Atlantic Hurricane Season starts June 1 and ends Nov. 30. St. Charles Parish is encouraging all residents to BE PREPARED for a storm threat. Use the links to the left to learn more about St. Charles Parish's plans to protect life and property and what you should do to stay safe.

WEB PAGE, BROCHURE TO INFORM RESIDENTS OF PARISH HURRICANE PLANS, PREPAREDNESS ISSUES

For immediate release May 29, 2008

HAHNVILLE – St. Charles Parish is helping citizens prepare for hurricane season, which begins Sunday, through a new public awareness campaign.

By mid-June the Public Information Office, with help from the St. Charles Parish Emergency Operations Center, will publish a parish-specific brochure with hurricane preparation tips and evacuation information, said Renee C. Allemand, the parish’s public information officer. Soon after, a companion video produced by videographer Melanie Worrall will begin airing on the Government Access Channel, Cox Cable Channel 6.

A hurricane preparedness Web page is already available at www.stcharlesgov.net/hurricane. It will include links to both state and local hurricane information and emergency response procedures.

The new, more concise brochure is a replacement for the 63-page Louisiana Storm Survival Guide booklet formerly produced for the parish by Houma-based disaster recovery organization TRAC. Those booklets were not printed this year due to a lack of grant funding.

Citizens can expect information on what items to bring during evacuations and supplies to stock up on for hurricane sheltering within the parish. The brochure will also include an evacuation map pointing out lesser known highways and parish-specific information on assisted evacuation. Protecting pets will also be a focus.

“We are excited about offering citizens hyper-local, easy-to-use hurricane preparedness information,” Allemand said. “If a hurricane threatens our area, there’s usually not enough time to sift through volumes of information to find what you need.”

Brochures will be available at all government offices, parish libraries and through the mail by request. It will also be available for download at www.stcharlesgov.net/hurricane.

The mission of St. Charles Parish government is to provide high quality, efficient services to sustain and enhance the quality of life for all residents of St. Charles Parish.

For more information, contact St. Charles Parish Public Information Officer Renee C. Allemand at (985) 783-5000 or rallemand@stcharlesgov.net.