FEMA LACKS PLAN FOR BAY AREA QUAKE RESPONSE.Byline: Lisa Friedman Washington Bureau FEMA FEMA, n.pr See Federal Emergency Management Agency. officials said Tuesday they do not have a response plan specifically designed in the event of a major California earthquake, despite identifying a San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden quake as one of the three most likely catastrophic disasters facing the country. Federal officials said Tuesday that creating such a disaster-response plan isn't their job - but the revelation still prompted a call by Sen. Barbara Boxer Barbara Levy Boxer (born November 11, 1940) is an American politician and the current junior U.S. Senator from the State of California. A member of the Democratic Party, Boxer was first elected to the U.S. for a congressional inquiry. ``It's not like it would be a surprise. If you can anticipate a disaster, you should plan for it,'' said Boxer's spokesman, David Sandretti. ``We are going to be demanding congressional hearings.'' In early 2001, FEMA reportedly identified a massive earthquake in San Francisco as one of the three most likely catastrophic disasters facing the country in addition to a terrorist attack in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of and a hurricane in New Orleans New Orleans (ôr`lēənz –lənz, ôrlēnz`), city (2006 pop. 187,525), coextensive with Orleans parish, SE La., between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, 107 mi (172 km) by water from the river mouth; founded . In the wake of FEMA's slow response to Hurricane Katrina victims in New Orleans, Boxer has called on the agency to release whatever disaster-response plans it has for California. ``I don't believe that we actually have a comprehensive plan that would address earthquakes throughout the state of California,'' Kevin Clark, California spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the federal agency responsible for coordinating emergency planning, preparedness, risk reduction, response, and recovery. The agency works closely with state and local governments by funding emergency programs and providing technical , said Tuesday. Clark added: ``To the best of my knowledge, there is no plan FEMA has authored that would address how FEMA would respond to a Bay Area earthquake.'' Local and state officials are responsible for designing disaster plans, Clark said, while FEMA is available for technical help and other guidance. Local governments also coordinate all of their plans with the agency's national response plan, an ``all-hazards'' approach that is not specific to any type of disaster or location. In the Bay Area, where leaders recently created an initiative to regionally coordinate emergency response for a large-scale disaster, officials agreed that responsibility rests with local government. ``FEMA is one of our stakeholders in this regional effort,'' said Annemarie Conroy, San Francisco's director of emergency services emergency services Emergency care '…services …necessary to prevent death or serious impairment of health and, because of the danger to life or health, require the use of the most accessible hospital available and equipped to furnish those services' . ``We are inviting them into the process in helping us craft and devise and be a part of this 10-county plan.'' But, she said, ``It wouldn't be FEMA's plan.'' Lisa Friedman, (202) 662-8731 lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com |
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