A recently published LSU book seeks to show other universities throughout the country that universities have a unique position to aid in disaster relief.
The University released “LSU in the Eye of the Storm: A University Model for Disaster Response,” which shares lessons LSU learned after Hurricane Katrina.
The book, which will not be sold for profit, is a day-by-day account of the steps LSU took before and after Katrina to facilitate the rescue and care of people affected by what has been called the worst natural disaster in U.S. history.
The book also includes a DVD with a six-minute video about the University’s efforts.
University spokesman Michael Ruffner said the purpose of the book and DVD is to educate other universities on how to use their resources to offer assistance.
Public Affairs staff members began mailing copies of the book to the heads of many of the country’s most prominent universities Nov. 30.
“We’ve sent copies to the presidents and chancellors of all of the major universities in the country,” Ruffner said. “It’s a guide to show how a university can marshal all of its resources and wrangle police, faculty, athletic facilities, medical personnel, volunteers, food, water and transportation to offer aid during a disaster.”
Ruffner said private donations funded the book’s $75,000 publication price.
“That covered the publication, the production of the DVD and postage for sending it out to the chancellors, state legislators and media outlets,” he said.
Ruffner said the book is available by request, but administrators are still trying to decide if they will have a second printing if the demand exceeds the supply.
“It’ll really come down to whether we get enough donations for a second printing,” he said.
Ruffner said LSU’s ability to respond to the hurricane response came in part from the unique qualifications of Chancellor Sean O’Keefe, who served as NASA chief during the Columbia accident in 2003, in which seven astronauts died when the shuttle disintegrated over north Texas. O’Keefe also served as Secretary of the Navy during Sept. 11, 2001.
“The chancellor has been through several disasters, and he’s uniquely qualified to handle these type of situations, though I’m sure he wishes he wasn’t,” Ruffner said.
O’Keefe, who wrote the book’s foreword, said the book serves as more than a guide for other universities.
“This is not the definitive description of what a university should do, it’s only a guide,” O’Keefe said. “But it is also a reminder of what we went through; and the more you step back and reflect, the more you see places where changes could have been made. It took a lot of on-the-spot thinking to get through the storm, and we can all learn lessons to better prepare for the future by looking at what we were able to accomplish.”
O’Keefe said the actions the University took in the days following the storm could serve as a guide for handling any type of disaster.
“It’s every bit as applicable if you’re dealing with a natural disaster or any other type of disaster which requires a large-scale population movement,” O’Keefe said. “We sent copies to them, and the Department of Homeland Security is looking at ‘LSU in the Eye of the Storm’ as a template for future responses.”
Kristine Calongne, director of media relations for Public Affairs and co-author of the book, said it took the cooperation of several University offices to get 5,000 copies published by LSU Press in such a remarkably short time.
“It took about 10 days to write the book and collect photos from several sources, including The Times-Picayune and The Daily Reveille,” she said. “It usually takes about a year to get a book published after the text is written, and we were able to get it done in about two months because everyone was so willing to work together.”
Calongne said Public Affairs contacted most of the University’s departments so they could gather information about individual efforts, ensuring none were missed.
“It takes a university to pull off an effort like the one we had,” Calongne said. “When we were working through the hurricane, we saw so many faculty, staff and students working in an unbelievable effort to help where they could. We had an idea of what everyone did. But because it was such a huge effort, we didn’t want to miss anything.”