Get ‘Storm Ready’ at Houma library

During the calm of the hurricane season, Terrebonne residents can receive an entire day of services involving hurricane preparation.

The Terrebonne Parish Main Library is hosting Storm Ready, its first ever hurricane preparedness day, on Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The event, free and open to the public, will feature presentations for adults and kids on various aspects of emergency preparedness from experts.

“Our mission at the library is to give this community the best and most accurate information as possible,” said Lauren Ledet, adult services coordinator. “We thought the only way to do that with hurricane preparedness is for those groups and organizations in the parish to come here and do it themselves.”

The library is providing computer stations with scanners so attendees can scan important documents – birth certificates, marriage licenses, deeds, wills, driver’s licenses, credit cards and insurance information – on CDs and flash drives.

The public is encouraged to bring their own, but the library will have CDs ($0.25) and flash drives ($10) available for purchase.

“Folks can come do this every day. We encourage them to save their important documents digitally in the event that something were to ever happen,” Ledet said. “It’s not a service we’re just going to offer that day and stop.”

Terrebonne’s emergency preparedness director Earl Eues will host two sessions presenting the Parish Emergency Plan and answering questions from the audience. The sessions begin at 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Barton Joffrion of the LSU AgCenter will give a power point presentation on tree safety at 10:30 a.m.

Animal care experts Cathy Richard and Martha Neil Anthony will each offer tips on preparing pets for evacuation and keeping them safe during disasters at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.

Lillie Brunet, the library’s preschool outreach coordinator, and the Terrebonne Association for Retarded Citizens (TARC) will present two story times and DVD viewings dealing with hurricane evacuation, returning home and dealing with loss at 10:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

During the story times, parents are invited into an adjacent room to learn tips from LaChip and the LSU AgCenter on keeping kids safe during disasters. Information includes caring for a child’s mental well being, providing health care, insurance and possible compensation during a disaster.

Margaret Berlew of the LSU AgCenter will host two programs on preparing your home and family for storms.

The 3 p.m. session is on creating “Grab and Go” boxes. The 4 p.m. session is on food preparation and safety.

Three mobile operational vehicles will be at Storm Ready. The Red Cross is bringing a hummer and a feeding vehicle, which serves hot meals after disasters. The LSU AgCenter is bringing its mobile command center.

“It’s a great thing for children to experience because it makes them feel more comfortable if they ever need to use their services,” Ledet said.

Even though Terrebonne residents have been impacted by four hurricanes since 2005, Ledet said there is still something new to learn.

“We have all been through the drill before, but maybe this is the first hurricane season that you are a parent or a homeowner,” she explained. “There are many different facets to hurricane preparedness to help protect your family and property.”

For more information on Storm Ready, call Ledet at (985) 876-5158.