Attendees of the Community Forum on Emergency Preparedness on March 21 were unprepared for the onslaught of information and material offered to them. Out in the lobby of Burley Middle School, city staff stood by tables covered in handouts that said things like “What is the Pandemic Flu? When will it happen here?” There was also some swag, from free Kleenex to notepads and a nifty little ruler that also contained a Stressometer.
Inside the auditorium, a motley crew of city and county officials milled about on stage. “There’s too many politicians in there shaking hands,” someone in the lobby remarked, not altogether incorrectly. On stage, Ken Boyd, chairman of the County Board of Supervisors, kicked things off as the default emcee for the night. After all, the forum was his idea, one he got from a discussion with a friend six months ago.
“He asked me what the community would do if we were to have a disaster like Katrina,” said Boyd. “…Or God forbid something should happen in Washington, D.C., like a nuclear weapon or maybe a suitcase bomb.”
 Local officials have Katrina-sized disaster on their minds and aired their concerns at a recent public meeting. |
Boyd was joined by several city and county staff that included multiple fire chiefs and police captains, the area’s Emergency Management Coordinator Marge Thomas, and two reps from area TV stations. They each got a turn at the microphone but collectively communicated a mix of fear and reassurance. Cautions (“A new virus will emerge that we won’t have a cure for”) were balanced by exhortations (“The healthier you are now the better to fight the flu”).
By the end of the hour-long presentation, area residents were not necessarily better equipped for disaster—but they could be confident their local government officials are dreaming up their possible demise. Officials asked for residents to assist in preventing disaster.
“We cannot do this alone,” Thomas told attendees, echoing her fellow panelists. “We need your help.”
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