Sunday, January 04, 2009

Should we trust that Howie did what he was supposed to?

The displaced Swan Pond journaler is livid that Roane County EMA Director "Howie" Rose admonished Tennesseans to trust TVA and local, state, and federal officials about their reports on ash containment and the disaster fallout, given that a 2006 emergency preparedness checklist for which Mr. Rose was responsible looks incomplete.

She highlights the tasks for which there is no record of completion.  Among them:
  • site hazard analysis
  • identification of at risk population and infrastructure
  • lead response agencies for each hazard (Red Cross? Health?)
  • public protection recommendations
  • evacuation plans, including routes and shelters
  • dates, times, places of advertised public education meetings
  • community meetings to record public input on emergency plans
There are some glaring holes in this checklist, especially if the public meetings listed on it were never held or were not well advertised. Does an emergency management official who may not have followed through on preparedness plans in 2006 have any room to lecture Swan Pond residents and other affected Tennesseans (which will probably include all of us when the bills come due on this mess) about trusting emergency management officials in the government or with TVA?

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