Academy of Local Politics

I believe in being prepared for emergencies. As much as possible. Personally, and from our government agencies.

Ever since the murders at Virgina Tech there has been a movement for colleges and local governments to set up emergency phone alert systems. According to the LaCrosse Tribune a few local governments in the area are considering installing such system.

Last fall it was announced the National Weather Service would be issuing "Warnings" in more targeted areas. I don't know about you but, our storm sirens still go off for a regular old-fashioned thunderstorm, twenty miles away. It is a joke. Nobody I know, goes to the basement anymore. Nobody.

I realize these alert systems are intended to go far beyond weather alerts. They can be used to alert the citizens of a multitude of situations. That is what bothers me.

If they intrude into my life already for thunderstorms twenty miles away, I can't image what kind of petty reasons they will use in the future to call me.

Count me out.

Whenever there is a disaster...gawkers will not be far behind. The floods of '08 are no different.

According to the Wisconsin State Journal, the gawkers of Lake Delton are not very welcome by some.

Visitors have long been coming to this tourist village to be near the water and watch daredevil waterskiers.

Now some are coming to gawk at a different spectacle -- a naked lake bed exposed after flooding breached part of the shoreline earlier this month and drained the 267-acre aquatic playland...

Gawkers are a mixed blessing for this community, bringing some extra money to businesses that need it but also adding a nuisance for residents trying to move on after trying days.

"You see the very best and worst in people, " said Pat Schultz, 54, whose home is one of the nearest to the site of the shoreline breach that also destroyed a section of Highway A.

In the first days after the disaster, Schultz estimates that more than 1,000 strangers tramped over her then-debris-strewn property to get a glimpse of the lake before her yard was cordoned off with police tape. But Schultz also noted the kindness of acquaintances who showed up to help her family clean up.

Around the state, gawkers have also been reported in other communities such as Janesville, where the curious have gathered to see carp swimming in floodwaters covering Main Street. But Tony Hozeny, a spokesman for Wisconsin Emergency Management, said Lake Delton -- which drew extensive press coverage in the region -- is the spot that has drawn problem onlookers.

Authorities including the National Guard have been deployed to keep people away from flooded areas in various communities due to concerns about contaminated water and unstable ground.

Over this past weekend my wife and I took a little trip down state.

And...we gawked at Lake Delton.

We didn't trespass on private property. We didn't walk the drained lake bed.

But, we gawked from a distance.

Guilty!

We certainly have had an active year with dangerous weather! It started early in the year and has just continued. And, naturally, we all know this is George Bush's fault too.

However, just in case the storms aren't the fault of W and storms might happen next year also ... Madison County, TN is looking at a new idea to alert their citizens in the future.

Madison County leaders want to help get weather radios into every home to make sure residents know about dangerous weather.

County officials, though, have maintained that sirens are not the surest means of letting residents know dangerous weather is near. County Mayor Jimmy Harris said he believes improving access to weather radios - either through discounted sales or giveaways - is a more "fail-safe" way of ensuring residents know of weather warnings.

Harris said a key target of any program would be city and county residents unable to afford a weather radio. One way to get the radios into homes, he said, could be to offer them when county residents register their cars or pay some taxes.

This may or may not be a good idea.

If they want to make them available at a discounted sale price it would be a great idea. Go for it! Publicize where they will be available. Hopefully at the best price possible.

But free?

No, not free. There has to be some "value" attached to the radio. The citizens wanted to spend at least a $1 on it.

Otherwise, hundreds, no ... make that thousands, of "free" radios would be placed in closets never to be turned on. Some people just plain wouldn't want the damn thing. No intention of ever turning it on.

So, save the money and leave those people alone. 

Ever since Hurricane Katrina I have preached and preached to many people, the importance of the local response to emergencies. Nobody should rely on State, or especially Federal response in time of disaster.

Sam Gonzales, Police Chief of Oklahoma City at the time of the Murrah Federal Building bombing, recently preached the same message to a group of local officials in Maine according to the Bangor Daily News.

In addition to the local officials there were also representatives from the state police, U.S. Border Patrol, the Forest Service, hospitals and public works employees.

With all those different officials at this meeting, Chief Gonzales stated,

Whether those disasters are natural or man-made, there must be a positive working relationship among all responders.

"The first test of that relationship is determining who's in charge...That job, he stressed, should go to local officials."

"The locals will be the first ones on the scene...No matter how much help you get from the state or feds, when they leave the community will be looking to the local leaders for answers."

I challenge everyone who reads this post to contact their local government and find out the next meeting time of their Emergency Management Committee (or whatever it is called in your area) and make a point to attend.

See for yourself how prepared your officials are for a disaster. After all, it is just a matter of time before they have to pull out "The Plan".

It will happen, you just never know when. But, it will happen.

It could be tomorrow, next week, next year or maybe 125 years from now, but it will happen.

Are you ready?

 

 

How would you like to open your newspaper and see this headline?

Emergency Management director says communications in county are woefully inadequate.

That is what readers of the Burnett County Sentinel (WI) read.

The article past the headline was even worse...

A study four years ago revealed Burnett County was the worst-equipped county of the 11 northern-most counties in the state when it comes to communication capabilities.

"And it's only gotten worse," Emergency Management director Bobbi Sichta told the county's public safety committee.

How bad could it be?

"If a fire department goes to a fire, realize they need more help, but can't reach dispatch for back-up because we don't have enough towers, that's not safe."

That's pretty bad.

What is the goal of the Emergency Director?

"Our goal is for every emergency responder to be able to use his portable radio to reach a tower," she said.

That isn't unreasonable. But, what can be done?

Sichta said the first step in doing something is the $15,000 communication study the county awarded to Black Forest Technologies.

"They did a study for us four years ago...

Four years ago! They did a study on this problem four years ago!!!

Emergency Responders can't use their radios at times, and the County Board just ignores the problem.

The Mission Statement in Burnett County's Strategic Plan is "To Provide Vision and Stewardship".

How about a few services to go with that vision and stewardship?