ATLANTA - State and federal emergency officials met Thursday to prepare for this year's hurricane season, which is predicted to be extremely active.
The emphasis on preparation before disasters strike is to help improve response from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that was heavily criticized for its relief efforts from Hurricane Katrina two years ago.
"Part of rebuilding FEMA is making sure we have open communication, making sure we talk with the governors," said David Paulison, who replaced Mike Brown as FEMA director after the fallout from the Gulf Coast tragedy. "One of the biggest failures I saw in the aftermath of Katrina was a breakdown in communications. I'm going to make sure that part is fixed."
Paulison met with Gov. Sonny Perdue, Georgia Emergency Management Agency and Georgia homeland security officials to go over disaster plans for the state.
Speaking to reporters after the discussions, Perdue said the current FEMA "is a much different organization" that is in the midst of making preparation plans along with states that could be in the paths of hurricanes this year.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted more than a dozen named storms during this year's hurricane season, which runs between June 1 and Nov. 30, with seven to 10 of those becoming hurricanes.
Perdue said he was concerned because Georgia has avoided the brunt of a major storm in recent years, and people could be complacent about making their own preparations, such as storing three-day supplies of food and supplies and discussing emergency plans with their families.
"That's where public help can be most effective," he said. Perdue also downplayed external issues, from the wildfires in south Georgia to the deployment of Georgia National Guard troops in Iraq, as affecting the state's ability to respond to any new natural disasters that might arise. He pointed out that guardsmen responded to a tornado that swept through Americus in March and flew in water drops over the forest fires.
Kansas' Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius recently criticized the White House for a shortage of National Guard equipment and manpower because of the Iraqi war when a destructive tornado hit her state and leveled the town of Greensburg.
"I don't have the same views as some of the other governors," said Perdue, a Republican.
As the talks were taking place in Atlanta, most of the state's other disaster preparation officials were meeting in Savannah on Thursday for an annual emergency management conference.
"It used to be called the hurricane conference, but they've expanded it out to a lot of things," Pam Tucker, Columbia County's Emergency Services director, said in a telephone interview from Savannah.
From mapping out responses to an avian flu outbreak or terrorism act, local emergency coordinators have a much broader slate of disasters to consider.
Tucker said one area that is steadily improving is known as interoperability, or how well local, state and federal teams -- and even private entities like railroads -- can talk to each other during events because their communications equipment match up.
"There's been a lot of advancement in the last year and getting grant funding need for this," Tucker said. "Those are the kinds of things that can cost lives. I think within another year that we're going to be at the level where everybody can talk to each other."
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