Hazard preparations made for Tri-parish region

LSU Stephenson Disaster Management Institute is prepared for hazards. By making use of $611,800 in grant from FEMA mitigation funds through the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security, SDMI will host workshops in 25 parishes designed to assist governments and businesses in learning about hazard mitigation, preparedness, responses and recovery. In addition to the workshops, the SDMI will also build an online data base on which businesses can find information and resources to assist them in planning for disasters.

In the Tri-Parish region, an initial workshop is scheduled to be conducted at Peltier Park in Thibodaux on Nov. 5. A second workshop will be offered at the Cummin’s MidSouth Training Center in Morgan City on Nov. 7.

According to LSU spokesperson Lexie Bowling, a workshop for Houma could be offered in either February or March 2013, but no specific schedule has been established. “When we were looking at the districts we saw that Houma was close to the other two [cities],” Bowling said regarding why Houma had not been scheduled near the same time as Morgan City and Thibodaux.

Bowling said interested participants may register to attend any workshop at any location.

The LSU SDMI teaches disaster response management in applied research and executive education.

Institute officials said their intention is to close the gap between academic professionals and the emergency managers by addressing challenges facing both private business and government during emergency situations.

Terrebonne Parish Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Director Earl Eues said his office, in conjunction with the Terrebonne Economic Development Authority, conducted two readiness workshops this year in Houma, and it was in part from those sessions the SDMI was influenced with its program. “They do good work,” Eues said.

For detailed information and workshop registration contact Bowling at (225) 578-7034 or abowling@lsu.edu or visit www.centerforbusinessprep.org.