E-Newsletter

Op-Ed

E-Newsletters

Dear Friend,

It has now been one week since Hurricane Gustav made landfall and many of our citizens are still struggling from the effects of this storm. Though we are still getting a full assessment of the damage, it is clear that Gustav was the worst storm that the Baton Rouge area has ever seen.

My office is open and ready to help people with our long-term recovery. In addition to providing regular constituent services such as help with Social Security and Medicare, Veterans' issues, and grants, we are able to assist you with starting your FEMA claims process. If you don't already have the info, you can go to www.fema.gov or call 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) to start the
process.

On Thursday afternoon, a team from Washington, DC arrived in Baton Rouge and set up a mobile communications unit in my district office. They were sent by the House of Representative's Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Dan Beard at my request. Their mission is to ensure that Members of Congress are able to operate their offices in the event of a major disruption such as a natural disaster. It was the first time that the mobile communications unit
was deployed for such an event.

By Friday morning, my office was equipped with 45 phone lines and 45 laptops with internet access for my constituents' use. We were also able to run our district office off of the mobile unit's generator until the power returned on Friday. So far, we have had over 400 people come in to start their FEMA claims, get in touch with loved ones, or pay bills and catch up on anything they may have missed by being without power or the internet for several days.

Constituents are able to access the internet to start a FEMA claim at Congressman Cazayoux's District Office Constituents are able to access the internet to start a FEMA claim at Congressman Cazayoux's District Office
We were open through the weekend and will continue to remain open through this week to assist you. Though the mobile unit has left to prepare for Hurricane Ike's possible landfall, we still have 10 laptops for constituents' use. Our office has returned to normal hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. We are located at 5555 Hilton Ave., Suite 100, which is in the black Xerox building off of Corporate Blvd. and across the street from the Marriott Hotel. Feel free to call us at 225-929-7711 with any questions.

I know the last thing that you want to think about is another Hurricane, but as you are probably aware, Hurricane Ike is heading into the Gulf of Mexico. My office will continue to monitor the storm and continue to coordinate with all levels of government to ensure that our response to any natural disaster continues to improve. In the meantime, I urge you and your family to begin taking all necessary precautions ahead of Ike's possible landfall.

Sincerely,

Congressman Don Cazayoux

Source