Clint Ory prepped for job as director of local emergency ops

Every June, residents throughout south Louisiana begin preparations for the six-month long hurricane season.

Clint Ory is among those preparing for what might come, but not only for the safety of himself and his family. Ory was appointed last month as St. Tammany Parish’s new director of homeland security and emergency operations, and that makes it his job to help ready a population of some 275,000 when dangerous weather or other emergencies face the north shore.

Ory replaced Clarence Powe, who retired after three years as head of homeland security in the parish. Ory brings more than 30 years of experience to parish government, following a long stint with St. Tammany Parish Fire Protection District No. 4 in the Mandeville area, where he previously served as director of administration.

Ory, a St. Tammany Parish resident since early childhood, joined the fire district not long after graduating from Mandeville High School in 1990. He steadily rose through the ranks with FD4, being promoted to captain in 1997, to a district chief in 2011 and assistant fire chief in 2015.

Even on his days off, Ory longed to be near the action. In 2000, he began working as the part-time chief of administration at parish Fire Protection District No. 13 in the Goodbee area, where he helped transition what was a volunteer department into the professional unit it became.

Ory said the all-encompassing nature of working with a fire department appealed to him from a young age.

“Fire departments are the catchall for emergencies,” he said. “It’s an all-hazards response department. Hazardous materials, technical rescues, fires, natural disasters — they all include the fire department. … My career developed that way, from studying hazmat response in the early ’90s, to terrorist response, biological incidences. It all fascinated me, and I wanted to learn more.”

The burgeoning skill set, as well as a lengthy list of volunteer awards and commendations, made Ory an attractive candidate to help navigate the turns of parishwide emergency response.

He said communication and team-building skills are essential to the job during any crisis, including the floods and dangerous-weather events that regularly threaten the area.

“I’ve responded from Hurricane Andrew (in 1992) to Hurricane Ida (in 2021),” he said, “not to mention the May 1995 flood and a bunch of others through the 2016 floods. Really, the last five years or more, a lot of what I was doing was trying to have plans in place for the fire departments. It was about sharing information with the districts on how to effectively respond.

“It doesn’t matter how big of an agency you have … you’re going to face situations that exceed your resources, the things you can handle alone. You have to know who and what to bring in to try and control a situation. That’s what my job is now, on a parishwide level, to recognize the risks, prevent what we can and determine the best response to things we cannot prevent.”

Ory said in addition to the usual precautions taken to prevent emergencies, the most-important thing people can do is remain vigilant and alert when the inevitable occurs.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to help share information that could save lives,” he said. “It’s a responsibility I take very seriously.”

For more information on the parish Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, go online to www.stpgov.org/departments/hsep.