"We're ready for this storm": Gov. Landry says Louisiana is prepared and resilient

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry speaks on his state's preparations and plans as it braces for Francine's arrival.

Transcript

00:00As we track Tropical Storm Francine, all paths lead through Louisiana. Jeff Landry is the governor

00:06of Louisiana and we thank you so much for joining us today, sir. Good morning.

00:14All right, first question here we want to ask you, how has the state's long-term

00:18disaster preparedness planning helped in now this current situation?

00:23Well, the legislature back in 2017 put together a long-term recovery subcommittee

00:28that it's kind of been laying dormant and we actually activated it just last month we had

00:34a meeting on it and so that committee which is in the executive branch puts together a plan

00:41to help for the long-term recovery as these storms affect the state. Louisiana, I mean hurricanes are

00:48nothing new to Louisiana, they seem to like our coast, we don't really like them, but we are

00:54prepared and we're resilient and we've got a great team here at the governor's office of homeland

00:59security and preparation and we're ready for this storm. Yeah, you're right, Louisiana has a long

01:05history with hurricanes and tropical storms. What plans are in place to mitigate the economic impact

01:12of the hurricane on the state? You know, again, you know the prior storms that have impacted

01:19Louisiana every time they impact our state, they teach us a lot and we learn, we learn to work

01:26inside the federal bureaucracy and with FEMA and with the FEMA administrator, with our locals as

01:33well and then with our stakeholders and businesses as well and so that, as I mentioned earlier, that

01:39long-term recovery subcommittee takes into account all of that information. It is something that goes

01:45on every, every month. When hurricane season is going to pass, the folks here at GOSEP and that

01:52subcommittee is still working with our local officials, with our federal partners and with

01:57our stakeholders here in Louisiana to ensure that our economic viability stays on track.

02:04Well, so many concerns with flooding, storm surge, tornadoes, damaging wind, so how are you

02:08ensuring that residents in vulnerable areas are aware of and comply with the evacuation orders?

02:13Well, again, here in Louisiana, the evacuation authorities are our local parishes. They, the

02:20emergency centers and emergency directors located in the parish, working with mostly the sheriff's

02:27departments here in Louisiana, are the ones that will pull the trigger and are responsible for

02:34evacuation orders. The state basically is a partner and is a support organization to support the

02:42resources necessary to ensure that those evacuations happen orderly and that the people

02:47get in there, but I would heed those people in south Louisiana. If there is an evacuation order,

02:54you should heed it. You should listen to it. Why? Because once the storm comes on shore and you're

03:03in the eye of it, then the ability to get first responders to you, if you need help,

03:08is extremely limited. And then you place those first responders in harm's way as well. It's why

03:16we highly encourage our citizens to heed the local authorities orders.

03:22Governor Jeff Landry of Louisiana, thanks for joining us today.