LSU in the Eye of the Storm:
A University Model for
Disaster Response
LSU’s Katrina Experience
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About LSU
Setting the Scene
Katrina Comes Ashore
LSU Responds
 Facilities, Volunteers &
Partnerships,
Communications, Housing &
Dining, Security, Technology
 How Specific Units Helped
 Top Lessons Learned
About LSU
 Founded 1860, land-,
sea-, & space-grant
 Pre-Katrina
enrollment: 30,564
 4,887 faculty & staff
 Located in Baton
Rouge, LA’s capital
 Campus on 2,000
acres, bordered by
Miss. River
Calm Concern Before the Storm
“Even as we were
scurrying around
buying gallons of
bottled water, in the
back of my mind I
thought Katrina would
be like Hurricane Ivan
was for New Orleans:
much ado about
nothing. If only.”
LSU Art Professor
 5 am, Sat., Aug 27, Katrina
declared Cat 3 storm
 Low-lying areas evacuate
 Special Needs Shelter
opens at LSU
 PA issues press release,
broadcast e-mail to cancel
Monday classes, public
events
The Monster Grows
 Preparations continue
 PA opens Sun, Aug. 28, to
answer phones
 Media
 Parents
 Emergency workers
 New Orleans under mandatory
evacuation
 Katrina now a Cat 5 storm, max
sustained winds, 175-mph, gusts
to 216-mph
Bracing for the Worst
From the NWS in New Orleans. . .
. . .hurricane with unprecedented
strength
. . .area uninhabitable for weeks
. . .half of all well-constructed homes
will have roof & wall failure
. . .all wood-frame, low-rise apt.
buildings will be destroyed
. . .power outages will last for weeks
. . .majority of trees will be snapped or
uprooted
. . .high rise office & apt. buildings will
sway dangerously, a few to collapse
. . .all windows will blow out
Katrina Comes Ashore
 Mon., Aug. 29, makes
landfall at Buras, LA
 125-145 mph winds
 Levees breached, city
floods, St. Bernard
Parish decimated
 Worst natural disaster in
U.S. history
 Thousands of people in
7 states affected
Our Mission:
Serve the Victims
 Chancellor’s charge: Serve human needs 1st
 Ask for help
 Eliminate red tape
 Break rules if necessary
 Think creatively
Conversion to Medical
Facilities
 Operated 800-bed field
hospital, 250-bed SNS
 Triaged 15,000 evacuees
 Treated 6,000 patients
 Filled 2,000 prescriptions
 Utilized 1,700 volunteer
medical personnel from
12 states
 PMAC open 9 days
Conversion to Medical Facilities
 Largest deployment of public
health officials in U.S. history
 Some agencies involved:
DHH, FEMA, U.S. Public
Health Service, CDC,
LSUHSC, State emergency
response teams, USAF, Army,
Coast Guard, National Guard,
Navy, Marines, DMATs,
VMATs, VMORT, LSU Athletic
Department
 Largest acute-care field
hospital ever created in
U.S. history
Volunteers & Partnerships
 3,000 faculty, students & staff volunteered
 70 LSU volunteers manned 13-day,
24-hour hotline, received 6,495 calls
 800 mattresses donated, collected &
delivered to area shelters
 100 laptops donated by IBM
 Developed volunteer
registry with Microsoft
Staging Location for Media
 Times-Picayune sets up at Manship School of Mass
Communication
 WWL-TV broadcasts from Hodges Hall
 Washington Post, NBC News, ESPN, Chronicle of
Higher Education, BBC, Discovery Channel, National
Geographic, New York Times, Good Morning America
& dozens of others visit campus
Displaced Students,
Families & Institutions
 Registered 2,896 students
in 10 days
 700 instructors offered
teaching support
 Added 80 new class
sections
 Housed 500 newly
registered students
 Reactivated 2 off-line
residence halls
 Matched displaced students
& families with housing
provided by LSU faculty,
staff, alums & friends
Support for Agencies
 FEMA, National Guard, DHH, Red Cross, FBI, SBA,
US Forestry Service, surgical teams, police,
Homeland Security
 Installed 200 additional phones, phone lines,
network connections, computers, fax machines &
printers
 Housed & fed 950
relief personnel
 Provided showers for
1,000 workers
 Housed 1,287 pets
Nothing Normal About Katrina:
Challenges We Faced
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No communication; phones out, no cell service
Extremely hot weather
Power out in most places
Constant struggle to maintain updated info
Stress & depression, little sleep
Huge demand for housing, ice, gasoline
Need to manage intense media interest while
maintaining patient privacy
How Units Contributed
 Student Media: Uninterrupted
 KLSU
 Tiger TV
 Career Services
 Job search seminars,
placement assistance
 SG: Leading the Way
 Coordinated volunteer effort
w/PPRL
 Provided logistical support
for SNS
 Spearheaded fundraiser for
student relief
More Help Arrives
 FETI: Gets in Gear as Flood Waters Rise
 Deployed Urban Search & Rescue to
N.O.
 Rescued people from houses
 Provided much-needed rescue
equipment
 Facility Services: Kept Us Up & Running
 Prepared campus pre-storm
 Handled post-storm clean-up
 Managed power/utility maintenance
 Stockpiled construction
materials/supplies
 Moved equipment & furniture for
offices, staging areas
More Help Arrives
 Mental Health Services
 Offered free consults
 URec
 Offered free facility use to
evacuees
 Day Care Center
 Offered free babysitting
services to evacuees
 Student Health Center
 Offered tetanus shots to
evacuees
 Vet Med: Animal Rescue Efforts
 Temporary shelter
 Walked, cleaned cages, fed &
watered pets
More Help Arrives
 LSU Police Department
 Provided site safety & security at PMAC, SNS &
Animal Shelter
 Escorted evacuee transports
 Information & Technology Services
 Provided telephone & data connectivity
 Created Dr/pt/police/volunteer registry
 Modified electronic admissions process
 Created computer accts for visiting students
 Restored mission critical apps for UNO & LSUHSC
 Opened servers to certain displaced businesses
Managing Deluge of Media
 Public Affairs
 Requested all staff on deck:
Before, during, after storm
 Operated 24-hour public info hotline
 Managed media requests for experts and info
from around the globe
 Handled internal communication
 Broadcast e-mails, Town Hall meetings
 Maintained lsu.edu throughout crisis, beyond
 Chronicled University’s activities
Flexibility 101
 Modified academic
calendar
 Moved/rescheduled
football games
 Closed streets
 Re-routed traffic &
managed parking
LSU Foundation Creates
Hurricane Student Relief Fund
 Managed by LSU Foundation
 Created Web site
 Debuted during ASU game & promoted
on ESPN
 $5.1M collected in direct support to
students affected by Hurricanes
Katrina/Rita
Important Lessons Learned
 Have an emergency plan ready beforehand
 Know what resources you have & how they
can be used
 Maintain inventory of trucks, food
services/facilities, technology, materials &
equipment, housing, experts & people trained
as emergency responders
 Use service contracts to supplement work
crews & provide special needs
 Consider remote servers for key info
Important Lessons Learned
Communication is key!
 Constantly update info internally & externally
 Use your Web site & don’t forget radio
 Designate someone to work with PA
 Assist media without jeopardizing mission
 Release info, photos & video to public
 Consistently communicate mission to all
 Have a good supply of radios/walkie talkies
 Identify qualified media & communications
personnel on campus in advance; put them on an
emergency list
 Think of everything your PA team might need
 Create credentialing system for media & others that
works with your security plan
Important Lessons Learned
 Create necessary databases ahead of time; update them
 Obtain emergency contact info for faculty experts who
can work with media & have crisis mgt expertise
 Be prepared to support students & families
 Have a plan to evacuate students from your campus if
that becomes necessary
 Write an emergency academic response plan to
admit/register new students
 Be flexible with scheduling issues
 Develop courses that could easily go online
 At beginning of each semester, give students list of
items they should not be without in event of disaster
 Be willing to do any job
Emergency Operations
Center
 Forecast of 20+ years
increased hurricane
activity.
 Chancellor directed
permanent 24/7 “all
hazards” EOC be
established.
 Equipment
 Training
 Exercises
The Calm After the Storm &
Coping with Katrina
 No dress rehearsals
 We are grateful to all of you who came to our
aid in time of need
 We were humbled by outpouring of support
 We are doing all we can to help rebuild
Louisiana & the Gulf Coast Region
Thank you for your time
and your interest.
www.lsu.edu
www.lsustorm.com