To the editor:

Douglas County Emergency Management and other agencies will go through some scenarios later this month to see how well they can cope with different disasters. With tornado season just around the corner, these “dry runs” should help our first responders hone their skills.

I have faith in our local emergency personnel, but I admit that faith doesn’t extend past the state level. Should a disaster on the scale of the tornado that struck Greensburg happen here in Lawrence, I doubt that FEMA would be up to the task, and, in some ways, I doubt that most of the population is either. Let me put it this way.

In 1996, Congress authorized the distribution of an additional channel to TV stations so they could start digital broadcasts while continuing analog broadcasts. Congress set June 12, 2009, as the final date that TV stations can broadcast in digital only, moved from Feb. 17. Why did we have to extend the deadline? We’ve known for 13 years that this was coming. We’ve had 13 years to plan for this changeover, taxpayers have shelled out over a billion dollars for the voucher program and yet we’re still not ready.

With that example, it’s easy to see how woefully unprepared we can be should a massive disaster strike. With severe weather season coming, I’d like to suggest that people acquaint themselves with the Douglas County Emergency Management Web site and make a plan for what to do in the event of a disaster. Unlike the whole digital TV fiasco, we won’t have 13 years to prepare for a tornado.

Steve Craven,
Lawrence