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Jed Boal ReportingWith all of the criticism leveled against the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, a system run by the states gets high marks. The success of the mutual aid program is good news for our preparedness here in Utah.
After Katrina hit and the call for help went out, 15 Utahns responded as part of a state-to-state mutual aid program. The recently released US House report on Hurricane Katrina cited the system as one thing that worked well.
Hurricane Katrina challenged our nation's ability to respond to natural disasters. The US House Report on Katrina Response gave FEMA poor grades. It praised the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, or E-MAC, as a part of the response that worked. The state-to-state mutual aid agreement allows support across state lines during a disaster.
Rick Williams, Division of Homeland Security: "We have these resources already in place. They're state government resources that a governor has access to. He picks up the phone to have those resources on the way to a neighboring state."
Rick Williams deployed to the National Coordination Center in Washington, D.C. E-MAC deployed nearly 66,000 people to the Gulf Coast, including 15 responders from the Utah Department of Public Safety.
Rick Williams: "It just flowed very smoothly here. It's a good test for the compact, and it worked very well."
The Katrina report cites the lack of quick decision-making in mobilizing resources. However, it adds, in contrast, E-MAC successfully provided unprecedented levels of response and recovery personnel and assets to the Gulf coast in record time.
Derek Jensen, Division of Homeland Security: "States can request it fairly rapidly. Resources can be deployed rapidly. You would see the same thing if a disaster happened here in Utah."
Rick Williams: "It's just comforting to know that we can rely on our neighbors, our surrounding states. And they can rely on us in the event they have something go wrong in their states also."
E-MAC also gave Utah responders valuable experience. As a matter of fact, Williams briefed the President -- a two or three minute, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
