NEW ORLEANS – The Louisiana National Guard is preparing for emergency operations ahead of Tropical Depression Cristobal while continuing its COVID-19 response missions. Members of the Guard are trained and equipped to protect lives and property, maintain communications, and ensure the continuity of operations and government.
In addition to 88 high-water vehicles and 35 rescue boats prepped and staged across south Louisiana, the LANG has helicopters ready to support search-and-rescue, evacuation and reconnaissance missions as needed.
To better coordinate at the local level, the LANG has liaison officer teams in 10 parishes and is prepared to support other parishes as requested.
The LANG transported five 100 kilowatt generators to Grand Isle Friday ahead of the rising waters in the southeast part of the coast.
Additionally, the LANG has staged three engineer work teams in three parishes to help assess potentially compromised infrastructure and assist with post-storm debris removal and route clearance, if needed.
The LANG will continue to assist in 63 missions during the COVID-19 pandemic response, including medical support, logistics, engineering and planning support.
To date, the LANG has packaged over 6,408,580 pounds of food, delivered over 31.5 million medical commodities throughout the state and tested more than 73,660 people for the coronavirus.