Agency: Cities not prepared for disasters

[Behind the Aegis]

WASHINGTON - New Orleans is still woefully unprepared for catastrophes 10 months after Hurricane Katrina, and the two cities targeted by the 9/11 attacks don't meet all guidelines for responding to major disasters, a federal security analysis concluded Friday.

Ten states were rated in a Homeland Security Department scorecard as having sufficient plans to respond to disasters: Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Vermont.

Florida, accustomed to being whipped with hurricane winds, was the only state to meet all of the department's basic requirements for planning for catastrophes. Response plans for Louisiana, still devastated from hurricanes Katrina and Rita, were deemed insufficient to manage huge emergencies.

The shortcomings in emergency planning, including antiquated and uncoordinated response guidelines, are cause "for significant national concern," Homeland Security's analysis concluded.

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[etherealtruth]

1. Sadly, this is not a surprise

my guess is that most of our large cities are ill prepared to handle small to moderate emergencies. In my area the city of Detroit has had a great deal of trouble dealing with snow removal after a major snow storm (Come on, this is Michigan).

Much of the problems can be traced to precarious city finances.

[Moderator]

2. DUplicate topic

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2341515