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U.S. Report Critiques State, Local Disaster Plans
A U.S. Homeland Security Department report states that the majority of U.S. states and cities remain unprepared to respond to a large-scale terrorist or natural disaster, the New York Times reported Saturday (see GSN, June 15). Only one-fourth of state emergency operations plans and 10 percent of municipal plans are “sufficient” to manage such an incident, according to the report issued Friday. The other ratings were “partially sufficient” and “not sufficient.” Categories assessed in preparing the report included plans for evacuation, medical care and public notification. “The majority of the nation’s current operating plans and planning processes cannot be characterized as fully adequate, feasible or acceptable to manage catastrophic events,” the report said. President George W. Bush requested the report in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Only 10 states were found to have plans that were fully adequate, feasible and acceptable: Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Vermont. Most other states were rated “partially sufficient.” Emergency plans in Louisiana and West Virginia were deemed not sufficient. The assessments were based on state and local planning documents, leaving open the question of whether they could be completely implemented following an actual disaster, the Times reported. Governments most commonly failed to organize a clear command system for responding to an incident, the report found. Other flaws included failure to accurately address care for victims with special needs, including the sick, elderly and disabled; insufficient planning to distribute information and instructions; “significant weaknesses in evacuation planning;” and insufficient capability for the management and care of a significant evacuee population. The report offered mixed reviews of New York City and Washington, the two areas stricken by the Sept. 11 strikes. It listed New York’s readiness as partially sufficient, but said work is needed on mass care, communications, basic direction and control, the Times reported. Washington faces the same problems, but also has problems with medical and health planning and received a not sufficient rating. “Two weeks ago, [U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael] Chertoff cut the money to New York dramatically, basically saying there were other greater needs,” said Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.). “Here they are saying New York is not adequately prepared” (Eric Lipton, New York Times, June 17). The department said it offered detailed briefings to states and urban areas on the findings. “Dedicated officials across the country have, for the most part, done very well in planning for and responding to disasters of the scope and scale most common in the United States,” said George Foresman, Homeland Security undersecretary for preparedness. “However, the findings of the Nationwide Plan Review unequivocally support the need to modernize planning processes … and to move our national emergency planning efforts to the next level needed for catastrophic events. It is a natural evolution toward working together as a nation to implement the lessons from seminal events such as the Sept. 11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina” (Homeland Security Department release, June 16).
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