St. Tammany News

In the event of another major disaster, Slidell governmental officials and first responders now have a central location in which to coordinate rescue and rebuilding efforts.

Thursday morning, Slidell city and airport officials officially opened the Slidell Emergency Operations Center at the Slidell Municipal Airport.

Slidell Mayor Ben Morris, second from left, gets ready to cut the ribbon to open the new Slidell Emergency Operations Center at the Slidell Municipal Airport Thursday. From left is East St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce CEO Dawn Sharpe-Houvenaeghel; Morris; Slidell Chief of Staff Bob Dunbar; Williams Sizeler of Sizeler; Thompson, Brown Architects; Felicia Accardo, Slidell Airport administrative assistant; Councilman Ray Canada; Councilman Lionel Hicks; and East St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce member Jack Francionne. (Staff Photo by Erik Sanzenbach)

"This has been a long time coming," Mayor Ben Morris told a crowd gathered at the airport's main terminal building.

Bob Dunbar, former airport manager, and current chief of staff for the city's administration, has been trying to get the EOC built for several years.

In 2003, the Federal Emergency Management Agency authorized $800,000 for the facility, and the city paid the remaining $200,000 for the $1 million facility.

The EOC is located inside the airport's main terminal building. The 4,000-square-foot facility boasts two conference rooms, a "war room" with communications and computer equipment, two full baths complete with showers and a fully equipped kitchen.

The EOC was designed by Sizeler, Thompson, Brown Architects in New Orleans and built by Mickey O'Connor General Contractor Inc. out of Belle Chasse. Ian Thompson, one of the architects, said his firm had several challenges in designing the facility.

"Making it hurricane proof and designing the EOC for dual purposes were challenges," Thompson said.

The EOC will not only be the base of operations for the city during emergencies, but it will also serve as a place for pilots to rest and plot out their flights during normal operations.

William Sizeler said that cost of construction turned into a challenge for the architects, too.

"It was designed before Katrina and built after the storm. In that time, construction costs went up," Sizeler said.

But Dunbar said the architects and contractors managed to overcome all the hurdles.

"These guys were terrific. We asked, and they delivered," Dunbar said.

Shawn Preau, spokesman for the architectural firm said the EOC could withstand winds of 150 mph in three-second bursts. The building is reinforced with iron crossbars, which are covered with a metal roof and walls. The metal is on the inside and outside with a foam core. Preau said the roof is four inches thick and the walls are two inches thick.

The windows are also designed to withstand hurricane-force winds. Preau said the windows would stand up to 160 mph winds. He said they might crack a little, but they will not break.

Not only is the building designed to withstand hurricanes, but it is also earthquake proof. Preau said certain parts of the building were designed to shift during seismic activity and then slide back into place.

Morris called the new EOC, "the safest facility in East St. Tammany Parish."

At 25 feet above sea level, the Slidell Airport was one of the few places that did not flood during Katrina. It was also the only airport in the area that stayed open after the hurricane. Morris said the military was landing cargo planes at the airport the day after Hurricane Katrina.

"It's a really safe building in case we have to run the city government out of here," Morris said. "This is a vital spot in East St. Tammany Parish."

The city is still waiting for communications and computer equipment to be installed in the EOC. Preau said once the electronics are set up, city officials would be able to monitor the situation in Slidell right down to the types of emergency vehicles that are on the roads.

"The software for the computer is map-based," Preau said. "The map of the city will be on a big screen in the war room, and city leaders can coordinate rescue efforts by looking at the map."

With a kitchen, two bathrooms, and a diesel-powered backup generator, the new EOC could be home to city officials and emergency personnel for a long time.

"You could really live in here," Preau said.

In fact, mattresses and cots have been stored in the telephone room, ready for use in the lobby if a disaster strikes.