Report: A disaster waiting to happen

(Compiler's note: I've been in this business long enough to know that this is the truth.)

By Jake Armstrong, The Times-Union

ATLANTA - Despite millions spent on technological upgrades, Georgia's first responders will likely face communication problems in the event of a large-scale disaster, according to a state audit released this week.

Law enforcement, fire departments and other response agencies have found ways to communicate with their neighboring counterparts for daily operations, such as car accidents.

But a major tornado or hurricane could fling into a disaster zone agencies that have not worked together before. A lack of familiarity among those agencies could cause difficulty in communications, especially when state agencies respond and find local agencies have changed their communications technology or procedures, the 46-page Department of Audits and Accounts report said.

While new radios with better technology fill in gaps that previously hampered communication, the state lacks an umbrella of leadership to coordinate improvements to communication, an ongoing effort since the 2001 terrorist attacks, the audit found.

The auditors recommended state leaders create a statewide committee for that job.

Currently, a subcommittee of the state Homeland Security Task Force administers a statewide plan for improving communications among agencies. But auditors say it lacks bylaws to define membership and its responsibilities are not spelled out.

That has left much of the coordination to local jurisdictions, with varying degrees of success, the audit said.

Richmond County appears to have successfully integrated its communications with surrounding agencies at state and federal levels.

Augusta-area responders encountered a chaotic scene when two freight trains collided nearly four years ago in Graniteville, S.C., killing nine people and wounding about 250. The wreck put responders from either side of the border together against a massive chemical spill.

But nearly all the agencies use the same radio frequencies and have been through the same incident-response training program, which prevented snags in communications among the agencies, said Col. Gary Powell of the Richmond County Sheriff's Office.

"We haven't had too much of a problem in Richmond County," Powell said.

The sheriff's office also trains with safety agencies from the Savannah River Site and Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro to prepare for emergencies involving radioactive materials, he said.

The state has distributed $100 million in federal funding for interagency communications since 2002.

In response to the audit, officials for the Georgia State Patrol, which operates a statewide communications network, said they believe the state is ready to respond to a large-scale disaster.