No question the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina
on the Gulf Coast has intensified the nervousness from Beaufort to Georgetown
over the past few days as Ophelia has wavered between a tropical storm and a
hurricane. With hurricane season far from over, South Carolina's coastal
residents are among those rightly questioning the adequacy of their own
governments' disaster preparedness plans.
Our numerous letters to the editor since Katrina not only focus on the
responsibility for the Gulf Coast disaster, but many seek reassurance that there
is no potential for the repeat of some of the deadly logistical mistakes made
both before and after Katrina hit land. The most clearly preventable was the
failure of the city of New Orleans to provide transportation for the thousands
of residents who didn't have the means to evacuate.
That was among a number of lessons that Charleston County learned from
Hurricane Hugo 16 years ago. The county's transportation plan is detailed and
ready for implementation. Bob Gannon, Charleston County's fleet operations
manager, tells us that both school buses and those operated by the Charleston
Area Transportation Authority (CARTA) are part of that plan. There are a total
of 53 pick-up locations throughout the county. Special arrangements also can be
made for those who are physically impaired by calling a dedicated telephone
number when evacuations are ordered. Buses will take citizens to the closest
available shelter, including those who have need of the one pet shelter operated
in the county at the North Charleston Coliseum.
While the plan clearly depends in large part on the media for dissemination,
Mr. Gannon also tells us that sheriff's officers will be sent to some of the
more rural areas where residents may not have means of communication.
Gov. Mark Sanford told us last week that he,too, wants to assure himself in
the wake of Katrina that there are no gaps in the state plan, particularly in
terms of evacuating the state's poorer residents, not to mention the need for
more than one pet shelter. Ronald Osborne, director of the state's Emergency
Preparedness Division, notes that the county plans start at the municipal level
and are regularly reviewed. The state, he said, can make suggestions. Katrina
doubtless will be uppermost in mind during the upcoming review.
This weekend's reaction shows state officials are taking no chances. Even
though the threat was relatively minimal, the governor sent a large contingent
of law enforcement officials to Beaufort County, including nearly 100 state
highway patrolmen, 17 officers of the S.C. Law Enforcement Division and 17
Department of Natural Resources officers. There also were nearly 1,000 members
of the National Guard in armories along the coast.
As is continually emphasized, a large share of the preparedness burden lies
with each of us. One of our letter writers, Sandra E. Gresham, today provides
some detailed, excellent personal advice as a result of the lessons she learned
from Hugo. But there are thousands of residents of our coast who were too young
to remember Hugo or have since moved to South Carolina. Katrina's horrific,
unprecedented lessons are raw and cannot be ignored by officials anywhere when a
natural disaster threatens.
