Hurricane Gustav

The weekend has been dominated by preparation for Hurricane Gustav. Though I am now in Dallas preparing to enter the storm’s footprint with my senior team, I was working from Utah over the weekend.

Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, Admiral Craig Vanderwagen, operated out of our emergency management center at headquarters. He conducted briefings every few hours. The difference in the work atmosphere, by comparison to Katrina, in our department and in our interaction with other departments and states, has made the hard work of the last three years evident.

I'm typing this blog on my Blackberry and therefore a more detailed description of the differences will need to wait for another day. I will simply generalize that all the lessons learned, all the exercises, all the meetings and conferences, and investments have paid off. People knew what to do and when to do it. We followed a play book that had been rehearsed over and over. Were there surprises and departures from the script? Of course, but for the most part, we carried out the plan.

Assets were moved into place, the medically compromised were evacuated (more than 9000 of them), and shelters and field hospitals were erected. HHS had more than 1,500 people deployed to the region. It has been a moment of great satisfaction to see how ably our team has functioned. Admiral Vanderwagen calmly and professionally guided the process from headquarters. Craig was our field commander during Katrina and is intimately familiar with the situation. I'm extremely proud of him and his team.

This effort revealed weaknesses. They were worked around this time, but they need to become the focus of our improvement. The weakening of the storm is a blessing we are all grateful for. However, there is a virtual conga line of storms queuing up in the Atlantic. We are by no means out of harms way.

There are thousands who need help from the devastation they experienced from this storm. We should never view a Category II hurricane as anything but a deadly storm. I will spend the next two days in Texas and Louisiana to see the outcome of our preparation and assessing what must be done now. I will periodically provide updates. However, I will be communicating them by Blackberry, so they will, by necessity, be short.

www.HHS.gov/hurricane

Comments

The situation was managed very professional and with responsibility

Posted by: Virgilio Brandford | September 02, 2008 at 12:33 PM

I was in Tyler at the Glass Recreation Center during your news conference. I was there to pick up my 95 year old aunt that had been evacuated by 211 from Beaumont Texas. The treatment my Aunt received there was great, but the evacuation process still needs attention. My Aunt, who suffers from dementia/alzheimer's and asthma, was picked up from a private care facility in Beaumont at 1:15AM, Sunday. She left with her wheel chair, about $400 worth of medications, clothing for a few days and a book that describes her current medical needs. NONE OF THESE ITEMS WERE WITH HER AT THE GLASS REC. CENTER.

We were told that due to her medical needs, she would either be transported by ambulance or air lifted to a medical facility. That was certainly not the case. She was put on a bus that left the Beaumont Civic Center for what should have been no more than a 6 hour trip. She was on the bus for 21 hours. During that time she had no diaper change and was fed one sandwich and given one bottle of water. When they arrived in Tyler, the bus load of Medical Special Needs evacuees were turned away from four different locations. They ended up at the Glass Center that, according to my information, was originally intended for storm casualties.

The bottom line is that we have to do better for those that cannot take care of themselves. I think 211 is a great service, but there is still work to be done. The loss of her wheel chair and the $400 of medications is not as important to me as the loss of the book that would have told the Military Personnel at the Glass Rec. Center about her needs. My Aunt was given medication that was not correct for her condition. Had the book remained with her, I have no doubt that her care would have been correct.

Posted by: David Studdert | September 03, 2008 at 10:14 AM

There is so much going on in the world right now, that we hear so little about how those have suffered because of Gustav are doing. It would be nice to know more so we can know where help is needed.

There is just one world emergency after another, they are becoming common place on the news and most barely even get a mention these days.

Definetly critical times hard to deal with.

Posted by: Gypsy505 | September 25, 2008 at 12:21 PM