TLP:GREEN

• Hurricane Ida is expected to make landfall as a Category 4 hurricane along the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama late Sunday (8/29) night to early Monday (8/30) morning. Impacts will begin in Louisiana starting Saturday. The primary threats from Ida will be extremely high winds, high storm surge, and heavy rainfall.
  • Devastating wind damage is likely to occur where the core of Ida moves onshore.
  • Ida is likely to produce heavy rainfall later Sunday and into Monday across the central Gulf Coast, potentially resulting in considerable flash, urban, small stream, and riverine flooding.
  • The risk of life-threatening storm surge inundation is increasing along the LA, MS, and AL coasts. 
• The latest information on Hurricane Ida at this time can be found here.

• Power outages: Power outages should be expected in impacted areas, with some Louisiana parish leaders warning that residents in mandatory evacuation areas should expect to be without power for up to one week.
• Transportation: Over the road transportation routes will likely be impacted by flooding and road damage following the storm, which could impact medical product delivery as well as patient transport. Route information for Louisiana can be viewed at Louisiana 511.
• COVID-19: Due ambiguous mask mandates and lower vaccination rates in the Gulf coast surrounding states, the increasing surge of COVID-19 infections will likely impact evacuation and sheltering. We are tracking this closely and will continue to report any situation reports and analysis we have.
• Resource Staging: The Louisiana National Guard is staging highwater vehicles, boats, engineer work teams, and other assets across 13 parishes in preparation for the storm. Texas Governor Abbott has placed resources on standby along the Gulf Coast to support response needs in the state. 

• Louisiana  
  • State: Governor Bel Edwards declared a State of Emergency for all parishes on Thursday 8/26.  
  • Federal: A Federal disaster declaration was approved for all parishes on Thursday 8/26. This declaration authorized FEMA to identify, mobilize, and provide equipment and resources needed to respond to the emergency.  
  • Transportation waivers: 
    • Weight Waiver in place for commercial motor carriers travelling on public highways in Louisiana for the purpose of emergency preparedness and disaster relief. For these carriers, the total gross weight of any vehicle or combination of vehicles shall note exceed 88 thousand pounds. 
    • Toll Waiver in place for tolls under the operation of the state of Louisiana, specifically LA 1 Toll Bridge from Leeville, Louisiana to Grand Isle and Port Fourchon. 
• Mississippi 
  • State: Governor Tate Reeves issued a State of Emergency for Mississippi on August 28. It allows the state government to deploy state resources and state assets for the purpose of search and rescue.  
  • Federal: Governor Reeves also requested an Emergency Declaration from President Joe Biden and that request is in process.  
• Alabama 
  • No State of Emergency has been declared as of Saturday 8/28.  

• Louisiana:
  • Mandatory evacuations: More than 200,000 residents of coastal Louisiana parishes are under mandatory evacuation orders.  
    • St. Charles Parish - all residents 
      • All St. Charles Parish residents required to leave parish no later than 5 p.m. CT Saturday, 8/28. 
    • Terrebonne Parish – all residents  
      • Effective 6 a.m. CT, Saturday, 8/28  
    • Lafourche Parish – all residents 
      • Starting 5:00 a.m. CT Saturday, 8/28  
    • Plaquemines Parish - residents in East Bank and West Bank from Phillips 66 Alliance Refinery to Venice. 
      • Effective 3 p.m. CT, Friday, 8/27 
      • Other areas in Plaquemines Parish are under voluntary evacuation. 
    • St. Mary Parish – all areas south of the Intercoastal Waterway 
      • Effective starting 8 a.m. CT Saturday, 8/28 
      • Other areas are under voluntary evacuation  
    • Jefferson Parish – Grand Isle, Lafitte, Lower Lafitte, Crown Point, Barataria  
    • St. Charles Parish – areas with limited levee protection 
    • Orleans Parish – all areas outside the levee system 
      • Voluntary evacuations are highly encouraged for all residents, but mandatory evacuations are only in place for those outside the levee system. 
• Mississippi
  • Mandatory Evacuations:
    • Mandatory evacuation orders are in place for Hancock County – all residents in low-lying areas 
      • Effective 10 a.m., Saturday, 8/28 
      • Other residents are under voluntary evacuation 
    • Shelter openings are in place in 11 counties as of Friday 8/27. 
  • Voluntary Evacuations:
    • Jackson County  
• Alabama
  • Evacuation routes have been provided by Mobile County Emergency Management Agency. 

• Louisiana 
  • Individuals seeking shelter information in Louisiana can text LASHELTER to 898-211 or call 211. 
  • Individuals can also search for open American Red Cross shelters here. 
• Mississippi 
  • Shelter openings by county are available from the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. 
  • Hancock County: There will be COVID protocol in the shelter and masks are required. Volunteers will check the temperatures of those who come in and social distancing is also mandated. For people who are exhibiting the signs of COVID, Hancock County will offer a separate shelter on Highway 43, which will be open on an as-needed basis. 

• Louisiana
  • Louisiana has a statewide credentialing and access program to facilitate post disaster re-entry. The system permits individuals and organizations to register for re-entry credentials. Access and re-entry decisions are communicated by the Louisiana State Police and the Emergency Responder ID Trust Network (ER-ITN). 
• Mississippi 
  • Mississippi also utilizes the ER-ITN statewide credentialing and access program to facilitate post disaster re-entry. The system permits individuals and organizations to register for re-entry credentials. Access and re-entry decisions are communicated by the Mississippi State Police and ER-ITN. 
• Alabama 
  • Alabama does not have a statewide credentialing and access program to facilitate post disaster re-entry. County-level Emergency Management Agencies are authorized to manage access and re-entry decisions. 

• Healthcare Facilities
  • Hospitals 
    • No reports of hospital evacuations at this time. Many hospitals in the New Orleans area are at or near capacity due to COVID-19. 
    • Louisiana hospitals are already strained from COVID-19 patients – 68% of all hospital beds in the state are filled, including 84% of all ICU beds.  
      • The impact of Hurricane Ida will only strain the hospital systems further in areas such as capacity, supplies, and staffing. 
    • Mississippi hospitals are being stretched thin by the new COVID-19 wave. Of the 895 staffed ICU beds reported across the state, about 92% of them are in use and more than 59% are occupied by COVID-19 patients. 
      • Much like the impacts seen in Louisiana, the impacts of Hurricane Ida will only strain the hospital systems further. 
      • About 70% of contract healthcare workers have been mobilized to help with staffing however licensing requirements have been causing issues for the other 30%. 
  • Dialysis centers  
    • Many dialysis centers in Louisiana have altered their schedules for the weekend. 
• Pharmacy Operations
  • Rx Open is activated for Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The map was last updated at 3:00pm ET, 8/28. As of this update: 
    • 93% of participating pharmacies in Louisiana were reporting open 
    • 95% of participating pharmacies in Mississippi were reporting open 
    • 94% of participating pharmacies in Alabama were reporting open 
  • Additional pharmacy closures are expected to be reflect in the next update of the map. The map will be updated the afternoon of Sunday, 8/29. 
• COVID-19 Status
  • Louisiana  
    • Louisiana is currently 40.9% fully vaccinated. 
    • According to the COVID-19 Community Vulnerability Index (CCVI), Louisiana’s overall vulnerability ranks at a 0.78, on a scale from 0 to 1, indicating communities to be more likely to be diagnosed with the virus, more likely to die, less likely to have been tested, and less likely to have been fully vaccinated. 
    • During a discussion this past Friday with the President, Governor John Bel Edwards spoke of, “his commitment to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in shelters through the use of masks, rapid testing, and social distancing.” 
      • Governor Edwards reinforced the statewide indoor mask mandate by extending the Louisiana's public health emergency declaration through the month of September. 
    • According to the Louisiana Department of Health, more than 3,400 new cases were confirmed as of Friday. 
      • New Orleans is seeing a severe outbreak with a seven-day average of 220 new infections.  
      • This surge in COVID-19 cases, cascading with issues from Hurricane Ida, will surely impact the state’s healthcare system.  
  • Mississippi 
    • Mississippi is currently 37.7% fully vaccinated.  
    • According to the COVID-19 Community Vulnerability Index (CCVI)Quitman County, MS, is in the top 10 list of counties most vulnerable to COVID-19. Additional Mississippi counties that are vulnerable to COVID-19 include:  
      • Humphreys, Tunica, Leake, Noxubee, Issaquena, Sunflower, Sharkey, Claiborne, Copiah, Wilkinson, Yazoo, Scott, Attala, Holmes, Tallahatchie, Yalobusha, Neshoba, Montgomery, Calhoun, Benton, and Jefferson Counties. 
    • There is no mask mandate for the Mississippi state-wide, but counties with high rates of COVID-19 are required to wear masks in indoor settings. 
    • Mississippi is expected to have testing and vaccination site closures through Tuesday of next week. 
      • Moving vaccines to sites with reliable generators 
  • Alabama 
    • Alabama is currently 37.5% fully vaccinated.  
    • According to the COVID-19 Community Vulnerability Index (CCVI), Alabama’s overall vulnerability ranks at a 0.96, which is extremely high.  
    • Alabama encourages but does not require residents to wear masks when within 6 feet of someone from another household. 

• Louisiana 
  • Under Rule 519 of the LA Board of Pharmacy, since a state of emergency is in effect for Louisiana, pharmacists may dispense a one-time emergency prescription of up to a 90-day supply of a prescribed medication.  
  • Under the same Rule, a pharmacist licensed in another state may dispense prescription medications in Louisiana if they adhere to certain conditions in the Rule. 
• Mississippi  
  • TRICARE authorized temporary prescription refill waivers for Mississippi and Louisiana due to the storm.