Cape Girardeau County tests disaster communication

~ The state will conduct a more thorough four-day exercise in June.

The scenario revealed by Cape Girardeau County emergency director David Hitt Wednesday during a training session was serious, but not a complete catastrophe as the county tested its disaster communications and updated training for top county officials.At a little past 10 a.m., Hitt unsealed an envelope that said a magnitude-8.0 earthquake had struck along the New Madrid Fault. One in 10 bridges longer than 200 feet were damaged, and 50 percent of the unreinforced masonry buildings were destroyed.

Land-line telephones were out, as was wireless service. But 60 percent of the first responders were available, with 40 percent of the vehicles in working order. Damage at schools injured one in 20 children, one in 100 fatally. Less than 1 percent of the rural population was trapped in their homes.

Damage in the county was far less serious than the scenario envisioned for other areas farther south, which is in line with what scientists believe will happen when the shock waves move from the sandy, deep soil of the Bootheel into the hilly areas further north and west.

Satellite telephones worked properly as Hitt reported the projected damage to state emergency officials in Jefferson City, but the county was forced to rely on volunteer amateur radio operators outside the emergency center to relay information as it tested its in-house system. The county will assess its antenna system, which allowed operators to receive signals from Jefferson City and surrounding communities but left it unable to broadcast its own reports.

During the practice and training session, attended by a few county and other officials, Hitt had to remind those on hand that their job was to show leadership and to implement emergency plans, not wander off to check on the well-being of family members.

"I know it is human nature to think about your family," Hitt said. "But somewhere along the line you've got to make an assumption that your kids are OK because the schools have a plan. I know as a parent how difficult that can be."

Within a half-hour of the quake, Hitt said, the scenario wants officials already working on damage assessments and setting priorities for search and rescue. In discussions, the officials identified schools, daycare centers and nursing homes as their top objectives.

And Hitt told them that they are responsible for the needs of the rural sections of the county. Jackson and Cape Girardeau have their own leadership structures and response teams, he noted, as do hospitals and most major employers.

County commissioners, as the officials with the widest range of responsibility, will be in charge of the emergency center, but Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones said it won't be dictatorial power. "Do we want to act like we are the boss?" Jones said. "We will work hand in hand."

And Hitt identified another area that may be overlooked in the event of a major earthquake on the New Madrid Fault -- the likelihood that thousands of travelers would be stranded on Interstate 55, flooding into Cape Girardeau, Jackson and rural routes looking for shelter or a way out.

One possible scenario includes the destruction of the bridge over the Diversion Channel, and the possible collapse of overpasses or offramps, Hitt said. "What are we going to do with all those people?" Hitt asked.

The question, like many from the session, will receive a more thorough examination when the state conducts a four-day exercise in June that will attempt to examine in-depth the state's response to an earthquake disaster.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126