HJNO Nov/Dec 2021

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS  I  NOV / DEC 2021 19 Dianne Hartley, Editor Thank you for taking the time to sit down with the Journal. How would you grade our planning and prepared- ness for Ida? Lieutenant General Russel Honoré I haven’t seen any state do preparedness and plan- ning any better than the state of Louisiana when it comes to a hurricane. But, plan- ning and being prepared is like the pre- game show, and Louisiana always gets an A+ in preparing. That is, communicating with people, identifying the zones that will be most likely affected by the storm. It’s important to put this in context, because Ida came ashore in a very speedy fashion and continued at a very high level of hurri- cane Category 3 storm deep into Louisiana and even into NewOrleans as a Category 2. We must put that into context when we say that Louisiana got an A+ in prepared- ness. There are two things that underpin the state’s preparedness. Number one was the response to Katrina with the building of the water control system, or levee control system, in and around our biggest city, New Orleans. The other is the amount of levee work that had been done along the coast — the Morganza to the Gulf levee system— had a tremendous impact on limiting the impact from flooding. As we know, Ida was a significant wind event in the lower parishes, all the way through NewOrleans, Jefferson and on the North Shore in St. Tammany andWashing- ton Parish. It was a water and wind event in LaPlace. The water event came from the surge water from Lake Pontchartrain that overflowed interstate 10 and caused surface water flooding in LaPlace. The eye of the storm came near LaPlace, and it ended up being a wind and a water event in LaPlace. Most of the coast, it was a wind event that caused most of the damage. I still give the state theA in preparedness in the context that there was not a manda- tory evacuation for Orleans and up at Jef- ferson Parish. In retrospect, as a Monday morning quarterback, I and many said we should have had a controlled evacuation of people in Jefferson and Orleans Parish, because the prediction was that this storm would put the lights out — putting the lights out in terms of what we experienced in the Lieutenant General Honoré is a native of Lakeland, Louisiana. He was commissioned a second lieutenant of infantry and awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in Vocational Agriculture upon graduation from Southern University and A&M College in 1971. He holds a Master of Arts in Human Resources from Troy State University as well as an Honorary Doctorate in Public Administration from Southern University and A&M College, an Honorary Doctorate in Laws from Stillman College and an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Stillman College. Prior to his command of Joint Task Force-Katrina — leading the Department of Defense response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana —Honoré served in a variety of command and staff positions, which focused on defense support to civil authorities and homeland defense. As vice director for operations, J-3, the Joint Staff, Washington, D.C., and, as the commander, Standing Joint Force Headquarters-Homeland Security, United States Northern Command, Honoré’s focus was defense support to civil authorities and homeland defense. Honoré supported the Department of Defense planning and response for Hurricanes Floyd in 1999; Lilli and Isidore in 2002 (both hit the Gulf Coast); Isabel in 2003; and Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne in 2004. Honoré also planned and supported the United States military response to the devastating flooding, which swept Venezuela in 1999 and Mozambique in 2000. As vice director for operations, he led the Defense Department’s planning and preparation for the anticipated Y2K millennium anomaly. As commander of SJFHQ-HLS under NORTHCOM direction, he planned and oversaw the military response to the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy and the D.C. sniper shootings. Additionally, Honoré participated in three TOPOFF (Top Officials) exercises as well as the United Endeavor series of Homeland Defense exercises. General Honoré retired on February 29, 2008, following 37 years of active service with the United States Army. He continues to speak and consult nationally on building a culture of preparedness. House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, recently tapped Honoré to lead an investigation into the 2021 United States Capitol attack. Few, if any, in America are as qualified to speak to hurricane situations as Lieutenant General Russel L. Honoré. His no-nonsense, boots-on-the-ground leadership during the aftermath of Katrina catapulted him to the national spotlight, and he has been the media darling for Hurricane coverage ever since. We took a moment to sit down with the retired general to ask his assessment of Hurricane Ida in a report card fashion. Here are his grades and thoughts on South Louisiana’s preparedness and response to this storm.