NATIONAL GUARD OFFICIAL GIVES TOP MARKS TO EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

JACKSON -- Cape Girardeau County's emergency management team got top marks from the Missouri Army National Guard Thursday.

Col. James Wakeman, head of the Guard, met with officials from the county and the cities of Cape Girardeau and Jackson to discuss how National Guard units operate in emergencies. Cape County Emergency Management Director Brian Miller set up the event.

"There are new commissioners, new mayors, people who haven't been involved with the Guard," he said. "I thought it would be a good idea for them to learn how it works."

Wakeman explained what the Guard will do, including sandbagging help and property protection. He also talked about what guardsmen wouldn't do -- replace local authority. Officers in the Guard usually ride around with mayors and other leaders in disaster-stricken towns, learning from them what the National Guard can do to help.

The governor then decides whether or not units should be activated, depending on the extent of the disaster and how well local authorities can handle it.

In the Flood of 1993, guardsmen worked in Cape, Perry and Scott Counties. This year, although the flooding was equal to 1993, Cape County didn't ask for the Guard's help. Guardsmen were sent to the other two counties, however.

"Your emergency management folks were prepared to handle flooding," Wakeman said. "We had a good handle on it, too, because we knew we were having a lot of water come down the Missouri River."

Experts predict "hundred-year floods" like the ones in 1993 and this spring may be occurring much more frequently now, and counties will learn how to deal with them independently, Wakeman said.

The big concerns now are disasters that people can't predict. And there's always the threat of movement within the New Madrid Fault.

If an earthquake like the one predicted for December 1990 ever occurred, the Guard certainly would be activated, Wakeman said.

"We would need to be here for an extended period of time."