Issue Archive: November/December 2007

St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana: Weathering the Post-Katrina Storm

Author: M.C. Warters

It was Christmas in July for St. Bernard Parish, LA. On July 24, 2004 their brand new 9-1-1 communications center was up and running. The facility had bulletproof glass, reinforced steel doors and security cameras with an integrated door access control system. Inside, the dispatchers who had been dispatching calls manually since the PSAP was founded suddenly had a new Zetron telephony system and Phase II-compliant CAD and GIS systems from InterAct Public Safety Systems. It was everything Information Systems Commander Major Jerry Rathburn could ask for.

 

St. Bernard Parish, like most of southern Louisiana, is below sea level in a location notorious for flooding. St. Bernard Parish 9-1-1 administrators researched locations for the new 9-1-1 communications center to find the best possible spot in the low-lying parish. The area that was chosen was one of the highest spots in the parish. They also looked at the 100-year flood plan historical data and selected a location that hadn’t been effected by flood waters in more than a century. As an extra measure, the facility was built on a concrete slab, raising it three feet above ground level. These measures, they hoped, would keep the 9-1-1 communications center safe from flooding even in the face of the most brutal storm.

 

Then came Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

 

Storms Don’t Read Plans

A largely unknown fact of the Katrina disaster is that it wasn’t the actual hurricane that devastated many parts of Louisiana—it was the storm surge and the other natural anomalies that happened afterwards. For those in Louisiana, the greatest catastrophe they could have ever imagined had just become a reality. MRGO (Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet), which ran near St. Bernard Parish, became severely flooded and breached many levees, directly flooding the parish and leaving it under 12 feet of whirlpooling water. During this disaster, many people lost their lives in the fight to stay above water and out of the devastating floods. Homes were wrecked, and people’s lives were changed forever.

 

Those who worked up until the last possible seconds at the St. Bernard Parish 9-1-1 communications center stood by and watched their community be washed away by the storm, wondering how their own families were coping and whether they were out of harm’s way. Communication throughout the Parish, let alone with 9-1-1, ceased to exist. All around them, residents of St. Bernard Parish were being rescued from their homes, and their community was left in pieces.

 

The Interim Plan

All 9-1-1 communications centers must have plans in place for different emergency situations, and St. Bernard Parish was no different. Because of this, they were able to salvage important records from their E9-1-1 system. Staff of the 9-1-1 communications center saved all of the computer aided dispatch (CAD) records to their backup tape just before evacuating the building. Administrators at the 9-1-1 communications center began to publish several seven-digit phone numbers to be used as 9-1-1. These calls went directly to cell phones. From there, dispatchers used radios to dispatch emergency services. St. Bernard Parish called these cell phones “9-1-1 in a basket,” and when dispatchers had to leave the trailer for any reason, they would take the cell phone, and essentially 9-1-1, with them. Most 9-1-1 calls at this time were from people trying to locate loved ones or cope with the aftermath of Katrina themselves.

 

As the storm water began to recede, the St. Bernard Parish 9-1-1 communications center first re-established itself in a FEMA-provided portable trailer. While in their new 9-1-1 communications center trailer, they watched as their previous communications center, the one with all the best amenities, was gutted by work crews, their state-of-the-art equipment tossed aside. To date, more than 3.4 million cubic yards of debris have been removed throughout all of St. Bernard Parish—an amount that would fill up approximately 172,640 regular sized garbage trucks.

 

After some time, the 9-1-1 communications center was moved into a larger trailer in the parish. In this trailer they were able to put up a sound barrier between the dispatchers and the rest of the administration. This helped reduce distraction for the dispatchers as well as background noise in the 9-1-1 communications center. They also established an air conditioning system in the trailer, along with another backup system. During this time, there was little to no reduction in 9-1-1 calls.

 

The fire department in St. Bernard Parish was still able to take a small number of 9-1-1 phone calls that came in, and because of this, FEMA directed funds to other Parishes who had nothing. The lack of FEMA money meant that it would take more time for St. Bernard Parish 9-1-1 communications center to get the funds to reestablish its previous 9-1-1 communications center. FEMA finally established funding to St. Bernard Parish in October of 2006—14 months after Hurricane Katrina hit.

 

9-1-1 Became 4-1-1

The population in St. Bernard Parish decreased by more than 76 percent from 2000 to 2006, according to the U.S. Census Bureau (see Statistics sidebar). St. Bernard Parish has been left a ghost town. The streets that were once lined with superstores, grocery stores and home improvement stores are lifeless on weekends when everyone should be running their errands. Many residents who still live in the parish live in trailers on their property while they attempt to make their homes livable again.

 

Despite the reduced population, the volume of 9-1-1 calls has oddly remained the same as it was before Katrina. However, the dynamic of 9-1-1 calls has changed; calls for service are being replaced by inquiries from people who have yet to return to the parish asking for status reports on the rebuilding process. These calls are a far cry from traditional 9-1-1 emergency calls for service and more like a 4-1-1 information line. For those who still live in St. Bernard Parish, the calls are often to report suspicious persons lurking around residential and commercial property.

 

A New Beginning

Despite the conditions of the surrounding parish, the St. Bernard Parish 9-1-1 communications center is getting back up on its feet. On June 13, 2007, the 9-1-1 communications center went back online with the technology that they had before Katrina. The transition was relatively painless, as the tapes that were made initially were easily transferred back into the new system. The only missing information is that from the period of time when they were without the CAD system.

 

As the new E9-1-1 system was installed, previous and new dispatchers easily took to the system and were able to use it within a short period of time. This process helped the transition from the paper and pen they had become used to, and the training and adaptation to the previous E9-1-1 solution was painless.

 

Although the 9-1-1 communications center is still in a FEMA-provided trailer, it is beginning to set up a core infrastructure in the community because the state-of-the-art technology has been returned. Re-establishment of 9-1-1 communications allows people to know that communication is becoming whole again and that they can begin to restore their lives in St. Bernard Parish.

 

“People are reluctant to bring their families back to an area that doesn’t have basic services like 9-1-1 in place,” said Rathburn. “Our hope is that now that we are back up and running again, people will start coming back and re-establishing their lives in St. Bernard Parish again.”

 

M.C. Warters is a project and customer care manager for InterAct Public Safety

Systems and has been working with PSAPs for 18 years. His roles have included supporting 9-1-1, customer satisfaction, disaster planning and assisting with projects and service. Since coming to InterAct he has installed more than 100 systems from the northeast to the Gulf coast. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina,Warters worked to help re-establish those PSAPs who were devastated by the storm. He can be reached at mwarters@interact911.com.

 

[Sidebar]

 

Statistics

• 3.4 million cubic yards of debris have been removed from St. Bernard Parish
• 67,229: 2000 St. Bernard Parish Population
• 4,468,976: 2000 Louisiana Population
• 15,514: 2006 St. Bernard Parish Population
• 4,287,768: 2006 Louisiana Population
• 76.9% Percent population drop in St. Bernard Parish
• 4.1% Percent population drop in Louisiana