Disaster Response Through Community Engagement Louisiana Sea Grant - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Disaster Response Through Community Engagement

Louisiana Sea Grant Programming: 2005-2015

Katrina and Rita: A Decade of Research and Response Louisiana State University, August 28, 2015

Rex H. Caffey, Roy Kron, and Lauren Land

Louisiana Sea Grant and LSU AgCenter

The Marine Extension Program (MEP)

Nearly 50 years of Embedded Faculty and Staff

Carol Franze, Associate Marine Agent Vacant Albert ‘Rusty’ Gaudé, Marine Agent Alan Matherne, Marine Agent Thu Bui, Assistant Marine Agent Thomas Hymel, Marine Agent Mark Shirley, Marine Agent Kevin Savoie, Marine Agent Shared parish Agent office location

Agents Specialists and Associates

Julie Anderson, Fisheries

• Jon. W. Bell, Seafood Quality

Victoria Bell, GIS Support Rex H. Caffey, Resource Economics Anne Dugas, Extension Associate Leslie Davis, Extension Associate Julie Falgout, Extension Assistant Brian D. LeBlanc, Water Quality Lauren Land, Coastal Sustainability

• C. Gregory Lutz, Aquaculture

John Supan, Molluscan Shellfish Rebekah Jones, GIS Support

Louisiana Fisheries Community Recovery Coalition (LFCRC)

United Commercial Fishermen's Association Southern Shrimp Alliance Plaquemines Parish Oyster Association Omega Protein Menhaden Advisory Council of the Gulf of Mexico LSU AgCenter Louisiana Wildlife Federation Louisiana Shrimp Association Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board Louisiana Sea Grant Louisiana Oyster Task Force Louisiana Oyster Dealer and Grower's Association Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Louisiana Charter Boat Association Lake Pontchartrain Fishermen's Association Jefferson Parish Marine Fisheries Advisory Board Delta Commercial Fishermen's Association Coastal Conservation Association Blue Water Fishermen's Association Vietnamese Commercial Fisherman's Union

• MEP conference calls led

to a multi sector coalition

• LFCRC Charge
• Assess impacts
• Prioritize needs
• Request aid
• Allocate aid
• Conduit for Federal agencies
• FEMA, NOAA, USCG, HUD

• NOAA commissions economic

assessments in LA, MS, and AL

• MEP : Novel Impact Modelling
• ADCIRC Hindcast
• Trip Ticket Data
• Damage Functions
• Estimates of revenue and

infrastructure losses (firm level)

• Economic basis for ~ $240

million in disaster aid programs

Assessing Economic Losses

25 50 75 100 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 Percent Damage Surge Depth (feet)

• Fall of 2005: 40,000 LA boats

missing or in need of recovery

• MEP Agent Gaude issues

nationwide call for assistance

• Port of Valdez Responds
• Donates 40 Ton Mobile Lift
• 4000 mile transit from Alaska
• Reassembly in Empire, LA
• 50 vessels per day at peak

Facilitating Vessel Recovery

Helping Businesses Reopen

• Lack of infrastructure was

impeding fisheries sales

• MEP Agents Schexnayder,

Gaude, and Savoie facilitated donation of three ice plants from Shell Oil.

• Morris Ice Company worked

with agents on design, transport and setup

Addressing Seafood Safety Concerns

• Contamination concerns over

the dewatering of New Orleans, BP oil spill

• 2010 Survey: 56% consumers

concerned over Gulf seafood

• MEP specialists Bell and

Lampila developed mass media programming to dispel misinformation

Mapping and Marking Debris and Inundation

• Coastal waterways clogged with

thousands of obstructions

• MEP Agents coordinated local

efforts to mark and remove marine debris

• MEP Specialist and agents

developed a rapid assessment protocol for mapping surge extent boundaries

Rebuilding for Future storms

• Myriad of new policies

regarding flood zones, rebuilding, insurance changes

• Sea Grant Legal Advisory
• LA Homeowners handbook
• LA Coastal Hazard Mitigation

Guidebook

• Coastal resiliency outreach
• Harbor of Refuge
• Community Rating System
• Local government Fiscal Analysis

Risk Reduction Outreach

• MEP specialist Wolcott

developed “The Next Storm Surge” community meetings

• Real time modelling output

from the Coastal Emergency Risk Assessment (CERA)

• Hydrodynamic modeling

evolving to inform long-term coastal risk related to climate change

Addressing Economic Resiliency

• Globalization of domestic

seafood is the larger threat

• Real price of LA shrimp in 2015

less than in 1978

• MEP Agent Hymel fosters

renaissance in seafood

• Louisiana Direct Seafood
• Certified Louisiana Seafood
• Louisiana Fisheries Forward

$0.00 $0.50 $1.00 $1.50 $2.00 $2.50

1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010

Year

Dockside prices of shrimp in Louisiana

Actual Prices Adjusted Prices 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012

Volume of U.S. imports of foreign shrimp

Some Lessons Learned

• Informational Exchanges with Sea Grant programs in

Florida (2005), Texas (2008), New Jersey and New York (2012)

• Being embedded provides a first hand perspective on a

community’s disaster recovery needs

• We are not first responders - field and campus faculty

must take care of their own basic needs first

• Misinformation is rampant in the information vacuum

following any disaster

Some Lessons Learned

• Providing a web-based FAQ clearinghouse can reduce

speculation and direct press inquiries to subject matter experts

• Speculation Kills: The best expert is one that’s walling to

say - “we don’t know, yet”

• There is a rhythm to recovery and teachable moments

Thank you