Caddo parish and Shreveport city officials met today to make final preparations before a much-anticipated winter storm rolls in.
At the Caddo Emergency Operations Center, officials discussed everything from roads to shelters to hospital preparations. Caddo Sheriff Steve Prator, who serves as director of Caddo's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, hosted the meeting, which was also attended by Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins and Caddo Parish Administrator Dr. Woodrow Wilson.
The following is a synopsis of today's meeting:
Shelters - Anyone in need of shelter in Caddo Parish should contact 211 for assistance.
Caddo Sheriff's Office - Auxiliary and Reserve deputies are on stand-by to assist Patrol deputies should more personnel be needed. Deputies are monitoring the roadways and are prepared to respond to emergencies and calls for service in the parish. Sheriff Prator urged citizens to use caution on icy roadways and travel only if necessary. Please visit the CPSO Facebook page for other travel and winter safety tips.
Parish of Caddo: Caddo Parish Animal services will have an emergency Animal Services Officer (ACO) on call for emergencies during inclement weather, such as animal bites against humans and injured animals. ACO’s will be able to respond to welfare checks on animals until the weather and roads prohibit us to do so. As the shelter is at full capacity, no owner surrenders are currently being accepted. Emergencies can be reported to Animal Services by calling (318)-226-6624.
City of Shreveport: “The City is ready for this winter weather emergency and our first responders are on standby to respond, along with other essential personnel,” said Mayor Perkins. “We are asking citizens to stay home if they do not have to be out and take the necessary precautions to keep their families safe. The City has been partnering with Hope Connections and the Salvation Army to ensure that we are looking out for our homeless population. Teams have been doing outreach to get the homeless in to shelters.”
- Fire and Police are prepared and ready to served our citizens during this weather crisis.
- Public Works closed bridges on Jewella and Linwood. Crews have also been out treating roads for safety.
- SporTran has suspended all bus routes starting today. This remains in effect until further notice.
- Water and Sewerage is on the priority list with SWEPCO to keep power on at our plants. We are also ready with generators. We have dry barrel hydrants and are confident those will be ready for use in case of a fire emergency.
SWEPCO: Crews have been staged across the service area to allow for faster response if outages occur. SWEPCO has more than 1,000 line, tree and support personnel ready to respond if needed.
For updates on traffic conditions, road closures, or other announcements, please follow the social media accounts of the Louisiana DOTD (www.facebook.com/LADOTD),