AVALON – The Cape May County Office of Emergency Management and Atlantic City Electric (ACE) held an annual conference on emergency preparedness June 1, the first day of hurricane season. The event convened at the Avalon Community Center.
Last year’s event focused on things individuals can do to be prepared for a significant natural disaster emergency in the county. The advice given then is still relevant.
This year the focus was on county efforts to ensure that government and private sector resources are ready to respond.
Director of Emergency Management and Avalon Mayor Martin Pagliughi was keynote speaker and moderator for the discussion. His presentation focused on the county’s resources. Another presentation was by Andrew Sykes, emergency management manager for ACE. Meteorologist Dan Skeldon discussed the hurricane season forecast, and Scott Wahl, Avalon business administrator, spoke about emergency communication.
Natural disasters and other large-scale emergencies will happen, it is a question of when not if, Pagliughi said. He and the teams of dedicated individuals at all levels of county and municipal governments must prepare for what they know will occur without knowing when or in what form the emergency will arrive.
Skeldon said the forecast for this season predicts 10 to 16 named storms making it an average to slightly above average year.
He warned the public not to read much into the numbers. Citing 2010 as a very active year with 19 named storms, Skeldon said those storms had little impact on the United States.
On the other hand, in 1992 with only six named storms, Andrew among them, the nation sustained over $26 billion in losses and 73 deaths. “It only takes one,” Skeldon said.
To prepare for that potentially devastating emergency, Pagliughi pointed to the unified structure in which everyone in the county and municipal governments plays a role.
The county has organized resources necessary to serve in an emergency. Including:
* Pet facilities that encourage residents to use shelters where pets are welcome.
* Trained search-and-rescue teams.
* Organized volunteer community response teams.
* Public-private partnerships that unite the business community in any response effort.
* Volunteer medical teams ready to treat residents in shelters.
Pagliughi noted that organizations such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Red Cross cannot be effective first responders.
“We have to see the community through the first 72 hours” in any crisis, he said.
The county has also organized its first long-term recovery group, a group dedicated to helping residents recover long after agencies like FEMA have departed.
A critical area in any emergency is the restoration of power. Sykes spoke on the utility’s process for storm preparedness and response. This includes on-going “hardening” of infrastructure to reduce the damage a storm can do.
Sykes walked attendees through the utility’s priorities in any emergency response. Concentration is first on correcting life-threatening situations. Crews then turn attention to re-energizing sub-stations and repairing transmission infrastructure.
With the core of the power infrastructure in place, attention shifts to transmission and drop lines to neighborhoods and homes.
Current ACE plans call for an investment of $176 million in a grid resiliency program in Cape May County.
Wahl’s presentation focused on the aspect of communications during an event. The importance of getting accurate information to the public was stressed throughout the day.
Wahl noted it is critical to know how the intended audience gets its information and then to use those avenues to broadcast the word. He said that in many circumstances AM radio was the most available and resilient medium.
Wahl stressed the importance of an easy-to-use emergency website with continuous feeds of current information. He noted that during Superstorm Sandy, Avalon’s emergency website received 1.8 million hits demonstrating the value the public placed in the information presented.
If emergency officials do not do the job of getting accurate and timely information to the public, the danger, according to Pagliughi, is that people will seek information through unofficial social media which has no process in place to verify the accuracy of communications.
The conference was about the many resources organized and ready to respond in an emergency. These resources, as extensive and well-trained as they are, cannot substitute for individual preparation.
Having necessary items, medicines, and papers ready for a quick evacuation. Knowing how to tap into ever-changing information about events. Heed the advice of emergency officials when an evacuation is ordered. Plan ways to contact family and friends during the chaotic hours of an emergency. All the preceding play a role in emergency response.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.
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