South Carolina generally gets high marks from federal officials regarding its preparedness for a hurricane. South Carolina was one of only 10 states to be rated by the Homeland Security Department as having sufficient disaster response plans. Louisiana and West Virginia were rated as woefully unprepared, and the rest, according to the Homeland Security scorecard, had only partially sufficient plans.

For some reason, however, South Carolina officials have been unable to formulate an adequate plan to evacuate nursing homes in the path of the storm despite being aware of the problem months ago. State regulations require nursing homes to have an evacuation plan in place, but many such homes along the coast have contracts with the same transportation company to evacuate their elderly residents.

As early as May, state officials were aware that these transportation firms probably were incapable of reaching and evacuating all residents. In some cases, the contracts even specify that homes will be evacuated on a first come, first served basis, "depending on the availability of buses and drivers at the time."

Everyone remembers the pictures from New Orleans of school buses covered by floodwater and the stories of elderly residents trapped in nursing homes and hospitals by the rising waters. With ample warning and time to plan, that shouldn't happen in South Carolina. But it might if officials don't act soon.

One alternative is obvious: Account for all residents in need of being moved and assign school buses to transport them to higher ground at the first evacuation order. This could all be arranged in advance, with a contract from the state to reimburse school districts for the use of their buses in an emergency.

Another option would be to contact rescue squads throughout the state to form a fleet of vehicles available to evacuate elderly residents if a hurricane is headed toward the state. These squads, many of the manned by volunteers, would be eager to lend a hand in a crisis. That is what they do.

This is not rocket science. And we expect that the delay in creating an evacuation plan results, at least in part, from no one taking responsibility and ensuring it gets done. Perhaps the governor or the adjutant general could help bring this about.

Clearly, however, this is an avoidable disaster. If state officials at all levels want to dodge the finger-pointing and embarrassment that would occur if senior citizens aren't evacuated in a timely manner, they should get busy.

IN SUMMARY
State needs to have a comprehensive plan to evacuate elderly in the event of a hurricane.