Feds: Crisis Communications Subpar In U.S.

Homeland Security Survey Gives Only Six American Cities High Ratings For Emergency Communications

(CBS/AP)  Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff will release the findings of a new report Wednesday that finds that five years after 9/11, many U.S. cities still have ineffective disaster communications plans, CBS News has learned.

Seventy-five metropolitan areas, all of which have adopted "policies for interoperable communications" were evaluated with widely varying results, reports CBS News correspondent Bob Orr.

The six regions scoring the highest were San Diego; Columbus, Ohio; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Washington; Sioux Falls, S.D.; and Laramie County, Wyo.

Among those scoring poorly were Chicago, Baton Rouge, La., and Cleveland.

Areas were judged on the ability of fire and police departments and paramedics to effectively communicate and how effectively local, state and federal governments have coordinated in preparation for a disaster.

Homeland Security is under the gun to improve emergency communications among first responders, and Chertoff has pledged to achieve nationwide interoperability by the end of 2008.

The Department of Homeland Security study comes five years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, revealed major problems in how well emergency agencies were able to talk to each other during a catastrophe. Many firefighters climbing the World Trade Center towers died when they were unable to hear police radio warnings to leave the crumbling buildings.

In New York now, the report said, first responders were found to have well-established systems to communicate among each other — but not the best possible.

Just over a year ago, Hurricane Katrina underscored communication problems when radio transmissions were hindered because the storm's winds toppled towers.

Democrats have said they will make improving emergency communications a priority when they take control of Congress this week, though they have not said specifically what they will do, how much it will cost or how they will pay for it.

In the study, communities were judged in three categories: operating procedures in place, use of communications systems and how effectively local governments have coordinated in preparation for a disaster.

Most of the areas surveyed included cities and their surrounding communities, based on the assumption that in a major crisis emergency personnel from all local jurisdictions would respond.

The areas with the six best scores were judged "advanced" in all three categories. The cities with the lowest grades had reached the early implementation stage for only one category.

Chicago, Cleveland and Baton Rouge, for example, were judged to have accomplished the early stage of governance coordination. Mandan, N.D., and the territory of American Samoa were both found to have gotten to the early stage of their actual usage of interoperable emergency communications.

[nativewoman]

I'm shocked, shocked I tell you!

NOT!

[juliehg-2009]

Duh!! Tell us something we don't already know...and could've reported on a couple of years ago.

[juliehg-2009]

Okay, so maybe I'll backpedal here...I live in Columbus, OH.

Go figure...

[antoniof123]

I am laughing too hard. A few months ago I landed in JFK and guess what I saw from the person of Homeland Security he was asleep and doing nothing and the military five guys sleeping with their M-16. So what else is new.

[ljrmiller]

WHY is interoperable communications such a difficult concept? You need a common frequency designated within a specified range of frequencies, and equipment that won't encrypt, frequency-hop or do any other strange stuff. In other words, off-the-shelf ham radios or CB's would do just fine in most cases. Alternately, older military communications equipment would work, or any other tunable communications device.

The important thing is to get everyone on to the same frequency or frequencies in an emergency, unencrypted, so that people CAN communicate with one another. Secure (as in encrypted) communications would be the LEAST of anyone's worries in any U.S. large-scale disaster (or terrorist attack).

There's no reason to be short on radio operators, either. There are the ham operator clubs which could provide good support in an emergency, and I think there should be a list of volunteer radio operators drawn from the ranks of former military personnel who could be called in should the need arise. It wouldn't take all that much to keep former military personnel current on the equipment available and the procedures required in an emergency.

[cantshutup]

hilarious...they've only been working on it 5 yrs!!! incompetants!

[cantshutup]

I think if we haven't been stockpiling and planning for the end of America as we know it we better get started now...should I get walkie-talkies?????? i've already got my stockpile of supplies in my inflatable raft...

[melcarnahan]

They should ban the FCC and give them one of Bush's fair trials in Iraq for their involvement in censorship. Then they should adopt Europe's superior wireless system. Through Tom Ridge and others, Bush has spent billions of dollars on no-bid contracts to cronies but America has received no benefit for this spending other than moving some corporate headquarters from New York to Texas. Every time you receive a piece of spam, the Department of Homeland Security has failed. Spam is one of the primary communication tools used by Al Qaida and organized crime, including the Arbusto gang.

[bildooreilly]

They could afford to put cameras on every street corner in every little town across the country though... That sure makes me feel a lot safer... yet they can't even keep the electricity on during a snowstorm anymore... way to go... US GOVERNMENT... you worthless turds.

[bildooreilly]

Is the Stalineque US Government and Big business trying to kill americans by cutting their power out during snowstorms?? Wouldn't surprise me a bit, it mostly hurts the elderly who they don't want to take care of. Disgusting...

[frankly6]

Saw the results of this in New Orleans during hurricane Katrina. First responders couldn't communicate with eachother.

Instead of spending homeland security funds on communications the GOP sent it to secure petting zoos and popcorn history museums. Heck of a job guys!

[nothappyatall]

What did you expect from the Bush regime and all that money spent? this is the SAME "good job Brownie" "Good job Ricey" crowd who brought all you dumb sheeple the illegal iraq war and a 10 trillion dollar debt, did you expect anything more than waste, squandering, pandering, "deals" kickbacks, special interests, lining bank accounts, cost overruns and Haliburton style $2500 toilet seats and $1500 hammers?

[bluestardad]

Two Billion a week could go a long way to fixing this problem! Oh yea Dicktater wants us in Iraq for some unknown reason instead!

[nyckate]

he complete incompetence of the entire Bush regime is almost not to be believed - they are united by their supreme incompetence.

We have wasted hundreds of billions of dollars in Iraq and we are never going to even have an accounting of those funds as neither Bush nor the Pentagon have used regular budgets to get those funds - but some of that money could certainly have been put to better use here at home - though given that it would still have been the Bush Regime in charge there's no guarantee they'd have had any success at it.

The new Congress and Senate must lay out the failures of the Bush team in order to force Bush to appoint more competent persons to the job - 5 years under the leadership of 2 of Bush's personal choices at Homeland Security and they've accomplished nothing.

[bildooreilly]

Just check out the news lately, whenever there's a snowstorm they're leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power for weeks. The government and big business have found a way to get rid of undesirable americans such as the elderly.. it's right out of the old Stalin playbook. I suggest buying a generator, otherwise the government will let your family freeze to death.. feelin safer yet?

[defirststate]

Homeland security is to be highly commended. Both the first responders in dumpwater, florida, the bundy family's vacation spot, can communicate thanke to the DHS and Chertoff, it probably helped that they are conjoined twins, but it's still great work. Homeland Suckurity. Rah!