County health department and first-response agencies learn from problems in July.
By Tim Rowden
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)
Copyright 2006 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
When severe thunderstorms knocked out power for thousands of people in Jefferson County and elsewhere in the metropolitan area in July, the county health department and some first-response agencies were coolly critical of the county’s handling of the emergencies. They cited a lack of coordination between the county’s office of emergency management and various first-response agencies.
But after the widespread power outages brought on by the ice storm that hit the area Nov. 30, the response is different.
“I think things went much better,” said Dennis Diehl, director of the county Health Department. “I’m really optimistic about how well things went.”
Jefferson County’s Emergency Operations Center in Hillsboro rumbled to life on Dec. 1 with staffing from the County Commission, public works, fire and ambulance districts, the health department and American Red Cross and quickly established warming centers and helped coordinate assistance to clear roads and provide other help to county residents.
The center is equipped with telephones and computers to allow authorities to stay in contact with their crews and assess the situation across the county. But county emergency management director Brian Counsell says the real purpose of the center is to place representatives from the various response agencies in the same room to coordinate their efforts.
As simple as it sounds, that sort of coordination can be difficult to come by while using a two-way radio or cellular telephone at the scene, Counsell says.
“I think it was great the way everyone pulled together,” Counsell said. “I’m very proud of our first responders.”
County Commissioner Ed Kemp shared Counsell’s positive assessment but was less pleased with the response from AmerenUE. The utility company’s handling of this year’s power outages has drawn criticism from various sources including the Missouri Public Service Commission and the Illinois Commerce Commission, which says it plans to investigate the company’s preparation and response to last week’s storm.
“AmerenUE didn’t respond any better to the ice storm than they did to the wind and rain this summer,” Kemp said. “They wouldn’t have a problem shutting your electricity off if you didn’t pay your bill. It’s a shame they don’t have the same enthusiasm when you need your electric turned on.”