Planning and Preparation should not be a process that is started after the event passes yet we seem to take this approach each and every disaster. 

Imagine if military generals would review intelligence reports after the launch of the battle. 

When you know how many residents you have and how they are housed, where they work and what their basic needs are you will be able to better plan for them before the disaster so once you are over the initial impacts of the disaster you can launch your battle plans / response plans with a simple 24 hour notice. 

Household Incomes:

• How many can afford to travel away from the community if they need to evacuate? 

Total numbers in each household:

• Residential single family, multifamily dwellings, how many and where are they located. 

If you knew your area had 17,483 families renting and of those 17,483 families renting you had 14,411 families classified as severely debt burdened or below 30% AMI you could calculate that you would need to arrange to have at least 14,411 individuals evacuated by providing assistance to them. This assistance could be in the form of fuel vouchers, bus tickets, ride share vouchers, etc. 

The information is available to us all and should be in the preparation manuals for every district representative. Even having numbers of people beyond the registered voter count would be helpful. 

I'll be working with data provided by the National Low Income Housing Coalition and reference the material available online so you can share it with your congressional representatives. We don't need to worry too much for those that have the means to evacuate during our planning period and as all good leaders, you'll have your representative be the last out of the disaster area and first back in. 

Updates will follow covering all Louisiana Congressional Districts.