Future Disaster Response in Tampa

I live on New Orleans Ave., which is north of Louisiana Ave, and am reminded of the disaster there every time I drive down these streets, write down my address or read my mail in addition to hearing and reading about it on TV, newspapers and the internet. For some strange reason it brings this disaster even closer to home than it might ordinarily.

Today, I was directed by Sticks of Fire to an blog in New Orleans that documented the disaster and the aftermath. It is now describes itself as Survival of New Orleans blog. The blogger and his coworkers are documenting this out of the their offices of directNIC- Intercosmos Media Group, Inc (an internet hosting/provider service) which is "based in New Orleans and located in a secure and dry skyscraper, where our datacenter has remained fully operational. Our staff is safe and well -- some have been working around the clock in New Orleans to keep clients running smoothly, and other employees have left to safer locations to keep an eye on the network from afar. We are pleased to announce that we haven't lost service once during this entire disaster, and we have three weeks of backup power secured, and more resources are on the way. "

These people have an important role in getting information in and out of communication disabled New Orleans. Here are some selected comments:

"Your IMs and Emails and comments are very much appreciated. We've mentioned the worldwide support the people of the world are sending to the citizens of New Orleans, and we're proud to thank all of you on their behalf. Everytime we go down to the street, we tell the police, soldiers, and most importantly the suffering civilians that the whole world is aware of their plight and sends prayers and moral support in addition to charity and volunteer support."

"The situation for the NOPD is critical. This is firsthand information I have from an NOPD officer we're giving shelter to. Their command and control infrastructure is shot. They have limited to no communication whatsoever. He didn't even know the city was under martial law until we told him! His precinct (5th Precinct) is under water! UNDER WATER -- every vehicle under water. They had to commander moving trucks like Ryder and UHaul to get around. The coroner's office is shut down so bodies are being covered in leaves at best or left where they lie at worst."

I have heard people have used Craig's List, Blogs and other website to search for people and for people to announce they are safe.

So what can we learn from all of this?

A) Bloggers, websites and the internet have a role in future disasters.

In Tampa we have a strong blogger/internet presence. In preparation for a future disaster, should there be some sort of loose collaborative effort amongst the bloggers to get info and out? Could this be something organized internally by the bloggers or externally by the City/County Emergency Management folks? Both TPD and HCSO have computers in their cars. If their communication centers are not damaged could they have a role? Could there be created mobile internet/blogging stations? Rugged laptops, with generators, strategically stationed around the City for people to get info out? Do we have Internet Service Providers in secure locations like directNIC? Does the City has plans to link with them?

B) Neighborhoods need to help themselves until outside help comes.

In Seminole Heights, between the neighborhood associations, sub groupings, and Neighborhood Watch groups we have a strong leadership/organizational backbone for any disaster survival and recovery efforts. These groupings work well with City Government and the Police Department. However it is enough? At Tampa General we regularly participate in disaster drills in conjunction with government agencies. However, this has not happened with the neighborhood leadership in conjunction with the city. What is our neighborhood disaster plan? Where are our post disaster meeting points? Does anyone in the neighborhood have disaster training?

We need to send people to Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training and integrate them into City's emergency response.

"Since Emergency Management can actually involve everyone from the White House to "your house", it only makes sense to develop a way to involve citizens in the system. Research studies after different disasters showed that the general public was not comfortable being "left out of the loop" when it came to the matter of dealing with disaster. They wanted to be educated in the steps to take and identified as an integral part of the system wherever it was appropriate."

"CERT training was developed to answer this need as well as allow people to be more self sufficient and useful during a major event. A disaster can overwhelm emergency resources so quickly that citizens incapable of being self sufficient will suffer dramatically, and may not see help for long periods of time. CERT trained citizens on the other hand would be able to take care of themselves, and then help others until relieved by emergency responders."

This CERT training should be pushed and encouraged by the City via the TPD and Neighborhood Relations Office.