Published: September 06, 2008 11:13 pm         

County considers disaster preparedness plan

Recent flooding brings up questions of area’s action plan.

On a cool morning in January, disaster struck north central Indiana. The water was rising and hundreds of residents along the Tippecanoe River were urged to evacuate their homes.

The flooding hit Carroll County hard, but had a smaller impact on their neighbors to the north, and Cass residents breathed a sigh of relief.

Still, it brought up the question. Is Cass County ready for a natural disaster?

Cass County Emergency Management Agency Director Alvin Beckman, the man responsible for making sure that answer is “yes,” offered some insight in a recent interview.

“If a disaster struck today, are we going be ready for it?” considered Beckman, sitting in his office on the outskirts of Logansport. “Maybe not, but we’ll get through it. Most people will know to take appropriate action.”

The long-time director and his staff have been working to obtain emergency management grants and to educate the community about what to do in case of a disaster.

The issue is the focus of Indiana’s annual “Disaster Preparedness Week,” which runs today through Sept. 13.

Some local officials say they have been pleased with EMA’s efforts to prepare the county and its residents for a disaster.

“They’ve put protocol in place so that they can deal with most of these situations fairly quickly and properly,” said Cass County commissioner Richard Rusk, who attends the monthly EMA Advisory Board meetings.

Beckman has focused on making sure households have family disaster kits, and know how to be safe in their homes. The EMA has been producing informational calendars and pamphlets to spread the word.

Today, the community is more prepared than it was a decade ago, the director said.

“I go into schools periodically to give talks, and I always ask the kids to raise their hands if they have a family disaster plan,” Beckman said. “Eight years ago, not many hands went up. Today, almost every hand goes up.”

The county has 26 sirens to warn of dangerous weather, Beckham said, and officials are planning to add 12 more.

But there are no designated emergency shelters where people can go either to stay if they have to evacuate their home or simply to be safe in a particularly threatening storm.

As for an evacuation location, there are agreements in place with some churches and schools to house people on a short-term basis, Beckman said. But if a long-term site were needed, the county would have to improvise, he conceded.

As for somewhere to go in a storm, a shelter wouldn’t be very useful, said Logansport Fire Chief Bob McMinn. That’s because with the short warning times, even if the there were a shelter, “people wouldn’t be able to get there in time anyway.”

In Carroll County, there are no storm shelters either, said EMA Director Dave McDowell, who said counties such as Carroll and Cass didn’t need shelters for either purpose.

In Carroll, each city is on its own to come up with a plan, he said.

“You can go too far with central planning,” said McDowell, who has been in his job for eight months. “If you have to wait for a chain of people to say it’s OK, then it’s too late.”

McDowell, who himself was a victim of January’s flooding, pointed out that emergency responders get 11 minutes of warning time before a tornado hits. He added that if the county takes responsibility for a shelter, “the entire financial burden” is on the county.

Still, Beckman said the possibility of having emergency shelters was an issue he wanted to examine. Finding out how to fund the plan would be difficult, he was quick to add.

“These are things that we need to at least explore,” Beckman said. “Other people will tell you there are more important things to look at. But I would like to see a structure in place for any type of disaster — large enough to maintain people until they go back to their houses — but I don’t know if it can be done.”

Without a central storm shelter to go to in times of disaster, it’s all the more important to have a family plan, Beckman said.

“We don’t want to cry wolf when we have a thunderstorm, but we want the residents to be prepared,” he said. “A lot of people have the attitude, ‘It’s not going to happen here.’ Well, it can happen anywhere.”

Brian Rosenthal can be reached at (574) 732-5148, or via e-mail at Brian.Rosenthal@pharostribune.com



Preparing a disaster kit

Emergency management agencies recommend families assemble a kit so they are prepared if a disaster strikes. Recommended items include:

• Water. One gallon per person, per day for at least three days.

• Food. A three-day supply of non-perishable items.

• Battery-powered or hand crank radio.

• Flashlight and extra batteries.

• First aid kit.

• Whistle to signal for help.

• Dust mask to help filter contaminated air.

• Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties.

• Wrench or pliers.

• Can opener for food.

• Local maps.

• Prescription medications.

Source: Ready America Web site www.ready.gov