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WRN Ambassador Recognition - New Orleans Office of Homeland Security

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  1. What is the mission of your organization?
    New Orleans Office of Homeland Security
    New Orleans Office of Homeland Security
    As the coordinating public safety agency for the City of New Orleans, the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (NOHSEP) is responsible for administering the crisis and consequence management program for the City of New Orleans. It coordinates the activities needed to protect the lives and property of its residents from crises - both natural and manmade - through "all-hazards" planning. Our initiatives build New Orleans' capacity to prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from major emergencies and disasters.

    https://nola.gov/homeland-security/

    https://www.nola.gov/ready/

  2. What has your organization done to promote a Weather Ready Nation? (i.e. what did your WFO recognize your for?)
    Our office works extensively and closely with the NWS New Orleans/Baton Rouge (LIX) WFO in preparation and response to major planned events, unplanned events and incidents throughout the year. In addition to strong collaboration in several different areas such hurricane preparedness and chemical incident plume modeling, the WFO regularly assigns personnel to the City Emergency Operations Center (CEOC) and/or Field Incident Command post (ICP) when weather forecasting and support is required for purposes of public safety (example – Mardi Gras). In addition, we work closely and LIX as part of the NOLA Ready program to train community members via courses such as Skywarn and are recognized as a StormReady city. We also regularly distribute NWS alerts and social media posts via our Emergency Alert System (EAS) and social media platforms.
     
  3. What does being an Ambassador mean to you?
    Working together with whole community partners to enhance our preparedness and resilience to natural hazards, particularly (for the New Orleans area) tropical weather and similar threats. This collaboration is an important component of the City’s NOLA Ready preparedness campaign.
     
  4. What are your goals for the next year concerning preparedness?
    Continued expansion of the NOLA Ready preparedness campaign, particularly for access/functional needs populations. In addition, we look forward to hosting additional Skywarn trainings for community members and technical trainings for public safety and first responder personnel.