Hurricane Katrina: Are You Prepared For Catastrophe

As hurricane Katrina slammed into the gulf coast we saw the devastation that a natural disaster can bring. This will be the most costly natural disaster in American history in terms of both money and lives. We heard the desperation in the voice of the residents, the mayor, the president of the parish and the first responders.

It has prompted me to contact the city government and ask that our school be included in any disaster drills and exercises. It is important that you take a proactive approach to disaster planning and response. It crossed my mind that in my nine years in the security department at my school, we have never been contacted by city officials, Red Cross, FEMA, County, State or any other official to find out what kind of response would be needed to evacuate the students from our campus if the need should arise. We also have facilities that might be of interest to these agencies if they needed to have a place to set up an emergency shelter in the case of a disaster.

I was shocked to hear that there was confusion as to who was in charge in New Orleans. There is a command protocol when there is a terror incident. It seems logical to me that even though the event was not a terror plot, there was mass destruction. Therefore, the only logical course of action would be to treat it the same as if it were a terror plot, minus the criminal investigation. It is only through disaster planning and practice exercises that these types of problems are identified and addressed. It is much better to have the problems show up in a practice exercise than to realize that you have a problem with command and control during a disaster of this magnitude.

With this in mind, do a few things now so that you know how to handle a catastrophic event at your school.
1. Contact your local Red Cross chapter and see if they have your facilities information up to date
2. Contact your county government or city government to confirm that they know you have x number of
people to evacuate in case of a disaster.
3. Ask to be included in any disaster drills or exercises
4. Make sure that you store water if you have a predicted storm coming your way.
5. Make sure your emergency equipment includes the things you use most commonly and that are not
electrically operated.
6. Keep a list of up to date phone numbers of key response personnel that you meet at disaster drills.
7. Don't depend on technology too much when you are in the midst of a disaster.
8. Have some way to mark your street name on the pavement in case road signs are not visible, damaged
or missing.
9. Work toward survival first, rescue second and then recovery.
10. In a major disaster expect help to arrive after 1 week. You must do it all prior to that!
11. Be sure your basic first aid skills are up to date.