Hurricane Ida: How Project HOPE is Responding
Project HOPE is responding in Louisiana with medical surge support and additional relief following Hurricane Ida. Learn more about this emergency and how you can help.
This page is about a previous emergency response. For the latest on our current emergency response work, click here.
Project HOPE is responding in Louisiana following Hurricane Ida, which made landfall on August 29 as a dangerous Category 4 hurricane with 150 mile-per-hour winds.
Louisiana’s governor has called the damage “catastrophic”: the storm left hundreds of thousands of people in the state without power, with many parts of the state devastated by flooding and wind damage. Many hospitals in the area were already at capacity with COVID-19 patients — now, injuries and power outages from the storm could exacerbate the hurricane’s impact.
Project HOPE has a long history of emergency response in the region, including Hurricane Laura in 2020 and a response to Hurricane Katrina that lasted more than 10 years.
Read on to learn more and how you can help.
>> Click here to read our latest situation report on Hurricane Ida.
Hurricane Ida: What You Need To Know
- Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana as a dangerous Category 4 hurricane, with winds of 150 miles per hour
- The storm caused widespread flooding and wind damage, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power
- Hospitals in Louisiana are already at capacity due to COVID-19 and now the health needs have increased
- Project HOPE is on the ground providing medical care and delivering additional relief
Widespread Damage Across Louisiana
Hurricane Ida has caused widespread flooding and damage across Louisiana after making landfall on August 29 as a dangerous Category 4 storm. Governor John Bel Edwards said that Ida was the strongest storm to hit Louisiana in more than 150 years, and widespread flooding has been reported in Jefferson Parish, which includes the greater New Orleans area. There are reports of people standing on rooftops or waiting in attics to be rescued as the storm came through.
Many hospitals in Louisiana were already at capacity due to the state’s “highest-ever surge” of COVID-19, and Louisiana’s largest health system reported “significant damage” after the storm.
>> Hurricane Ida Leaves Thousands of Louisianans in Need of Urgent Support & Medical Care
COVID-19 continues to be a concern in the affected areas as hospitals and their intensive care units are at capacity. More than 2,400 COVID-19 patients are currently hospitalized across the state. Now, transmission is expected to increase following the storm as people are displaced and sheltering in crowded settings or with others outside their households.
Project HOPE has served in the region through multiple disasters, including responses to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Laura in 2020. Our response to Hurricane Katrina lasted more than 10 years and included medical volunteers from around the country and long-term support for the Delta Health Alliance that serves 400,000 residents in the Mississippi Delta.
Read on to learn more about how Project HOPE is responding and how you can help.
>> Click here to read our latest situation report on Hurricane Ida.
How Project HOPE is Responding
Project HOPE is responding in Louisiana following Hurricane Ida. Read our latest updates below.
September 13, 2021: Project HOPE Supporting Houma Nation in Louisiana
Project HOPE’s Emergency Response Team continues to conduct site visits and medical outreach in hard-hit areas across Louisiana, particularly in Jefferson, Terrebonne, and Lafourche Parishes. Most recently, the ERT provided basic medical services to 48 Houma Nation tribal community members at the Houma National Center in Louisiana.
Due to low vaccine rates among tribal members, the Houma tribal Administrator has requested the ERT to return to the community and administer COVID-19 vaccines to tribal community members. Similarly, at the request of a local partner, the ERT conducted a site visit in Galliano to provide health and damage assessments and COVID-19 testing.
>> Read more in our latest situation report here.
September 7, 2021: Project HOPE Has Provided Medical Support To More Than 1,000 People
Project HOPE’s Emergency Response Team, which consists of 11 medical volunteers and two staff, continues to be embedded with the New Orleans Public Health Department and their medical team to support their campaign of outreach and assessment across the city, and supporting the assessment and evacuation of highly vulnerable populations.
As a fully credentialed partner of the Louisiana Department of Health, Project HOPE’s ERT has been an integral part of the triage and intake process helping balance the entrance of community members and the surge from local hospitals. In recent days, teams were dispatched to provide basic care and triage support to the hard-hit areas of Jefferson and Plaquemines Parish. The ERT is also closely coordinating with the Louisiana VOAD and National Association of Free and Charitable clinics to assess additional urgent needs in the affected areas and at health facilities.
To date, Project HOPE’s ERT has provided medical services to 1,045 people affected by Hurricane Ida in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish. Read more in our latest situation report here.
September 2, 2021: Project HOPE Providing Patient Care in Jefferson Parish
Project HOPE’s Emergency Response Team has begun providing medical care in hard-hit Jefferson Parish for people being triaged and relocated to shelters outside the affected area. Additionally, four ERT members are deployed in the field with public health staff visiting and triaging residents in large-scale apartment complexes and homes as identified by the city’s special needs registry. ERT members are also supporting the New Orleans Health Department and providing first aid and basic medical care support in New Orleans’ Central City neighborhood.
Project HOPE has delivered 8,080 disaster health kits and more than 98,800 N95 masks to the New Orleans Convention Center, where they are expected to be used to support in establishing the Center as a regional shelter for people with special medical needs. The shipment was done in cooperation with MAP International. Each kit includes a washcloth, first aid kit, shampoo, soap, comb, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, sports bag, and zip bag.
Click here to get the full update in our latest situation report.
August 31, 2021: Project HOPE Emergency Response Team Staging in New Orleans
Project HOPE’s Emergency Response Team is on the ground in New Orleans and staging at a local shelter in advance of our response to Hurricane Ida.
Project HOPE’s Emergency Response Team is on the ground in New Orleans. We’re working with the Regional New Orleans Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) and @nolaready to support with first aid, health screenings, and other health services.
You can help too. https://t.co/TP4LDn5rEH
— Project HOPE (@projecthopeorg) August 31, 2021
Project HOPE is working with the Regional New Orleans Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) and the New Orleans Ready Office to support with first aid, health screenings, and other services. An initial shipment of 8,080 Disaster Health Kits is on the way to New Orleans and expected to arrive today.
August 30, 2021: Project HOPE Deploying Emergency Response Team to Louisiana
Project HOPE has deployed an Emergency Response Team (ERT) to the affected area and is anticipated to arrive in New Orleans by tomorrow. The team includes a cadre of medical practitioners who will coordinate the provision of primary and emergency health services for impacted communities.
Project HOPE is working with the Regional New Orleans Voluntary Organizations Active In Disaster (VOAD) and the New Orleans Ready Office to support an evacuation center with first aid, health screenings, and other medical services. Project HOPE medical teams will be deployed with local responders into communities and special needs shelters to check on residents and provide the necessary support.
In partnership with MAP International, Project HOPE is also sending an initial shipment of 8,080 Disaster Health Kits along with more than 98,800 N95 masks to be distributed to hurricane-affected communities. Each health kit includes a washcloth, first-aid kit, shampoo, soap, comb, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, sports bag, and zip bag). Project HOPE is preparing shipments of additional hygiene kits and masks for distribution to shelter locations.
Click here to read our full situation report Hurricane Ida.
How you can help
Are you a health-care or other professional who would like to learn more about volunteering abroad with Project HOPE? Learn more about our volunteer program and join our volunteer roster.
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