HARTFORD, Conn. — Tens of thousands in the chilly Northeast remained without power Sunday, eight days after a rare October snowstorm knocked much of the region into the dark. Many spent another day without lights or heat, lingering at shopping malls, hitting the movies or bunking at friends’ homes as they faced the possibility of another day without power.
The storm, which hit Oct. 29 and 30, hammered the Northeast and cut electricity to more than 3 million homes and businesses throughout the region. Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has launched an independent probe of the utility companies’ response amid a torrent of customer complaints, including a local fire department that said CL&P jeopardized safety by not quickly clearing roads of downed power lines and tree limbs. (Washington Post, Nov.7, 2011)
Interesting how the utility is catching all of the blame with no mention in the article of local or state government resource evaluation…. rare snowstorm or not, I am having trouble understanding why the response and recovery has been so slow and cumbersome. The region has to have well experienced snow and ice plans in place at the local and state levels, as well as debris removal plans. Connecticut Emergency Management appears to be fully activated looking at their website…. with full integration from FEMA ESF’s.
Next interesting piece is the announcement on the Connecticut EM website:
As of July 1, 2011, the Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security is involved in an agency consolidation with the newly-created Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection. While the transition is taking place, please continue to check back here for up-to-date information before a new, consolidated website is launched in the near future.
Can’t help but wonder if the state agency has been overly downsized and that the re-organization is effecting the latest event…..? Politicians and public administrators still miss the importance of having a quality emergency management system in place at all levels of government to respond to and mitigate disaster events whether they are “rare,” “freak,” or forecasted. Emergency management is not just emergency services, is not emergency communications, is not fire or medical response, is not public safety….. but, is a system that coordinates and collaborates with all of these entities. So, why combine it with or house it under a more singular agency where ”system” planning and mitigation gets no attention due to day - to - day singular agency “fires” that have to be continually put out. The proof is in the outcomes…. shelter or no shelter, power or no power, valid public information or rumors, debris clearance or impassable roads…… re-election or sitting at home for the next event?
