Factors promoting comprehensive local government hazards management

Since the concept of "comprehensive emergency management" (CEM) was first promoted by the National Governor's Association 15 years ago (Whittaker, 1979), local governments have been criticized for not paying as much attention to pre- and post-disaster mitigation and recovery planning as to preparedness and response. The issue of local roles and capacity has increased steadily since the near-simultaneous impacts of Hurricane Hugo and the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, through the Midwest flood of 1993, and the elevated federal interest in serious community-level mitigation. Most information about balanced or "comprehensive" local approaches to hazard management comes from anecdotes about exemplary cases like the successful flodd/stormwater program of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Factors in this study include (1) the influence of prior city experience with disaster impacts, (2) relative resources, (3) leadership support, and (4) state mandates for hazards mitigation in land use planning, among others. But we also have specifically focussed on the role of interaction and cooperation between city land use planning agencies and emergency program managers

Contingencies affecting emergency preparedness for hazardous wastes

Through a case study of emergency preparedness activities at the largest hazardous waste landfill within the United States, which is located in Sumter County, Alabama, this article highlights three features which constrain such preparedness efforts: (1)the specialized nature of hazardous waste; (2)the politicization of the hazardous waste industry; and (3)jurisdictional dilemmas created by the merger of public and private roles in hazardous waste emergency preparedness. The article concludes with a discussion of policy implications for federal, state and local policymakers and implementers.(AU)

Feedback from the field : Organizational preparedness and response to the West Memphis, Arkansas tornado

Most of problematic features of the organizational response to the West Memphis tornado relate directly or indirectly to the fundamental lack of emergency planning in Crittenden County and in West Memphis. Crittenden County has a paper plan -but it is just that and little more. The concept of planning as a continuous and perpetual social and organizational process is absent here. Despite the low death toll, the organizational response to the West Memphis tornado reaffirms the need for a dynamic planning process, complete with periodic updating, simulations, and most importantly, the active participation of all local emergency relevant organizations.(AU)