Scott County officials make plans for emergency action

Recent disasters have taught county and city officials in Scott County a lesson -- preparation is key to managing the aftermath.

Government officials have been working recently to solidify their disaster preparedness plans and coordinate county- and city-level planning.

Plans center largely around the worst-case scenario: a major earthquake on the New Madrid fault.

"We need to be a lot better than we are," said Presiding Scott County Commissioner Martin Priggel. "No matter what, when that big earthquake comes, it's going to be chaos."

Joe Burton, the county's E-911 administrator, said the county has had a disaster plan in place for years, but the plan is too generic.

"Our plans are like every other county in the state, and they're all pretty generic," said Burton. "And they're all good plans, they just don't go quite far enough."

A major earthquake isn't the only contingency officials are examining. With the high volume of train traffic through the county, hazardous material spills also take precedence, as do tornadoes.

One aspect of the plan the county is working on is evacuation, in terms of materials needed and sites to evacuate to. Current plans outline disasters that may require evacuation, but not the specifics of how those evacuations will occur, said Burton.

Burton said the southern part of the county is in special danger if an earthquake strikes. The sandy soil and high water table could turn into a sort of quicksand while the tremors occur, he said. But the more northern parts of the county, such as Benton, could more easily withstand the shakes with their bedrock foundation, making the county seat ideal for a command center.

With the 911 services headquarters moving from Morley to Benton in the near future, coordination of disaster response will be more centralized.

Jamie Burger, 2nd district commissioner, said one main priority for the county is to compile a list of materials that would help with disaster response, such as generators, and purchasing satellite phones for communication in case of widespread disaster.

Also important to county officials is coordinating disaster planning with local governments. In the event of a disaster, say officials, the first response will have to come from within local agencies, with help from the county and state later.

Officials are telling city leaders they should plan to be on their own for at least 72 hours. School officials and community leaders have been receiving CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training to deal with disasters.

Tom Bridger, director of Sikeston's emergency operations, said his city already has an adequate, well-practiced disaster plan in place. The city, though, is meeting with utility companies and hospital and school officials to discuss their role in a disaster situation. Opening up communication with the public is also a high priority.

Public meetings are scheduled for December and January to let citizens know what the government is doing and how they can prepare.

In Scott City, City Administrator Ron Eskew said police and fire departments are creating inventories of the equipment they have for disaster response. The inventories are the first step in improving the city's plan, Eskew said.