Virginia continues to send personnel, equipment and supplies on a rotating basis to the areas affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. So far, Virginia has sent more than 1,100 local and state personnel to the Gulf States through Emergency Management Assistance Compact requests, coordinated by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.
- Virginia Beach, Portsmouth and Prince William County have sent seven Incident Management Team personnel to Cameron Parish, La. to assist with operations of the parish's Emergency Operations Center. Chesapeake City has sent a 12-person IMT Harrison County, Miss. in support of EOC operations.
- Eleven personnel from Chesterfield County have been re-assigned from St. Bernard Parish to Lake Charles, La. to assist with fire command, and an additional 10 personnel have been deployed to Mississippi to assist with law enforcement.
- Northern Virginia Localities have sent a replacement team of 52 personnel and equipment to Hancock, Miss. in support of firefighting operations, a 19-person replacement IMT deployed to New Orleans to begin organizing recovery operations for the city, and an 18-person EOC Management team deployed to assist the New Orleans EOC.
- The Roanoke City Fire Department deployed a six-person planning team and equipment to Calcasieu Parish, La. to assist with EOC operations.
- Henrico County has sent five personnel to assist law enforcement in Mississippi.
Several Virginia state agencies have participated in the Katrina relief effort. Virginia's National Guard, State Police, and departments of Forestry, Health, Social Services, Fire Programs, and Game and Inland Fisheries have sent or are ready to send personnel to the Gulf Coast.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross are assisting more than 15,000 evacuees now in Virginia. The Commonwealth is working with federal and local officials to help evacuees and the surrounding communities access resources for assistance.
Governor Mark R. Warner appointed Jane H. Woods, secretary of Health and Human Services, to lead the state's efforts in assisting evacuees. A temporary shelter and resource center established at Ft. Pickett, near Blackstone, Va., stood down Sept. 30 when FEMA notified the Commonwealth that it would not transport evacuees to Virginia; however, it is ready to stand up at any notice.
Dedication ceremony
Gov. Warner will dedicate the new Virginia Emergency Operations Center, Fusion Center and new Virginia State Police administration building on Oct. 14. The new VEOC will not be functional until January 2006 and VDEM will hold an open house at that time for local emergency managers and other interested personnel.
Law enforcement can keep 10 codes
The Department of Homeland Security has reversed its position on law enforcement "10 codes." During remarks at the 112th Annual International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced that FEMA would not require law enforcement agencies to eliminate the numerical codes they use to communicate with dispatchers and each other.
Ten-code elimination would have brought agencies into National Incident Management compliance, and those that did not move toward compliance would not continue to receive preparedness funding. The codes save time and keep sensitive information confidential, but their definitions vary among localities and make it difficult for different jurisdictions to work together. Chertoff asserted that DHS would work to ensure that "we have a common language system for multi-jurisdiction and multi-agency events."
Disaster drill in the Shenandoah Valley
A disaster drill in the Shenandoah Valley tested communication and response among the Northern Shenandoah Valley Public Safety Initiative, government agencies and hospitals. The regional Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program drill tested mass casualty incident management, regional traffic and transportation system management, and implementation of multi−agency and multi−jurisdictional incident elements in emergency response. The exercise exposed some communications gaps among the local EOCs. WebEOC will alleviate some, and increased, direct communications between EOCs will help others.
Best Practices...
Tazewell County CERT response to hazardous spill
The Tazewell County Community Emergency Response Team supported emergency responders during a hazardous materials spill near the Clinch River last month. Five CERT members responded to the call, assembled and staged within 30 minutes, allowing emergency responders on-scene to focus on their mission.
Their primary task was to canvass a two-mile wide area that included 112 houses, alerting residents to the spill and advising them to find alternate water sources for themselves and their animals. Notices were left at houses where no one was home, with a hotline number that was also manned by CERT members. The Tazewell County CERT was established in March 2004, and has since trained 112 citizens; 58 are active members.
Conferences...
Virginia Public Safety Outreach Conference
Registration continues for the Virginia Public Safety Outreach Conference and Training at the Sheraton Richmond West Hotel. "Training for All Abilities in Emergencies and Disasters," the pre-conference training and the conference, "Keeping Everyone Safe: Outreach for a Diverse Community," take place Nov. 14-17.
Registration for both training modules and the conference is available on VDEM's Web site.
Produced
by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management
10501 Trade Court, Richmond, Virginia 23236