Randy Kemp: Great planning, great followup
Published: Thursday, May 8, 2008 9:14 AM CDT
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A malevolent cyclone swooped in over Pryor Mountain Friday, killing, stealing, and changing lives forever as it cut its lethal 45-mile path through Greers Ferry and nearby communities.
A bright spot - (don’t we have to try and identify such, in the aftermath of destruction, in order to give us some sense that it all had some meaning?) - was this: In midst of chaos, confusion, and terror, a symphony of coordination and cooperation shone forth.
Let’s just say that the community leaders charged with watching over the rest of us vulnerable mortals had done their homework. We expect someone to have a plan and know how to implement it, but it ain’t always so. In this case, city and county officials meshed together beautifully to be ready, then to mitigate the confusion and loss in the minutes after the tornado swept through.
When the TV weather people (hats off to you as well!) and National Weather Service were reporting the turbulent conditions, the Greers Ferry police, fire, mayor and city employees, as well as county Office of Emergency Services, sheriff, state troopers and others were getting themselves in place, putting into action a plan they had already talked and thought through, “just in case.” City hall was immediately set up as a command center a full 15 minutes before the twister hit.
They didn’t even wait for trouble - in the minutes they had before the twister tore down Pryor Mountain and across the lake just south of Lacey’s Marina, police and others went to the school to make sure the students were in safety lockdown, and went to as many businesses as possible to warn them of the imminent danger.
They not only had an immediate plan, but they had been fighting for and adding tornado warning sirens the past couple of years. The newest one was put up days ago at Station 2 on Foxchase, and is credited with saving lives. (others are in place at city hall, the ballpark, and Todd Davis Road; the city wants another at Station 3 at Mill Creek, and perhaps one in the Shiloh area - that would give siren coverage to the entire fire district).
With the command center in place, Mayor Shelly Davis, Police Chief Ray Dearmon and Fire Chief Jerry Lee and their various employees and peers at the county level were as ready as a community can be to deal with the destruction that an EF3 tornado brings.
Immediately, as soon as it was here and gone, they were dispatching teams to various neighborhoods to assess damage and check on residents. In Woodlawn, along Burning Tree Road, and other areas they went two by two with marking paint. They had to walk in, because hundreds of trees - virtually every one - were snapped off or blown over, and power lines were all on the ground as well.
As they went house to house, they marked each piece of property so that their efforts would not be duplicated by another team. Many of the houses on Burning Tree are weekend homes and, thankfully, were unoccupied. Each house was checked, and in a few cases, teams helped people out of their rubble, though there were no serious injuries.
The next step was also one they had discussed, and it worked beautifully: Implement a sign-in sheet and get a dashboard pass in order to freely come and go in the hardest-hit areas, in order to keep rubber-neckers from impeding the backhoes, First Electric linemen, Community Water employees, city and county chainsaw crews etc. that went into action literally within minutes. (We hear that even the county judge and ED director grabbed chainsaws and showed up soon after the damage). The system also kept out those who might be tempted to try and carry off something from a damaged home that did not belong to them. National Guard officers were in place before evening to help as well.
We could go on with more details about their preparedness, but space does not permit. And we haven’t even gotten to bragging on all the individuals and businesses who have volunteered, cooked, donated, etc. Their noble stories could fill another page. But once life starts to get some order in it again, give the appropriate city, county and state folks a call or drop ‘em a card and just tell them thanks... thanks for planning, thanks for cooperating, thanks for being on the ball...
(Randy Kemp is managing editor; his column appears each Wednesday in The Sun-Times)
