McNeese State University police officers Kasey Boudreaux, from left, Jason Welch, Robert Trahan, Chief Cinnamon Salvador, Lt. Jared Leblue and Ward 3 deputy marshals Barry Miller and Shane Bonvillian left Lake Charles on Tuesday to assist Nicholls State University in Thibodeaux.

Three McNeese police officers and two Ward 3 deputy marshals left Lake Charles early Tuesday afternoon to assist Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, which suffered damages from Hurricane Gustav.

McNeese officers Robert Trahan, Kasey Boudreaux and Jason Welch along with Ward 3 deputy marshals Barry Miller and Shane Bonvillian volunteered for the duty.

"The Nicholls’ police chief contacted me Monday evening and asked if we could send officers to assist with maintaining campus security. We had all our officers on duty and on campus so we're able to send officers to Thibodaux," McNeese Police Chief Cinnamon Salvador said. Salvador and McNeese Lieutenant Jared Leblue traveled to Nicholls and will return to McNeese within 24 hours.

"He told me they did not know the extent of the damage to the campus, but that entire area was hit pretty hard by the hurricane. Our officers and the deputy marshals will relieve Nicholls police officers and provide security for the campus to allow the Nicholls officers time to secure their personal homes. " Salvador said.

“All of the local law enforcement departments work together as a team and Marshal Joey Alcede quickly agreed to provided two deputy marshals to work with our officers at Nicholls,” Salvador said.

McNeese President Dr. Robert Hebert spoke to Nicholls President Dr. Steven Hulbert early Tuesday morning. "I told him we appeared to be in good shape on our campus and offered any help they need to restore operations on the Nicholls campus. He did not know the extent of the damage or the number of buildings affected but he already knew they needed assistance with security and debris removal.”

“They have a team very much like we do that prepares the campus prior to a storm and begins building by building inspections once the storm passes the area,” Hebert said. “We learned many lessons after Hurricane Rita and we want to offer our expertise and assistance to the Nicholls campus. After Rita, Nicholls sent members of their Emergency Response Team to our campus to assist with building inspections and damage reports, so we’re happy to assist them in their time of need in return.”

Hurricane Rita caused more than $30 million in damages to McNeese buildings and facilities in 2005. "We know exactly what they are going through and we want to provide any assistance we can," Hebert said. McNeese will resume classes and all normal operations on Thursday.

The McNeese campus sustained some minor damage from Hurricane Gustav. “We were very fortunate. We began building by building assessments at daybreak and have only nominal damage to one building and one roof,” Richard Rhoden, McNeese director of facilities and plant operations, said. “Nothing to prevent us from holding class and resuming all operations on Thursday. “

Rhoden was contacted by Nicholls to send a crew to assist with debris removal. “We only kept the essential crew on site for the storm. I won’t have more employees on campus until tomorrow. "We're sending supplies and extra chain saws with our police officers. We may send a crew later this week if needed," Rhoden said.

Salvador is prepared to send relief officers as long as they are needed. “We will cycle three more officers to relieve these three officers later this week if Nicholls still needs assistance,” she said.