Community Storefront To Open In Plaquemines Parish

January 6, 2006, BELLE CHASSE, La. -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) encourage local citizens, businesses, and organizations to attend the Plaquemines Parish storefront grand opening to provide input on ways to rebuild their community.

The storefront will house the Plaquemines Parish Long-Term Community Recovery Team, a cooperative effort between FEMA and the LRA. “This storefront is our chance to provide input, ask questions, and essentially become the architects of our own recovery. It is the perfect opportunity for our citizens and businesses to collect information, see what resources are available, and learn how to best use them in order to recover in the long term,” said Plaquemines Parish President, Benny Rousselle.

The storefront will be located at 8495 Highway 23, Belle Chasse, La. and will open on Saturday at 10 a.m. to the public with a grand opening scheduled for 1:30 p.m. The storefront will be open Monday through Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

“The Plaquemines Parish storefront is one of the outreach offices being established in severely-impacted parishes. It is staffed by a group of specialists with expertise in areas such as engineering, architecture, planning, economic development, and housing,” says FEMA’s Long Term Community Recovery director Brad Gair. “We’ll work with the local leadership and residents, the LRA and other state and federal agencies to develop a set of essential recovery tools to enable the community to define and plan their recovery,”Gair said.

The Long-Term Community Recovery Team will use a variety of methods, including storefront surveys, to collect public input and assess the needs of each community in order to develop a long-term recovery plan for Plaquemines Parish.

The Louisiana Recovery Authority is the planning and coordinating body that will assist in implementing the Governor’s vision for the recovery of Louisiana. The authority will identify and prioritize the short- and long-term needs of the recovery. The authority will seek out and value local input as it plans and implements the recovery.

FEMA prepares the nation for all hazards and manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, trains first responders, works with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program.

Contact Information

Carl Suchocki

Disaster Response & Recovery

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

Contact via E-mail