Katrina frames quake review

Let's learn, let's be ready, Bredesen says

By Richard Locker for the Commercial Appeal
September 12, 2005

NASHVILLE -- Hurricane Katrina has prompted Gov. Phil Bredesen and others to review Tennessee's planning for a potential earthquake that leaves Memphis and much of West Tennessee in ruins.

"I will tell you that having watched this, it has raised in my mind a hundred questions about what happens if the New Madrid Fault slips and we have 50,000 people homeless," Bredesen said during a Cabinet meeting Sept. 2 to plan Tennessee's aid for Katrina evacuees.

Late last week, he expressed strong confidence in the state's disaster-response system but said he still plans a review.

"We'd be foolish not to step back and take a look at what happened in Louisiana and say what can we learn from this. Things that we need to be looking at that may not have been so obvious two weeks ago might become obvious now," he said.

State Sen. Mark Norris, R-Collierville, also plans hearings by the Transportation and Safety Committee he chairs "to discuss Tennessee's emergency preparedness and incident response capabilities," possibly before the legislature convenes in January.

Norris's district includes East Shelby, Tipton, Lauderdale and Dyer counties, all expected to be hard hit if, or when, a big New Madrid earthquake strikes. In a letter to Bredesen Tuesday, Norris asked for a larger role for legislators in emergency response and planning.

"Earlier this year, new studies were released regarding the increased likelihood of a serious earthquake in West Tennessee," Norris wrote. "We have a narrowing window of opportunity to formulate appropriate strategies and take the steps necessary to avoid some of the problems manifest in Louisiana."

As a direct hurricane hit and breached levees have long been New Orleans's doomsday nightmare, the scenario of Tennessee's largest city and environs laid waste by a major earthquake has been high on the state's disaster-planning priorities.

New Orleans's nightmare proved real, increasing the urgency for Tennessee to bolster its plans for supplying and stabilizing its western end in case highways are blocked by collapsed bridges and overpasses, airport runways are broken and communications networks are down.

And it must plan for dealing with people hurt or stranded. Unlike a hurricane tracked for days by weather satellites, there will be little or no warning of a devastating earthquake.

Bredesen said it's not the structure of the state's disaster response network that concerns him. He said he has confidence in the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, the Office of Homeland Security, the Tennessee National Guard and other agencies.

"We've taken part in simulations and we took a long look and got very good marks from the federal government on provisions that we made. I want people in the state to feel that actually I think we have a very good emergency response capability."

Instead, the governor said he wants to ensure the proper planning, preparedness and operational relationships are in place.

For example, he said, when he first learned Tennessee would receive Gulf Coast evacuees but didn't know whether it would be 10,000 or 100,000, he asked planners about the capability of erecting "tent cities" complete with sleeping quarters, latrines and mess tents. "The answer is, we didn't particularly have that ability; it's not something anybody had foreseen."

But he said that with the potential for an earthquake in West Tennessee leaving fixed shelters in ruins, he asked planners to examine adding mobile shelters.

"It's a particularly acute issue for me," Bredesen said, "because while I think many states don't have the problems associated with a major disaster like Katrina was, Tennessee does in the New Madrid Fault. I think we need to pay particular attention to the possibilities of what I hope won't happen for 150 years but which could happen tomorrow -- and I want to make sure we learn everything we possibly can from Katrina to address that issue."