Mandatory Evacuation After Train Derailment and Release of Toxic Fumes In Lafayette LA.

May 17, 2008

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Authorities have issued a mandatory evacuation order for about 3,000 residents who live within a 1-mile radius of an early morning train derailment. A shelter has been set up at Carencro High School.

The boundaries of the evacuation, which was called as a precaution, are Tressy Street, Eraste Landry Road, Interstate 10 around Ambassador Caffery Parkway and south to Dulles Drive west of Bertrand.

City-Parish Council Chairman Donald Bertrand has declared a state of emergency.

Six railroad cars derailed about 2:20 a.m. today; two of the tank cars are leaking. The substance, according to Cpl. Paul Mouton of the Lafayette Police Department, is believed to be hydrochloric acid.

HazMat crews, officials from the Department of Environmental Quality and others are on the scene.

Residents who evacuate are urged to bring medicine and clothing for two days.

Residents of Lake of the Oaks nursing home also are being evacuated; Acadian Ambulance is transporting those with pre-existing medical conditions to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Lafayette. Other nursing-home residents are being taken to Pleasantville in north Louisiana.

The nursing home houses 130 to 150 residents.

Authorities have set up command posts at the Single Source Supply store at Ambassador Caffery and I-10. Officials who have responded include the Louisiana State Police, the Lafayette Sheriff’s Office and the Lafayette and Scott police departments.
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