huskers.com
