North Little Rock-Numerous Arkansans have joined together to assist the evacuees from Louisiana with their shelter needs. “We currently have 16 shelters open throughout the state with a population of nearly 800 self evacuees (late Sunday afternoon) and more than 1,500 controlled evacuees at Fort Chaffee,” said Tommy Jackson, lead public information officer of the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management (ADEM).
“We are working to coordinate with other state agencies in these evacuation efforts. We have updated our website to allow the evacuees and their families to locate a shelter within close proximity. Individuals can click on the “Arkansas Shelters” link, which will list counties that have shelters open and operational. Then click on that county to get directions to that particular shelter as well as get contact information. We are encouraging everyone to view the website to obtain current updates on shelters and resource needs during this time,” said Jackson.
In a related item, the Arkansas Department of Health activated its Emergency Operations Center or EOC at 8:00 am Saturday, August 30 and will remain activated until officials are confident that all public health concerns have been extinguished.
Currently the Department of Health is in the process of activating a hotline that will connect the public with the Department of Health EOC.
This hotline is intended to help people locate family members who have been brought into Arkansas hospitals for care. The phone number (1-800-651-3493) is anticipated to activate by 8:00pm cst.
The Department of Health EOC will remain activated throughout the response and will continue to monitor the health needs of the evacuee population and Arkansas residents.
For additional information, contact ADEM at (501) 683-6700 or visit the website at www.adem.arkansas.gov.
