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Terrebonne Parish officials are just weeks from advertising a contract to build a new emergency operations center outside of the 100-year flood plain in the northern part of the parish.
The operations center will be on La. Highway 24, situated just north of U.S. Highway 90 in Gray. It will be adjacent to the highway so the Louisiana National Guard and other emergency first responders can easily get there, Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet said.
The current operations center, which is a sheet metal building, is located at the Terrebonne Parish Communications District building near the intersection of Capitol Boulevard and Little Bayou Black Drive in Houma.
Claudet said the current operations center is only capable of withstanding a strong Category 1 hurricane or “maybe a weak 2.”
Currently, if a Category 3 or stronger storm threatens Terrebonne Parish, the plan is to move operations to the South Central Planning and Development building in Gray, said Earl Euse, director of the Terrebonne Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.
The new building will be a nearly 12,000 square-foot concrete building capable of withstanding Category 5 hurricane wind gusts and located outside of the 100-year flood pain, he said.
Euse said construction will cost about $4 million.
According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s latest flood maps, which are currently being appealed by Terrebonne Parish Government, virtually the entire parish could flood were a catastrophic hurricane were to hit.
There is one sliver of land, however, which shows up on FEMA’s maps, that encompasses both Schriever and Gray.
According to the same contested FEMA flood maps, the area is more than 11 feet above sea level and runs the risk of a catastrophic flood only once every 500 years.
“That’s why we’re going into the northern part of Terrebonne Parish,” Euse said. “…We’ve gotten together with the National Weather Service to ensure the floor of our building would be at the required height to not have any flooding in the event of a major hurricane.”
The new operations center will have dormitories able to house up to 40 staff members, the OEP director said. During Hurricane Katrina, the operations center was in the Houma Police Department headquarters and could only house up to six people.
“Operations have changed since we’ve been over there,” Euse said. Emergency operations now require a staff of 30 to 40 people.
The new operations center will include audio-visual equipment linked to security cameras throughout the parish and back-up generator power. But the new operations center will have a new 100-foot-tall radio tower rated to withstand Category 5 hurricane wind gusts, Euse said.
The new operations center will also feature a safe room in the rear of the building, according to Claudet.
“The building was pretty much designed to be a multipurpose-type building. When the building is not in use for emergencies, other governmental agencies will be able to use it for training and meetings,” Euse said.
At last week’s parish council meeting, a public hearing was announced to discuss the allocation of $346,000 dollars towards the operations center’s construction.
That amount represents money that was spent on preplanning and predesign work and “was supposed to be used for part of the cost and it was just overlooked,” Euse said.
The construction is funded through state capital outlay and parish funds. No federal money is being used.
The Terrebonne Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness is currently finalizing the design. It will go out for bid in a couple of weeks, after the parish council votes on the funding gap.
Construction will take about 11 months, Euse said. The new operations center will be active for the 2016 hurricane season “if all goes well.”
The emergency operations center is activated for more than just hurricanes, Eues said. Aside from natural disasters, the OPERATIONS CENTER can also be deployed for man-made disasters as well. Disasters such as explosions or chemical spills and releases cold warrant the OPERATIONS CENTER to respond.
“We haven’t had a large [hazardous material or explosive] event — knock on wood — but we’re prepared for one if one happens,” Euse said.
An artist rendering of the new emergency operations center. It is being built in Gray, outside of the 100-year floodplain.
