Government Technology - November 2007 - (Page 24)

One Space to Organize All Your Web Resources My Briefcase BUILDING BETTERGOVERNMENT EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT “With the private sector, you have experts in the field who can go right into a situation, and many of these organizations and companies are already situated where the disaster is happening or is going to happen.” Krista Moody, deputy press secretary, Gov. Rick Perry, Texas Track News & Hot Topics Store Videos & Resources Bookmark Whitepapers & Articles Save External URLs/RSS Feeds Take Our Tutorial Today! /briefcase/tour manager for Shell Oil in Texas. “Probably the largest effort goes toward the special-needs evacuations due to the size of the special-needs populations in certain parts of the state. They are individuals who just can’t evacuate on their own, whether they just don’t have a car or whether they’re [medically in need].” The locals bring specialneeds evacuees to those hubs, Read On and then they will evacuate To learn more along evacuation routes, Padilla about how Texas said. “We have set up temporary prepared for fueling locations that consist of Hurricane Dean’s tanker trucks outfitted with disarrival, read the pensers,” he said. “The Texas November issue Military Forces provide the of Emergency Porta Potties, refreshments, the Management comfort issues for special-needs magazine, or visit folks, and then they get back on www.govtech. the bus and continue to their com/em. next destination.” Two years of preparation since Rita paid off as the region was more than ready for the effects of Dean. A result of the effort is increased communication between the private sector and state and local governments. “The best thing that occurred from the Texas plan is the communication and collaboration we’ve had between industry and government,” Padilla said. “That has been paramount. During Rita, we were doing our own thing, the state was doing their own thing, and we didn’t communicate. Now we know what’s happening and we’re able to provide feedback to the state and local government.” Home Field Advantage The idea of enlisting the private sector to provide goods and services they deal with every day is proving a much better tactic than waiting for FEMA to ramp up and arrive several days after an event. “With the private sector, you have experts in the field who can go right into a situation, and many of these organizations and companies are already situated where the disaster is happening or is going to happen,” Moody said. NOV_07 Sponsored by: Confidence in a connected world. That gives them a distinct advantage over FEMA, she said. “FEMA isn’t a grocery store, FEMA isn’t a fuel tanker, they aren’t medical care providers. It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison.” “And really,” Padilla said, “the oil and gas industry has been doing this for more than 100 years. We pull oil out of the ground, we refine it, we put it into a distribution network, we sell it at retail. We have the infrastructure, we do it on a day-to-day basis whether there’s a hurricane, an earthquake or just a regular day.” Moody did emphasize that saying FEMA can’t be counted on is inaccurate. “Our federal partners supported us a great deal in this effort and efforts of the past,” she said. “This is just one more avenue for help. We take this approach to emergency management because the state has limited resources, and partnering with the private sector certainly helps fill a void — and helps fill it fast.” 24 http://www.govtech.com/briefcase/tour http://www.govtech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - November 2007

Government Technology - November 2007 Contents Point of View Way Back Machine The Last Mile GT Spectrum Big Picture Building Better Government Up Close Inspector Gadget By the Numbers Money Talking No Greenwashing Pinching Pennies Bay Bridge Bustle Two Cents Products Signal: Noise

Government Technology - November 2007

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