Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Norwalk: Emergency Theater vs. Emergency Preparedeness

Last weeks storm brought down over a hundred trees and left many without power in addition to the flooding, so it was with some surprise that this morning's newspaper The Hour(subscription) revealed a tempest in a teapot stirred into action by The League of Women Voters and two common council members; Phyllis Bolden and Kevin Poruban. Diane Lauricella, President of the Norwalk Chapter of the League of Women Voters:
On Saturday, standing with two members of the Common Council's Public Health, Welfare & Emergency Management Committee, Lauricella called for the creation of an Emergency Response and Public Outreach Task Force, saying the city is unprepared for events like Hurricane Katrina or the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Apparently Mr. Poruban felt that this announcement needed more than just his cell phone participation.
Lauricella, with Councilmen Phyllis Bolden and Kevin Poruban, called for the training of residents to act as responders in the case of an emergency. Westport and Wilton have enacted such programs, called Community Emergency Response Teams.
It's much more dramatic to be calling for programs that deal with unprecedented emergencies than focusing on the real emergencies faced by Norwalkers due to sewer system inadequacies, unpruned and rotting trees and garbage in storm drains.

The Norwalk Hour, Moccia defends city's preparedness efforts by PATRICK R. LINSEY, 09/12/06

5 comments:

GMR said...

Why aren't power lines buried? Wouldn't that reduce most of the power outage problems? I grew up in Virginia, and there were no visible power lines in my neighborhood. It looks a lot nicer too.

Genghis Conn said...

GMR,

I work in Springfield, where power lines are buried.

Except, this being Springfield, they did it in the most obnoxious way possible. Power lines are right under the roads in some cases, as are major fiber-obtic cables. So whenever they need to work on the lines, they tear up the roads. State St., which is one of the main drags, has lines right down the middle of it. It can get annoying.

Also, it apparently cost an awful lot of money to bury the lines.

Anonymous said...

bluecoat - although I did not read the article, I am surprised that it called upon Sullivan to step down from the Supreme Court when, in fact, he already has done so. Sullivan is no longer on the State Supreme Court.

And, yes, he should apologize for doing something very stupid (although I don't think any real harm was done).

ctblogger said...

Trufgrrl,

In full disclosure, do you hold any political position in Norwalk? If so, is it appropriate to comment on any matters concerning Norwalk and memebrs of the Common Council with notifying the readers about your position?

ctblogger said...

with notifying the readers about your position?

Excuse me, I meant to say "without"

Also, I meant to extend this to position you held in Norwalk in the past as well.