T’bonne EOC construction heads to bid

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 re-sponders 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 FEM A 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. ES

An artist rendering of the new emergency operations center. It is being built in Gray, outside of the 100-year floodplain.

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