BATON ROUGE – Governor Bobby Jindal held a Unified Command Group meeting today and outlined the state’s response to Isaac.

Note: Facts and figures below are current as of today’s Unified Command Group Meeting. These numbers change throughout each day. Please contact the Joint Information Center (225-358-5361) to receive updated information.

UPDATES:

Declarations/Waivers:

• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted a multistate fuel waiver to allow the distribution and sell of winter blend fuel earlier than usual. EPA determined and the Department of Energy agreed that this action is necessary to prevent or minimize disruption of an adequate gasoline supply in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. This extends the fuel requirement waiver that Louisiana already received. This extension is from 9/6 through 9/15.
  
• FEMA has approved Tangipahoa Parish for Individual Assistance, in addition to the ten parishes that have already been approved for Individual Assistance.

Louisiana National Guard:

• The Louisiana National Guard has 6,359 Soldiers and Airmen on duty in support of the response to Isaac. The Guard has assisted in the rescue and/or evacuation of 5,227 citizens throughout the state.
  
• The Guard is currently supporting 10 POD sites:

               o Jefferson - 2

               o St. John- 4

               o Orleans - 1

               o Plaquemines – 3

• In terms of POD operations, the National Guard reports that 3,022,277 meals, 5,005,754 bottles of water, 1,301,325 bags of ice and 86,097 tarps have been distributed. The National Guard reports that the burn rate for the last 24 hours was 419,562 meals, 528,671 bottles of water, 258,300 bags of ice and 12,899 tarps.
  
• The Guard is supporting the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services and the Louisiana State Police with maintaining security at DSNAP locations.

Ascension Parish

• The Guard is operating a Regional Staging Area at the Lamar Dixon Expo Center.

Orleans Parish

• In Orleans Parish, the Guard is providing security for two shelters and 270 Guardsmen to assist NOPD with security operations. The Guard has supported Orleans Parish in clearing approximately 20.6 miles of debris.

Plaquemines Parish

• In Plaquemines Parish, the Guard is continuing security operations in support of the Plaquemines Sherriff's Office and has provided 30 Military Policemen to Port Sulphur and Venice to support local law enforcement.
  
• The Guard is providing generators to support the Belle Chasse Water Treatment Plant, and conducting aerial resupply missions of commodities for civilians in Venice and Port Sulphur.
  
• The Guard has also transported 89 bales of hay by air to feed livestock affected by flood waters, supporting the Department of Agriculture and Forestry.
  
• The Guard is providing a Governmental Support Team to Port Sulphur to assist the local government’s response efforts.

St. Bernard

• In St. Bernard Parish, the Guard is conducting security operations in support of local authorities. The Guard is assisting the DOTD movement of large sandbags and sling loads with 12 Guardsmen and two trailer trucks.

St. James

• In St. James Parish, the Guard is continuing security operations with 21 Guardsmen in support of local law enforcement in Gramercy.

St. John

• In St. John the Baptist Parish, the Guard is continuing security operations with 155 Military Policemen and POD operations at four sites.

Sheltering/DCFS:

• DSNAP operations launched today in ten locations in nine parishes -- Ascension, Jefferson, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. John the Baptist and St. Tammany.
  
• There are a total of 147,630 DSNAP pre-applications. A total of 100,531 pre-applications have been submitted in the parishes declared for DSNAP.
  
• To date, there are an estimated 744 people registered in shelters across the state. This is a reduction of 1,419 people in 24 hours. There are no evacuees in state-run CTN and MSN shelters.
  
• Since Monday, United Way 211 has received 53,858 calls.
  
• The Louisiana Workforce Commission reports that 54,347 meals were served yesterday and a total of 345,716 meals have been served since Thursday.

Department of Transportation and Development:

• In Plaquemines Parish, DOTD forces and equipment have cleared debris on La. 23 north and south of the flooded area. Resources remain on site to quickly clear any debris left on the roadway as the water recedes.
  
• DOTD is continuing with efforts to rebuild access to La. 1, between Port Fourchon and Grand Isle, by clearing marsh grass and placing stone. DOTD has used approximately 12,293 tons of crushed stone to assist with this effort. Crews plan to haul an additional 1,200 tons of crushed stone to assist with repair operations tonight. DOTD expects all repairs to be complete by Sunday, Sept. 9. Crews are working at night to avoid hampering daytime emergency response activities.
  
• The Crescent City Connection reopened its HOV lanes this morning. The HOV gates will be manually opened and closed due to a continuing power outage. The General De Gaulle entrance remains without power so DOTD has placed stop signs in an effort to control traffic and will have an officer in place to perform additional traffic control.
  
• To date, more than 229.1 miles of roadway have been cleared. DOTD crews have picked up 3,113 cubic yards of debris from across the affected areas and repaired 650 traffic signals across the affected areas.
  
• DOTD has hauled 6,850 sandbags and 8,969 cubic yards of RAP/stone is being use for emergency relief efforts.

Department of Health and Hospitals:

• As of this morning, all nursing homes that lost power during Hurricane Isaac have had power restored.
  
• DHH Center for Environmental Health will participate in a meeting today with other state and federal partners, and local mosquito abatement districts in the affected parishes, to determine their needs for mosquito abatement/vector control following Hurricane Isaac.
  
• There are 58 boil advisories.

Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority:

• CPRA engineers are on site in Plaquemines Parish have assessed the situation of an approximately 230-foot-wide opening in a back levee that failed over the weekend in the Braithwaite-Scarsdale area. Louisiana National Guard is now re-engaged in the sandbag mission that was halted yesterday to drop 800 sandbags to close the breach. This is separate from the intentional breach that has been working effectively to lower floodwaters in those communities.
  
• Half a mile of LA39 between Caernarvon and Water Plant Road in Plaquemines Parish remains closed due to water lilies remaining on the road. DOTD is sending crews to clear the roadway today.
  
• CPRA continues to work with the Bayou Lafourche Fresh Water District to minimize impacts of a reported fish kill in the Napoleonville-to-Thibodeaux stretch of Bayou Lafourche.
  
• CPRA has 34 pumps running in the parishes of St. John the Baptist, Plaquemines, St. Charles, Lafourche, St. James, Jefferson and St. Tammany.

Department of Corrections:

• There are currently 185 parish inmates being housed at state facilities.
  
• Avoyelles Correctional Center is providing 15 offenders to assist in demobilizing and breaking down the animal shelter adjacent to the Alexandria Mega-Shelter this morning.

Division of Administration:

• To date, state agencies have spent $116 million and parishes have spent over $10.1 million.
  
• To date, the state has submitted $27 million for reimbursement to FEMA.

Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry:

• LDAF reports that roughly 402,207 gallons of fuel has been delivered.

Louisiana Department of Education:

• In Jefferson, all schools will reopen on Thursday (9/6), except for three schools that will open on Monday (9/10). In Lafourche, schools will reopen on Monday (9/10). In St. John, all schools will reopen on Monday (9/10), except for three schools. The Department of Education is working on a plan to support students at these schools. In Plaquemines, Belle Chasse schools are open today, while all other schools will remain closed until further notice.

Public Service Commission:

• There are roughly 11,000 outages across the state.

FEMA:

• Seven disaster recovery centers are now open in Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. John, Jefferson, Lafourche and St. Tammany parishes.