Presenter: Walt Dabney
Brent Leisure

Commission Agenda Item No. 5
Briefing
State Park Preparedness and Response Efforts to Hurricane Rita
November 2005

I. Executive Summary: The State Parks Division mobilized key staff and equipment in preparation for Hurricane Rita. The potential impact to State Parks was initially forecasted to be extensive and affect at least one-quarter of the park system, several state parks along the Gulf Coast. The Division coordinated evacuation and recovery efforts in advance of the storm with much assistance from the Incident Management Center at Bastrop State Park, led by Region 5 Director Brent Leisure and the Customer Service Center staff. The Customer Service Center staff was instrumental in responding to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita by coordinating placement of guests and evacuees.