BATON ROUGE (AP) — Louisiana officials walked through how they will respond if the state gets hit by a major hurricane while parts of the Gulf Coast are recovering from Hurricane Harvey.
Tuesday's "tabletop exercise" came as Hurricane Irma and Tropical Storm Jose lurked in the Atlantic Ocean. Gov. John Bel Edwards called for the preparation exercise.
The Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness says the exercise envisioned a Category 3 hurricane moving across Florida and impacting New Orleans and other south Louisiana parishes.
The practice session assumed that Texas emergency officials — who have historically helped Louisiana respond during disasters — would be unavailable to help because they're still coping with Harvey's aftermath.
The emergency planning also accounted for Louisiana residents still living in temporary housing after last year's flooding.
