Loyola updates hurricane evacuation following storm

Events five years ago proved that an update to the university's evacuation plan was crucial.

Loyola University New Orleans had no evacuation plan prior to Hurricane Katrina. If a storm hit, students who lived on campus would stay in their residence hall, along with student affairs staff members.

Those who lived in Cabra Hall would evacuate to the University Sports and Recreational Complex.

"Staff members in student affairs… would come to campus and would, in a sense, take care of the students that were here," Robert Reed, assistant vice president of student affairs said.

This plan, however, changed months before Katrina came to New Orleans.

In early 2005, Reed, who, at the time, was director of Residential Life, said student affairs staff members, deans and the president of the university met with Walter Maestri, who, at the time, was director of emergency preparedness for Jefferson Parish.

Maestri presented the worst-case scenario if a storm hit New Orleans.

"When he made that presentation, we were then right before Katrina.

We started pursuing the possibility of evacuating and working with the Red Cross," Maestri said.

Because of the concern of flooding, the Red Cross would not open a shelter south of Interstate 12, Reed said.

Student Affairs made arrangements to evacuate to Lousisana State University's Student Recreation Complex, but the Red Cross commandeered the space for the disabled.

Loyola students, faculty and staff who planned to stay on campus during the storm had to evacuate to Istrouma Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, La.

"Katrina was the first time we evacuated from the campus," Reed said.

"We never thought about the possibility of not coming back in two or three days and the power being out for almost 30 days."

Those who evacuated with the university spent three days at the Baptist church.

"After the third day when we realized we couldn't go back, we tried to have all the students' parents contact them to get them to the airport or bus station," Reed said.

Reed said all those who evacuated with the university were not lost or injured.

"That's always the bottom line for any evacuation is that no one is left behind and no one is lost," Reed said.

After the storm, several more updates were made to the university's evacuation plan.

"In 2009, Loyola deployed an extensive all-hazards emergency management plan that includes the updated hurricane emergency preparedness plan," Bell said in an email.

"The emergency management plan also involves a broad range of other plans related to specific types of incidents or hazards that may occur. We also have a plan for recovery of the university's operations at an off-site location, if needed," Bell said.

The Emergency Preparedness Plan enables the university to respond to all hurricane threats in a coordinated and timely manner, as stated on the website.

The emergency response team, made up of administrators from each area of the university, advises the president in responding to a potential disaster and makes the final decision of whether or not to evacuate the campus.

As emergency manager, Ric Bell, director of risk management, oversees the emergency plan and the Emergency Management Team.

"Providing for the safety of our community is our first priority," Bell said.

The biggest part of the university's evacuation plan involves requiring students to fill out their personal evacuation plan and enacting that plan.

 Reed said it was not until after Katrina that students had to fill these out before classes began, rather than immediately before a storm hit.

"Resident students are expected to evacuate themselves when an evacuation order is issued," Bell said.

"A contingency shelter and emergency evacuation transportation will be available for a limited number of students who are unable to evacuate on their own."

The university's contingency shelter is located in Jackson, MS.

Part of the evacuation plan includes advisories placed on the university's homepage and sent through email.

After Hurricane Katrina, Reed said the university thought more about transportation to the evacuation site, evacuating prior to contraflow, and places to evacuate.

Cities considered include Baton Rouge, La., Shreveport, La. Jackson, Miss., Houston or Dallas because they offer an airport, train station, bus station, or some way other way to leave if need be.

"You wouldn't evacuate people to Thibodeaux because it's a small town, it doesn't have a major airport," he said.

The university receives daily alerts from ImpactWeather, which monitors weather. Reed mentioned that oil-rigs in the gulf use this program.

"We have a lot more lead time information about what a storm might or might not do than we have had in the past," Reed said.

"Which gives the emergency committee and the president the opportunity to make a better informed decision with more data about what's going to happen."

Precious Esie can be reached at piesie@loyno.edu