Date Published: May 19, 2006   

Bracing for impact

Bruz Crowson / The Item Robbie Baker, left, and Lt. Tony Horton look at a new program in the emergency management office at the Sumter County Courthouse on Monday as they get ready for Hurricane Preparedness Week.

By RANDY BURNS
Item Staff Writer
rburns@theitem.com

The 2006 hurricane season, which officially begins June 1 and continues through Nov. 30, has the full attention of emergency management personnel in the tri-county area.

"Everything I'm hearing is that South Carolina is due a hurricane this year," said Mike Bedenbaugh, director of the Lee County Emergency Management Division.

"And if you don't get prepared for it," said Bedenbaugh, "you are going to be in trouble."

Robbie Baker, Sumter County's emergency management director, said meteorologists at the National Hurricane Center told emergency officials at a conference in April to expect an active season.

"They said we might not have as many storms as last year, but we could very well have several very powerful storms," Baker said. "And there is a 65 percent greater probability a hurricane will hit the East Coast."

Dr. William Gray, professor emeritus of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University and a pioneer in tropical storm forecasting, predicts 17 named tropical storms and nine hurricanes. In an average season, the U.S. has almost 10 tropical storms and six hurricanes.

"We foresee another very active Atlantic basic tropical cyclone season in 2006," Gray said.

AccuWeather chief forecaster Joe Bastardi released an updated forecast on Monday forecasting six tropical storms to make landfall in the U.S. with five hurricanes, three being major hurricanes of Category 3 or greater.

"The 2006 season will be a creeping threat," said Bastardi. "Early in the season — June and July — the Texas Gulf Coast faces the highest likelihood of a hurricane strike, possibly putting Gulf energy production in the line of fire.

As early as July, and through much of the rest of the season, the highest level of risk shifts to the Carolinas. From mid-August into early October, the window is open for hurricane strikes to spread northward to the more densely populated Northeast coast. At the very end of the season, southern Florida also faces significant hurricane risk."

"There are few areas of the U.S. east coast and Gulf of Mexico that will not be in the bull's eye at some point this season," said Ken Reeves, AccuWeather's director of forecast operations.

Baker said Hurricane Preparedness Week, scheduled for May 21-27, is a good time for families to make hurricane preparations.

Every family should have a family emergency kit equipped with first aid supplies, a weather radio, a three-day supply of water, a full tank of gasoline and all required medication available, Baker said.

"Don't wait until the last minute," Baker said. "This is something families should do now before there's a hurricane watch."

Local emergency officials say this year's level of concern is in part due to the devastation suffered in the wake of last year's hurricane season, the busiest ever recorded with 28 named storms and seven landfalls.

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita killed nearly 1,400 people along the Gulf of Mexico and caused more than $104 billion worth of damage.

Communities on the Gulf Coast found themselves to be ill-equipped to deal with the transportation and sheltering needs of coastal residents, Baker said.

"There are more expectations for emergency management because of Katrina," Baker said. "We are working with RTA (Santee-Lynches Rural Transportation Authority) to make sure we can get to our residents in rural areas who don't have transportation. And we also know we are going to be asked to do more in terms of providing shelters — not only for our residents but for those living on the Coast."

Bedenbaugh agrees that Katrina served as a wake-up call for emergency officials, but doubts the general public has the same degree of concern.

"I think most people have relaxed," he said. "They were concerned for awhile after Katrina hit, but now people are relaxed."

Bedenbaugh said he is particularly concerned for the elderly and disabled.

"We are trying to identify everybody in Lee County who are disabled and have special needs," he said. "These people really need our help in an emergency."

Baker said the memories of Hurricane Hugo that devastated the Sumter area in 1989 should be a reminder that a hurricane can be more than a coastal event.

"We had hurricane force winds of 110 to 115 miles per hour in Sumter with Hugo," he said. "But Hugo was 17 years ago. People have let their guard down."

While Baker is confident Sumter County's agencies are ready in case a major hurricane strikes the area, he is concerned about the preparation of the general public.

"Emergency management is ready," he said. "We have our plans in place. But people can't expect government to do everything. The biggest message we're trying to convey is that each and every individual has a moral responsibility to prepare and look out for their family's safety."

Baker said a family of six died in Beaumont, Texas, following Hurricane Rita when they tried to use a power generator inside the house.

"They died of carbon monoxide poisoning," he said. "That's the kind of thing people should know you can't do."

Baker, who will take a leave of absence in August to serve in the National Guard, said he and his staff are available to help families develop an emergency plan and to talk to church and civic groups.

Lt. Tony Horton of the Sumter County Sheriff's Office, who will serve as interim emergency management director in Baker's absence, has joined the staff and is working with Baker and Marcia Boettcher, deputy emergency management director.

"We're asking people to look out for their neighbors," Horton said. "It might be two to three days before we can get to a community after a disaster hits. Neighbors need to look out for each other."

Horton said Sumter County's efforts to establish Community Emergency Response Teams is a positive approach to improve a community's emergency preparation.

A Community Emergency Response Team, already established in Rembert, is available to other Sumter County communities, thanks to a grant provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Emergency personnel in Sumter County train members of neighborhoods to help take care of themselves in a disaster. Training sessions are planned for Wedgefield, Cherryvale and the S.C. 441-Shaw Air Force Base area.



Contact Staff Writer Randy Burns at rburns@theitem.com or 803-491-4533.