Isaac fuel demands strain tight budget

Advocate staff photo by HEATHER MCCLELLAND -- Spc. Shelby Horne, front left, Dillon Murphy, right, and other Army National Guard members and Livingston Parish Sheriff's Department officials help unload groceries at Whitehall Grocery Store on Aug. 31.

With parishes facing a gasoline shortage during Hurricane Isaac, state Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain became the go-to-guy for fuel to run hospital generators and water pumps.

Strain said Thursday that he fielded requests for 411,960 gallons of fuel — 293,554 for diesel and 118,406 for gasoline.

“It does put a strain on our cash flow,” he said. “If you look at (hurricanes) Gustav and Ike, it was over $14 million.”

Ultimately, parishes like Ascension — which received fuel to pump out floodwater — will be responsible for reimbursing the state. In the short run, though, the state will have to pay the fuel bill.

As of Thursday, Isaac’s cost to state government totaled $119.6 million. The tally includes taking evacuees by bus to shelters, activating the Louisiana National Guard and distributing 3.1 million meals, 5.3 million bottles of water, 1.4 million bags of ice and nearly 100,000 tarps.

The Division of Administration listed:

• $48.7 million for operations.
• $38.8 million for supplies.
• $23.2 million for personnel.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, is expected to pay at least 75 percent of the cost, leaving the state on the hook for $30 million.

Gov. Bobby Jindal outlined in a news release Thursday some of the measures the state took in response to the storm.

Isaac made landfall in Louisiana last week, flooding parts of St. John the Baptist, Jefferson and Plaquemines parishes. An estimated 13,000 homes sustained storm damage.

The Louisiana National Guard is helping clear debris in Plaquemines Parish and coordinating the delivery of generators. State Department of Transportation and Development crews repaired 671 traffic signals. Engineers with the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority assessed a 230-foot-wide opening in Plaquemines Parish’s back levee.

Philanthropists helped trim some of the state’s costs.

Hill’s Pet Nutrition donated animal food for shelters. A Thibodaux cattleman contributed to the food bill for cattle stranded in Plaquemines Parish.

State and federal governments are responsible for other expenses.

FEMA offered housing and home repair grants to residents in Assumption, St. Helena, St. James, Terrebonne, Washington, Ascension, Jefferson, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John, St. Tammany and Tangipahoa parishes.

The Jindal administration reported that 12,637 households secured approval Wednesday for $5.3 million in federal assistance to replace spoiled food. The assistance, officially called Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is designed to help people who do not regularly receive food stamps.

Tabitha Bingle, 30, walked out of a Springfield disaster food stamp center with approval for $668 in assistance after losing power for two days at her Denham Springs home. “I need meat, milk and eggs,” she said.

Strain said he hopes the federal government swiftly pays parishes’ fuel bills.

He said he will pay the upfront costs for the fuel, then bill parishes, which will bill FEMA for a percentage of the expense.

Parishes sent fuel requests through their emergency operations centers for law enforcement, hospitals, nursing homes, firefighters and the military.

“We generally fuel the government,” Strain said.

Comments

1) Comment by hog611 - 07/09/2012

I WANT SOMETHING TOO. IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE ONE O OR TWO 0'S. MY POWER WAS OFF FOR THREE DAYS AND MY BRAND NEW GENERATOR BURNED UP AFTER RUNNING ONLY ONE DAY!!!!! WHERE DO YOU WANT ME TO PICK UP MY CHECK ??? NEED MILK MEAT EGGS AND OH YEA A LITTLE OLD CHARTER WOULD NOT HURT. COME ON THE TAX PAYERS MUST OWE ME SOMETHING I AM NOT ASKING TO LIVE WITH THEM. WELL ON SECOND THOUGHT IF THEY HAVE A SPARE ROOM WITH A MAID !!!! WELL YOU DO NOT EXPECT ME TO STAY IN A STINKY OL SHELTER, DO YOU ???

2) Comment by Pakistani - 07/09/2012

Pakistani boy is running up the federal deficit! Be responsible for yourself.

3) Comment by NewsReader - 07/09/2012

I'd like to think that at a state, parish and city level the budgets include some kind of disaster set aside. No different really than people should prepare annually for storm deductibles etc. But that remains to be seen whether the state acts any different than the residents who always run with their hands out. Which is the perfect segue into the lady in the article getting $668 after her power went out for 2 days. Are you kidding me? She "needs meat milk and eggs"? Well let's see meat $3/lb, milk $4 gallon, eggs $2.. Why $668? Everyone knew the storm was coming. Be smart, pack your freezer with ice and milk jugs with water and cover everything inside with a blanket to insulate it. A freezer without power will keep your food frozen that way for 2-3 days if you don't open it. And in advance of the storm, get extra smart and prepare meals so you have something to eat if/when you do lose power. (a) you've saved your food from deteriorating, (b) you've got something to eat and (c) if your power doesn't go out all you have to do is reheat it. Nothing lost. This storm hit at the end of the month. Paychecks (or welfare) would have come in 2 days later. So exactly WHY do people need "extra" money? They weren't planning on eating for those 2 days if the storm hadn't come? And if people lost the contents of their freezer, well that's covered under your homeowners insurance. If you can't afford the deductible, to be blunt that shouldn't be everyone else's problem. That's your problem. This state and many of its residents is the epitome of what's wrong with this nation: everyone wants to be taken care of with no personal responsibility. They should make the State Song the old classic by Dire Straits: Money For Nothing

4) Comment by gvm - 07/09/2012

Let's ask Bobby that question.

5) Comment by LawyerDan65 - 07/09/2012

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, is expected to pay at least 75 percent of the cost, leaving the state on the hook for $30 million. This sort of begs the question - which level of government shoudl be "responsible" for costs incurred to protect and assist people in a disaster?