Alert and warning are first and foremost duties of local governments, former Cowley County Emergency Manager Randy Duncan testified in Washington Wednesday.
“…a mere minute can mean the difference between life and death in many alert and warning situations,” Duncan told members of?the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Emergency Communications, Preparedness and Response Committee on Homeland Security.
Duncan, an Arkansas?City native and Southwestern College graduate, is currently Sedgwick County’s emergency manager and vice chair of the Government Affairs Committee of the International Association of Emergency Managers.
“The state of Kansas ranks third in the nation for the frequency of tornadoes on an annual basis. This makes the issue of public alert and warning very important,” he said. “Newspaper reports from the series of tornado events happening in Oklahoma, Missouri and Georgia over the Mother’s Day weekend indicate that in some areas the NWS and local authorities were able to give as much as 13 minutes of advance warning.”
The margin of time greatly contributed to the fact there wasn’t a greater loss of life. The time frame also illustrates the importance and criticality of not adding additional time for local governments to activate alert and warning functions, Duncan told the congressmen.
“Those minutes may literally be the difference between life and death for some,” he said.
Duncan urged Congress to fully support the work of the National Weather Service and recognize that the local weather forecast offices are a vital link in making sure the public has adequate alert and warning regarding severe weather events. NWS is not the only federal partner involved, according to Duncan.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency also has a pivotal role to play in the process since they are the only federal agency that has a mission encompassing “all hazards.”
“I know that as a local government emergency manager, I would have a great deal of discomfort if a federal warning system were implemented without FEMA playing a key role in the system,” Duncan said.
He concluded his presentation by emphasizing that improvement to warning systems consist not only of equipment and technology but training and outreach so people understand how to respond in an appropriate manner to the alert or warning.
Other speakers included FEMA and FCC officials and the director of the New York State Emergency Management.?
