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September 4, 2005

How NOT to React to Impending Emergency

One common thread among (nearly) all local and state governments, as well as the federal, is disaster preparedness. Virtually every city, county, parish, metro area, and state has detailed emergency preparedness plans that involve many facets. Regular drills take place to determine how effectively the authorities can react to different situations. I'll be taking part in a small drill this afternoon, in fact, so I'm somewhat familiar.

That said, here's a quote from The Southeast Louisiana Evac Plan Supplement, most recently revised in 2000.

5. The primary means of hurricane evacuation will be personal vehicles. School and municipal buses, government-owned vehicles and vehicles provided by volunteer agencies may be used to provide transportation for individuals who lack transportation and require assistance in evacuating.

With that in mind, look at this photo of unused school buses, leaking fluids into the flood waters.

I'm sure some drills were taking place. One drill that could have happened on paper, at least, was a full city-wide evacuation of New Orleans. Had such a drill taken place, even just on paper, this weak point would surely have been identified and fixed.

This is why the emergency preparedness drills should be undertaken regularly. The government officials should be doing it. Companies should be doing it. Churches should be doing it. You should be doing it. When was the last time you had a fire drill at your home?

Don't take things for granted. Do a drill. Analyze the drill. Fix the drill. Hope you never need the drill.

Posted by Lockjaw at September 4, 2005 7:53 AM

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