Emergency Preparedness App Gets Major Overhaul During Peak Hurricane Season

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) – As the most active part of hurricane season approaches, it’s important to stay informed and have a plan in place.

The Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) emergency preparedness app has been enhanced to help Louisiana residents prepare for a potential disaster.

“If you evacuate, you may not be able to get back to your hometown for a week or 10 days, and in some cases, when we had Hurricane Ida, we had 60 days of power outages. This just helps you navigate the process part of when you leave and evacuate and when you come back,” said GOHSEP Director Jacques Thibodeaux.

The Get a Game Plan app is designed to help individuals and families prepare for potential disasters.

“We’ve created an environment where we try to make crisis management easier and more efficient, to make it possible for people to have access to information wherever they are,” Thibodeaux said.

The app has been around for years, but GOHSEP recently added some new features.

“The biggest thing we try to tell everyone is to always have a plan. And it’s a little overwhelming when you look at what you’re facing in Louisiana, whether it’s a hurricane, an ice storm, a tornado, you really don’t know what to do. Some of the changes are that it gives you examples of what to do in every situation. It shows you have to have a family plan, like have a business plan, a plan for your pets, a medical plan,” Thibodeaux said.

Other features include links to resources, social media, videos, and push notifications for emergency events.

They hope these updates will make the app more user-friendly.

The app is free to download, and Thibodeaux encourages anyone to do so, whether you’ve lived in southwest Louisiana for a month or since you were born.