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June 9, 2008

State considers whether it's ready if a hurricane hits

Is Rhode Island ready for a hurricane?

This morning, federal, state and local officials involved in public safety, business, and the public sector met at the Radisson in Warwick for the annual hurricane conference hosted by the state Emergency Management Agency.

Hurricane season officially began on June 1 and runs through Nov. 30, though for Rhode Island, the worst hurricanes have struck in August and September.

The speakers discussed the state’s progress in training enough volunteers to staff Red Cross shelters, as well as launching shelters for the pets who’d otherwise be stranded in a storm.

The state is building relationships with the business community, and some corporations have signed up with the Red Cross to train their own employees as shelter volunteers to be dispatched in a statewide emergency. The senior operations manager for Wal-Mart Stores’ emergency management department talked about how the corporate giant established its own methods for responding to a disaster –– getting its stores re-opened and serving communities devastated by a natural or man-made disaster.

On the horizon is one more tool that will affect how Rhode Island responds to a major crisis. Maj. Gen. Robert T. Bray said he wants to have the state emergency operations center open 24-hours a day by October.

Bray, who is the director of the state EMA and adjutant general of the Rhode Island National Guard, said the National Guard Bureau is initiating this 24-7 push in all of the states, and that some are already working collaboratively with the National Guard. The federal funding from the National Guard would mean putting Guardsmen in the state Emergency Operations Center. How it will work, and how it will be funded, are still questions to be answered.

-- Journal staff writer Amanda Milkovits

Posted by Jack Perry  at 1:55 PM | Permalink

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