205 - Shared aerial operations a unique endeavor

Abstract: It is no surprise the southeastern United States is most vulnerable to the impacts of hurricanes, and tropical storms; particularly when these tropical weather events enter or generate in the Gulf of Mexico. Iberia parish is surrounded by several hundred thousand agriculture, aquaculture acres, bayous, streams as well as the nation’s largest hardwood swamp. Iberia’s southern border is the Gulf of Mexico and fully exposed to storm surge flooding from extreme tropical weather events. Typically, a named storm event will result in more than half of the state’s parishes declared for emergency disaster relief. Conditions post-landfall quickly elicit enormous floodwater mosquito populations. Aerial mosquito abatement capability is an effective and particularly useful operational tool in these circumstances. Additionally, mosquito control by air is of great value to the citizens of our parish as they attempt to recover. The utilization of CDC grant funding to acquire, outfit, and modify an aircraft for aerial mosquito spraying will dramatically reduce the costs of providing this type of operational control and save valuable local tax dollars. Our in-house aerial operations will realize increased efficiency, efficacy and reliability without the need for complete reliance on contract services. More importantly, these enhanced operational capabilities will directly translate to added health protection for the citizens of Iberia parish. I hope to present the need for this type of operational control tool, the background related to the CDC grant, the unique cooperative endeavor with our neighbor Vermilion Parish, the general details of the project and the current status of the project after our first full season of joint aerial operations.