Sanford touts individual readiness
Governor urges residents to have evacuation plans, emergency kits with proper supplies
Gov. Mark Sanford said Charleston County residents need to take personal responsibility for hurricane preparedness.
The Post and Courier
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford listens as Kim Stenson, chief of staff for the South Carolina Emergency Management Division, explains the estimated evacuation time if a major hurricane should head to the South Carolina coast. Sanford and state and local emergency officials held a news conference to remind coastal residents to be prepared should a hurricane hit the state.
"If the individual is not prepared, there's a piece of the puzzle that's missing," Sanford said at a news conference Monday in the Charleston County Emergency Operations Center.
At the start of a hurricane season that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts will be "near-normal," Sanford said he was concerned that coastal residents would become complacent.
"1992 was predicted to be a year of average storms," Sanford said. "That's also the year that Hurricane Andrew hit, and there were $25 billion worth of damage and 65 lives were lost. ... 'Average' can be catastrophic if a storm actually hits your neck of the woods."
Speaking as much about residents' plans as about the state's, Sanford urged individuals and families to be prepared with an evacuation plan and 24-hour hurricane preparedness kit, along with adequate savings to buy gas and inland lodging.
At the county level, Director Cathy Haynes said the Charleston County Emergency Preparedness Division was distributing guides in Spanish and English explaining evacuation routes and shelters. In the event of an evacuation, she said, county school buses would pick people up at all 75 transportation evacuation pickup points, marked by blue signs around the city. Haynes said she is not certain of the buses' combined capacity.
CARTA buses also will be available to pick up the disabled and to transport pets — in carriers, with leashes and shot records — to the North Charleston Coliseum during an evacuation.
The Post and Courier
Evacuation routes
S.C. Highway Patrol Col. Kenny Lancaster stressed the importance of following prescribed routes during evacuations to avoid traffic hang-ups.
"If you want to avoid the rush, leave early," Sanford said.
At the state level, Sanford said there are nine more disaster shelters than last year, bringing the total to 247 with a combined capacity of 156,000.
Sanford said he would use local resources before tapping into state and then federal funds for hurricane response.
"The emergency management model that really has been in place for about 200 years in this country has been that local knows best," Sanford said. "There's been some movement afoot since Katrina to sort of reverse that, which I think would be a disastrous mistake."
Nearly 20 years after Hurricane Hugo crashed the coast, Sanford said Charleston County was still at risk.
"We've been incredibly fortunate in South Carolina for a long number of years now in being spared a direct hit," Sanford said. "The reality is, whether it's this year or next year or some years into the future, we are going to get hit, and it's incredibly important that we all be prepared for that process."
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Comments
Cid95 (anonymous) says...
I don't need the governor to tell me that which is glaringly obvious to any real American - my family and I are primarily responsible for our own safety. We knew it in September 1989 (no evacuation, 3' of seawater in the house on the ground floor) and we know it now.
June 16, 2009 at 1:26 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
realamerican (anonymous) says...
Don't worry about us Sanford you contemptuous self serving jerk.
The people would never expect any help from you anyway. We know how you operate and who you are looking out for. It isn't us!
June 16, 2009 at 3:44 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
moonpie (anonymous) says...
Hey RA that means you will have to take care of yourself. Capable of that welfare bum? This ain't Katrina land!
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I guess Gov Mark has to state the obvious from time to time? After Katrina we don't RA types depending soley on the state for their very lives, oh wait they already do.
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Didn't read anywhere that he would reverse I-26 in a timely manner unlike C. Cambell (hugo) and the honorable 2 lane Hodges (floyd) DON'T WAIT!
June 16, 2009 at 6:47 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
realamerican (anonymous) says...
I'm disappointed in ya moonie.
Are still smarting from the extreme butt whipping you got in the last election?
I know how it tears you up inside to know a superior black man beat the pants off your hero neocon warmongers and is now going to be the leader of the country for the next 7+ years.
You need to get over it moompie, the hate will just eat you alive inside. You should try a little meditation and yoga, take some time off and don't worry about the government. Obama has your back! We're gonna take care of your kind real good! Trust me!
LoL
June 16, 2009 at 7:09 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mb300sl (anonymous) says...
Be nice boys...I'm sure the Obamessiah will send us a check and a few trailers if we have a storm.
June 16, 2009 at 7:21 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
realamerican (anonymous) says...
Posted by mb300sl-
duh...duh..obamaessiah..huh,huh,huh...duh..*drool*
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Did you think that up all by your little lonesome?
Good boy.
June 16, 2009 at 7:59 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Chicago_Thug (anonymous) says...
At least Gov Sanford, is telling folks they have some responsibility to prepare and act.
President Bush declared a state of emergency in selected regions of Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi on Saturday, the 27th, two days before the hurricane made landfall.
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Hurricane Katrina formed over the Bahamas on August 23, 2005, and crossed southern Florida as a moderate Category 1 hurricane, causing some deaths and flooding there before strengthening rapidly in the Gulf of Mexico. The storm weakened before making its second landfall as a Category 3 storm on the morning of Monday, August 29 in southeast Louisiana.
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"On Sunday, August 28, President Bush spoke with Governor Blanco to encourage her to order a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans."
Mayor Ray Nagin & Governor Blanco, are responsible for failing their folks prior to the hurricane. Yes FEMA, was slow with responce, but Katrina was massive. Throw in the fact that there were so many people stranded in NO, because the Mayor and Gov. failed to act soon enough.
Blame Amid the Tragedy
Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin failed their constituents.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?...
June 16, 2009 at 8:45 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
shoelaces (anonymous) says...
**don't feed the trolls (RA) until Friday - ignore them and leave them hanging...by whatever they choose to hang themselves with**
CID95, I agree with you. I don't need the Governor telling me what I already know. However, it is his responsibility as an elected official to inform the public.
How in the world can some of you possibly turn THIS into a partisan issue??? Laughable.
When people choose NOT to leave and they are injured or whatever personal property they didn't take with them is destroyed, then it is THEIR fault. I am still amazed at the mentality of the people in New Orleans. For goodness sake, they lived in a HOLE!!!! Did they not think it would flood????
Personal responsibility, insurance, evacuation if necessary, just be smart. I left during Hugo even though the damage to my parents home was minor. I am still glad I didn't go through what I heard my father went through as he stayed there. I left during Floyd, but not until the morning of, since Governor Hodges who? couldn't get his fat tongue moving fast enough to do something about the traffic. Even though Floyd was minor, I am still glad I left. Would I leave again? Considering I can see the river from my home and I have a child, YES!! A cat. 3 or higher will not find me in my house.
Sanford is just doing his job....not a political issue...lighten up.
June 16, 2009 at 8:50 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
wjhamilton3 (anonymous) says...
We'll get our left wing liberal rear ends out of town too. Our new house is on higher ground. All the trees are on the South Side and we have gas water heating. After our return home, we'll have hot showers after the hurricane and emerge smelling like a pine tree (ask someone who was here for Hugo. We have a week's supplies stacked up. We buy them for the ECCO food bank, keep them for a while and then donate them in and replace them. Non perishable food.
If everything crashes, we have a fireplace we can boil water in and a camp stove. Candles, flashlights and all the other stuff.
However, what about the 10s of thousands of elderly, disabled and poor people in the Lowcountry? Many of their families are thousands of miles away and won't be able to get here to help them. The retired people moved here for low taxes. Their kids stayed up north for higher wages and good schools. The Governor ought to go see his fellow Governor in Florida about that problem.
It's not all bad, Toronto, Montreal, New York, Boston and Philadelphia are all delightful in September. School will be closed. If we can get to family in Atlanta, we'll park the jeep, hop on MARTA to Hartsfield and come back when the power is on. I did my Hurricane Heroics when I was 29. I'll be 49 this season.
We can do our liberal volunteer work on the recovery in the years that follow. I have a broken shoulder now with limited strenghth and motion, so I'll have to leave tearing houses apart looking for people to younger, stronger men this time.
Last time Julia worked for Santee Cooper at Cross Generating station. She headed for work on Monday after the storm, relishing the knowledge that a huge electrical generating plant full of hot water, AC, refrigeration and electric lighting was waiting for her.
When she got there, it was pitch black dark. All the lines were down, so the generator shut down. There was nowhere to send the power. The plant was dark, the water in the showers was cold and nothing worked.
She was also there weeks later when they reconnected to the grid and began making steam to turn that generator again. However, they used electricity from another plant to start up. She was proud of her work.
June 16, 2009 at 10:46 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
shoelaces (anonymous) says...
WJHamilton.....The elderly, poorm and infirm usually have plenty of notice that there is a storm coming. They had notice in New Orleans but chose to stay. There were buses to take people out of NO but they chose to stay. There are shelters locally, not that I would choose to go.
Again, it is up the individual to take responsibility for themselves and their property. I would like to think that if I was in a situation where I had little help, I would act quickly and not sit around crying poor me. But that's just me.
June 16, 2009 at 10:53 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
JustJennings (anonymous) says...
I am glad to see there are provisions for pets in Charleston. Many people were not allowed to carry pets in New Orleans and refused to leave without them. My daughter is a cocker spaniel, and I would never leave her. People would never be expected to leave their human children, but some people have dogs rather than children.
June 16, 2009 at 1:33 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
JustJennings (anonymous) says...
To the North Charleston Coliseum? Reminds me of the Super Bowl!
June 16, 2009 at 2:53 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
JustJennings (anonymous) says...
I bet Sanford has some sinister plans for all Charleston's poor, elderly, and disabled after he gets them to the North Charleston Coliseum. I bet he is already planning on how to spend all the money he will save by having special showers installed. This isn't 1930's Germany, Mark. We won't fall for it!
June 16, 2009 at 3:49 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
lillycollette (anonymous) says...
Sanfraud can be the first to "evacuate" inall it's conotations for all I care. And with whatever meaning he applies to the word -- just keeping on going bubber.
June 16, 2009 at 4:30 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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