May 21, 2013

In Oklahoma, a Long Response and Recovery Process Begins

By Rob Margetta, CQ Staff

With at least 51 dead and more injured in the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, the state has mobilized the National Guard and federal agencies are preparing to support rescue efforts as authorities on the scene search for victims of the tornado that ravaged the area Monday.

President Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano spoke with Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, a Republican, and administration officials say they are monitoring the situation and will have federal resources available to support state and local efforts.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone impacted by the tornadoes and severe weather in Oklahoma, especially the families and loved ones of those killed, injured or missing,” Napolitano said.

Forecasters had issued severe weather warnings in Oklahoma over the weekend, and FEMA had a liaison officer deployed to the state’s emergency operations center on Sunday night. After the tornado struck, the state government mobilized 204 non-federal Oklahoma National Guard personnel to active duty status in order to provide search and rescue and perimeter security assistance for local efforts.
FEMA deployed an Incident Management Assistance Team to the state, as well as Urban Search and Rescue Teams and a Mobile Emergency Response Support Team. The agency also activated a National Response Coordination Center in Washington and, along with the Small Business Administration, deployed preliminary damage assessments teams.

State and local officials reportedly spent Monday performing rescue and response operations. That sort of triage work — including accounting for as much of the resident population as possible to come up with a list of the missing and securing gas lines and other potentially damaged infrastructure — is likely to continue through Tuesday at least. While the intensity of the storm, with a base more than a mile wide and winds of up to 200 miles per hour, was extreme, Oklahoma is well-versed in tornado response, experts say.

“Unfortunately, for folks who live in a place as frequently victimized as Tornado Alley, this is a habit they’ve had to develop. They have life-saving and emergency equipment ready,” said Rich Cooper, who served at DHS during the Bush administration and is now a principal at the consulting group Catalyst Partners.

The fact that Oklahoma was able to produce preliminary casualty lists so early speaks to its level of readiness, said Bradley Schreiber, vice president of Washington operations at the Applied Science Foundation for Homeland Security.

“That goes to the amount of effort that the state and the surrounding jurisdictions have done preparing for tornadoes,” he said, adding at another point that “They have constantly planned, trained and exercised for this type of event. Oklahoma is very experienced dealing with tornadoes ... they know what to do.”

As response efforts proceed, a critical function will be quickly assessing what sorts of resources are needed in the affected areas, so that federal agencies and other providers are able to send in the right kinds of resources.

“The federal role in this or any natural disaster is to backstop the state and local authorities,” Schrieber said.

Rob Margetta can be reached at rmargetta@cq.com