ccather
Marksman
Question: Why did it take 72 hours for the government to set up food and water distribution? Can we do better? (These comments are not directed toward any first responders!)
Risk: This relatively mild storm exposes gaps (failures?) in emergency planning with regards to commodity distribution that could become life threatening in a larger disaster.
Evidence for concern:
Report from WEAR TV: https://weartv.com/news/local/chann...t-food-distribution-delay-for-escambia-county:
Channel 3 asked Emergency Management Director Eric Gilmore why the supplies aren't here yet. He says the food and water were ordered from Tallahassee even as the storm was raging.
But Sally moved east with fierce winds and rain, and the trucks couldn't get out of the state capitol. Parts of I-10 were impassable due to rivers running over the road.
Gilmore explained further, "Those commodities and everything will not roll to our area until it dies down. So yesterday [Thursday] morning was actually day one for recovery -- for us to try to get these assets in."
Thursday, there were more delays from flooding on 1-10 in Sally's aftermath.
"National Guard's ready to go, I had the manpower, I just didn't have commodity," Gilmore continued.
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After reading this, you probably spotted, let us be generous here, a "lack of imagination" in the emergency response plan.
Areas of concern:
will those excuses feed your family if and when food/water distribution really, really matters?
We can do better.
Risk: This relatively mild storm exposes gaps (failures?) in emergency planning with regards to commodity distribution that could become life threatening in a larger disaster.
Evidence for concern:
Report from WEAR TV: https://weartv.com/news/local/chann...t-food-distribution-delay-for-escambia-county:
Channel 3 asked Emergency Management Director Eric Gilmore why the supplies aren't here yet. He says the food and water were ordered from Tallahassee even as the storm was raging.
But Sally moved east with fierce winds and rain, and the trucks couldn't get out of the state capitol. Parts of I-10 were impassable due to rivers running over the road.
Gilmore explained further, "Those commodities and everything will not roll to our area until it dies down. So yesterday [Thursday] morning was actually day one for recovery -- for us to try to get these assets in."
Thursday, there were more delays from flooding on 1-10 in Sally's aftermath.
"National Guard's ready to go, I had the manpower, I just didn't have commodity," Gilmore continued.
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After reading this, you probably spotted, let us be generous here, a "lack of imagination" in the emergency response plan.
Areas of concern:
- He says the food and water were ordered from Tallahassee even as the storm was raging. Ya think you could have picked up the phone a few hours earlier? Don't even need fast reflexes to recognize a threat as the storm was only moving 2-3 mph. Even if storm changed direction, it was only a three hour return trip back to Tally for the trucks.
- ..trucks couldn't get out of the state capitol. Why are the commodities hoarded in the state capital? That location sure did not work out well this time because:
- Those commodities and everything will not roll to our area until it dies down. Imagine if we had some of them stored nearby? They would not need to "roll in". The trucks could not get here because:
- Thursday, there were more delays from flooding on 1-10 in Sally's aftermath. Flooded roads and closed bridges after a hurricane. Man, I did not see that one coming. Who would have thought?...
will those excuses feed your family if and when food/water distribution really, really matters?
We can do better.