The former prison facility in Chesterfield is being converted into a Regional Assistance Center for hurricane Katrina evacuees expected to arrive in the St. Louis area.
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St. Louis County Ready to Assist Hurricane Katrina Evacuees
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), September 7, 2005 - St. Louis County Executive Charlie A. Dooley has announced that the former ACI complex in Chesterfield Valley has been offered to disaster relief officials as housing for Hurricane Katrina refugees. ACI and its Annex building have the potential for up to 300 beds although usage and capacity will be determined by the needs of those refugees who come here.
"Many people need our help and we are going to make sure they receive the help they need," said Dooley in a statement. "In addition to offering housing at ACI, I am also asking County employees to consider payroll deductions for Hurricane Relief and I would like to encourage all County residents to consider making donations."
Medical resources will be available to the displaced at ACI to provide health assessments and screenings. The County's Mental Health Collaborative will provide counseling services. St. Louis County is coordinating these efforts with FEMA, the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.
For more information, emergency officials can be contacted at (314) 628-5400.
Other phone contacts for emergency help are:
Red Cross (800) 984-8979
Salvation Army (314) 646-3001
Catholic Charities (314) 241-5600
Additional actions taken by the state of Missouri to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina, including the planned opening of a shelter in St. Louis for up to 2,000 refugees. The state is working with the City of St. Louis and the American Red Cross to open a temporary shelter within the confines of Lambert International Airport. The shelter is expected to be operational by Sept. 8.
Governor Matt Blunt said state employees from the Missouri departments of Health and Senior Services, Social Services and Mental Health will be on site to provide assistance. The Red Cross will distribute food, clothing, medicine and housing vouchers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Blunt has dispatched an additional 400 Missouri National Guard personnel to assist in search and rescue efforts. These soldiers join 1,000 of their colleagues who deployed last week to the storm ravaged Gulf Coast.
Blunt said Missourians who are interested in providing assistance of any kind can contact the state agencies involved in relief and rescue efforts below:
SEMA: Phone: (888) 526-6664
Online: katrinarelief.mo.gov
Department of Health and Senior Services: Phone: (800) 392-0272
Missouri National Guard: Phone: (573) 638-9500
Code Red Survey Finds Improvement Still Needed in Emergency Preparedness
ST. LOUIS, (BUSINESS WIRE), September 7, 2005 - Four years after terrorist attacks on the United States, about 46 percent of 200 emergency response leaders, representing a cross-section of the country, say their organizations have made little or no improvement in emergency preparedness - according to a nationwide survey covering municipalities, airports and seaports, as well as state homeland security departments.
Airport emergency response leaders were most likely to see major improvements in emergency preparedness, while municipal response leaders were least likely. The survey - "CODE Red: The State of Emergency Preparedness" - was conducted via telephone in June and July with a wide range of public organizations, including municipalities representing 51 of the top 100 metropolitan areas - among them San Antonio, Boston, San Francisco, Dallas, and Washington, D.C.
Four times as many emergency response leaders (48 percent) said they were more worried about a natural disaster like a tornado or hurricane than about a terrorist attack (12 percent), or more than twice as many than a major catastrophic accident, such as a chemical spill (19 percent).
The CODE Red Survey, sponsored by engineering and technology design firm Ross & Baruzzini, based in St. Louis, found that "bureaucracy" was by far the most important barrier to securing federal funds to improve preparedness, with twice as many respondents (48 percent) listing it as compared to the "lack of expertise in applying for these grants" (23 percent), which was the second most common barrier.
On the other hand, power generation facilities (41 percent), water supplies (38 percent), and communications systems (36 percent) were considered most vulnerable to a natural emergency such as severe storms or earthquakes.
Public buildings and parks were considered the most vulnerable to man-made emergencies, including terrorist attacks and chemical spills, according to 38 percent of the respondents, followed by chemical plants (35 percent), water supplies (33 percent), power generation facilities (33 percent), airports (33 percent), office towers (30 percent), ground transportation (29 percent), hospitals (27 percent), communications systems (26 percent), coastal and inland ports (25 percent), and colleges and universities (17 percent).
Of the "man-made emergencies," more than one-fourth (27 percent) of all emergency response leaders worried most about an explosive device, followed by an electronic attack on computer systems (18 percent) and chemical attacks affecting air or water supplies (18 percent). Worry about explosive devices was highest in airports (54 percent) and seaports (55 percent).
"The survey indicates that progress has been made in making our country safer, but we've got to increase these efforts on a number of fronts," said Michael Shea, principal at Ross & Baruzzini, which has designed security and emergency systems for more than 200 public and private facilities over the past 20 years. He leads the firm's specialized practice area - called Critical Operations Design and Engineering (or CODE) - serving organizations needing a facility designed to support 24/7 mission-critical operations.
"The world has changed since 9/11," Shea said, "and, as a result, the need to be prepared has changed as well."
A key step forward, he said, occurred last November when the U.S. National Response Plan was completed. The plan establishes a single, comprehensive framework for the management of all domestic incidents.
"Nevertheless, there are gaps in receiving funding or planning for emergency preparedness," Shea said. "We must identify and address them, because these issues will remain with us for years to come. Unfortunately, there is no quick fix."
Following are some additional key CODE Red Survey findings:
- In assessing emergency preparedness of municipalities, 51 percent of the first responders in the survey - such as police and fire departments - said major improvements had been made, while 39 percent of that group said minor improvements were implemented. Another 5 percent said emergency preparedness was about the same, 1 percent said improvements were planned but not yet implemented and 3 percent said preparedness had actually deteriorated.
- Less than half (47 percent) of municipal administrators reported major improvements, with 30 percent seeing minor improvements, 13 percent seeing no change, 7 percent saying improvements were planned but not implemented, and 1 percent saying the situation had deteriorated.
- About 65 percent of security leaders at seaports reported major improvement, while 35 percent said only minor improvements have been implemented.
- The state homeland security directors surveyed were somewhat optimistic in their assessment of progress, with 64 percent saying major improvements have been implemented in their state and 29 percent saying there had been minor improvements.
- The most important features of these emergency centers are data back-up, as well as redundant emergency power and communications systems, these leaders said.
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