In deciding to declare a State of Emergency early Monday, Lafayette Mayor-President Monique Boulet enabled LCG to swiftly begin the process of signing on disaster contractors ahead of and during Tropical Storm Francine.
“With a parish declaration, it allows you to kind of bypass your normal procurement because you’re in a state of emergency,” says Christina Dayries, chief of staff and the parish’s interim emergency manager as of Monday morning.
Under Josh Guillory’s administration, LCG had only one emergency contractor, DRC Emergency Services, for all of its emergency equipment needs, a widely unpopular emergency management strategy. In contrast, the new administration believes local governments should diversify with small contracts and backups ready to go.
“They’re supposed to bring us generators, portable showers and toilets, those types of equipment, and we have no backup; [LCG] put all their eggs into one basket,” says Dayries.
Tropical Storm Francine
Sandbag locations:
Lafayette
400 Dugas (located off N. University)
Picard Park – 130 Park Lane
Brown Park – 1234 E. Pont des Mouton
Robicheaux Recreation Center – 1919 Eraste Landry
Broussard
Broussard City Hall – 310 East Main
Deer Meadow Subdivision – corner of Deer Meadow and Myette Point
Broadview Drive – by the Broussard Community Center
Carencro
Carencro Community Center – 5115 North University
Scott
118 Lions Club
Youngsville
Lasalle Regional Retention Site – 333 South Larriviere
With Tropical Storm Francine expected to start making landfall late Tuesday night, LCG is fielding calls about the potential for supply shortfalls with DRC.
“We are getting calls from vendors like crazy right now,” says Dayries. “We’re pushing them to our procurement manager, and she’s getting them registered and set up in case we need to do business with them.”
The emergency declaration will allow LCG to immediately contract for anything from emergency generators to debris removal services if DRC does not meet its needs.
“First I have to see, can DRC supply it and supply it quickly,” says Dayries. “If they can’t turn something around real fast, even though they have a contract, I’m moving on quickly to another vendor.”
Dayries, however, says LCG is still attempting to get multiple quotes on any possible contract so that it gets a fair price from any vendor. Keeping prices reasonable also makes FEMA reimbursements easier, according to Dayries.
As of Monday afternoon, TS Francine is expected to reach Louisiana’s coast as a Category 2 hurricane Wednesday, hitting Lafayette around 8 p.m. LCG plans to update the public with another press conference Tuesday.