BATON ROUGE, La. – Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome’s administration is unveiling the new East Baton Rouge Parish All-Hazards Recovery Plan. The plan provides a disaster recovery framework at the local level, with designated coordinators in six recovery support function areas. It ensures the community has an efficient, proactive, and comprehensive disaster recovery plan that uses national best practices to quickly meet the needs of citizens while they are in crisis.
“When I took office in January 2017, flood recovery was certainly a top priority and focus. In addition to that, I vowed that we would learn from catastrophes that have impacted our region, and work to bring together all stakeholders who assist in our area’s recovery, whether that be from a natural or a man-made disaster,” said Mayor Broome. “I wanted to take a holistic approach to assessing community risk, incorporating national standards for recovery operations, and move our community in advance of the next disaster — and there will come a next disaster.”
The All-Hazards Recovery Plan is modeled after FEMA’s National Disaster Recovery Framework, which was used throughout the parish following the 2016 floods. The framework guides recovery coordinators to work in a collaborative manner with local officials.
Coordinators are predesignated to specific areas to ensure maximum efficiency during a disaster. Those areas include: Community Planning & Capacity Building; Economic; Health & Social Services; Housing; Infrastructure Systems; and Natural and Cultural Resources. The 2016 flood demonstrated how East Baton Rouge Parish should focus in each of these areas to efficiently recover from disasters.
“During the flood, churches were impacted, healthcare systems were inundated, our infrastructure was tested, and at that time, many wondered how we would ever come back,” said Mayor Broome. “But what we did, as a community, was put together our own recovery. With tremendous assistance from the local, state and federal levels, as well as the kind hearts of so many citizens, private businesses and non-profit organizations who donated time, resources, money, contributions, building materials, and, most importantly, prayers, we all navigated our path towards recovery.”
Mayor Broome’s administration created the All-Hazards Recovery Plan with input from FEMA, GOHSEP, Louisiana’s Office of Community Development, and the residents of East Baton Rouge Parish. Their input was used to create a comprehensive approach that closely aligns with disaster relief at the state and national level.
The East Baton Rouge Metro Council will be asked to adopt the plan at its next regular meeting on November 13.