Quake Tests Emergency Management Agencies

Last Friday, a few parts of the country felt the earth move, spurring emergency officials to activate their emergency management plans. Did those plans work when put to the test?

According to an article on the MSNBC.com website, the earthquake allowed officials in Louisville, Kentucky, to start assessing the situation immediately. “For most people, the earthquake was simply a topic of conversation. For local emergency management officials, it required quick responses, and put their action plan to the test,” the article says.

“All the calls come to one place,” MetroSafe Director Doug Hamilton told MSNBC. “All of the services are within that room, [and] you can quickly assess what’s hurt, what part of our body is damaged, what part of our community may be damaged.”

City officials began immediately monitoring the thousands of gas lines throughout the city, while others kept an eye on the sewer systems. MetroSafe’s Bud Schardein told the news outlet that all pumping stations were operating normally, but officials were keeping a close eye on more vulnerable, older sections.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to reinforce what would you have done had there been an earthquake of some significance,” Hamilton added. “We know if we had to shut down the interstate system or use the interstate system for mass evacuations, we know it would take 384 police officers to staff all the particular checkpoints.”

To read the full article, click here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24206145/