With storm looming, state emergency officials head to Louisiana

(National Hurricane Center graphic)

By Ben Paulin, Globe Correspondent

Two officials from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency are heading to Baton Rouge, La. where they’ll be helping to coordinate relief efforts as the New Orleans area braces for the potentially devastating Hurricane Gustav.

Graham Campbell and Allen Phillips took a flight to the Creole State today.

“They’re there to get in there ahead of the storm. They make up what is called a pre-positioning advance team,” said MEMA spokesman Peter Judge. “Essentially, they’ll be coordinating requests that Louisiana will be having to reach out to other states for things like personnel, equipment, and professional expertise.”

Campbell and Phillips will be working under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, an agreement between states nationally that provides mutual aid for disaster-stricken areas. The two will be working 12-hour shifts, according to Judge, and are scheduled to return Sept. 15.

The Globe reports today that two disaster response teams made up of Massachusetts medical workers and healthcare experts left Friday to provide assistance in Louisiana’s preparations for Gustav’s fury.

Some who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 are shuddering at the prospect of another catastrophe so close to the three-year anniversary of the deadly storm hitting the Gulf Coast. “This is opening up old wounds,” said Patrick Wooten, a Katrina evacuee living in Massachusetts.

By mid-day today, Gustav, off the coast of Cuba, had strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane, with winds reaching 145 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center website.

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