Parishes to enact tier system to assist in reentry to area

Getting away from the storm is one thing.

Coming back and picking up the pieces in the aftermath is another.

With sometimes no lights, water or places to find fuel – even if the storm misses your area – the recovery is sometimes just as tiresome as the storm itself.

But thanks to a tier system for re-entry in our area, some of those problems might be alleviated should a storm churn through.

“Getting the people back first who can make the area get back to normal,” said Sheila Bella, business liaison for Terrebonne Economic Development Authority. “It’s going to be a lot easier to have a grocery store like Wal Mart open before the residents get back here than it is for everyone to come back the same time as the business people and have a scramble to find out who is available to come and work.”

The two-tier system is broken up into the following subgroups.

Those in the first tier of re-entry following a storm are people who are needed immediately following a storm to do assessments for the damage done and how soon it will be before residents can return to the area.

People who make up the first tier of reentry would be government officials on all levels, as well as workers who would be needed to restore basic utilities like water, lighting and communications.

Once those in Tier I return and survey the area, those in Tier II are able to reenter the damaged area.

Tier II is made up of “major employers or businesses deemed essential to the future return of residents or the economic vitality of the parish.”

Those typically under the scope of Tier II businesses are pharmacies, grocery stores, gas stations and icehouses.

“Tier II is for those companies who will assist in getting the area ready for the residents to return,” Bella said.

In Terrebonne, the place to go to apply for a reentry badge is the TEDA Web site, www.tpeda.org.

But similar systems are in place in both Lafourche and St. Mary as well and those can be applied for and accessed through the government Web sites in those parishes, www.lafourchegov.org and www.parish.st-mary.la.us.

The fee charged by Terrebonne for a first-time application is $5, but all reapplications after a business’ first year are $3.

Bella said Terrebonne’s version of the plan was set into place following the aftermath of hurricanes Gustav and Ike when people struggled to get back into the area.

With the 2009 season not requiring an evacuation, she said things are going as smooth as possible for the plan.

“It’s been pretty effective so far, considering there hasn’t been the need to evacuate,” she said. “I think in the long-run, this helps both businesses and residents, because the businesses are going to be able to supply the needs the residents have, rather than have to get help from the outside.”

One concern officials are seeing in 2010 is the reapplication rate has dropped from 2009. Whether that’s a result of people letting their guards down from the inactive 2009 season is unknown, but Bella said she hopes the applicants pick up in the coming weeks.

She said the 2010 layout for the applications is easier to process, so business owners should not be fearful to take the time to complete the process.

“They’re not renewing as frequently as they probably should be renewing,” Bella said. “So there might be some type of bottleneck with that. There are certainly plenty of businesses we’d like to see back that are not reapplying, but we’re just not certain if they’re aware about it or not, so we’re going to possibly make direct contact with them in the near future just to make sure we have the right infrastructure in place in case a storm heads our way.”