Chertoff: We must be ready

BY OLIVIA WINSLOW
Newsday Staff Writer

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said yesterday at a Hofstra University forum on emergency preparedness that local and state governments were essential partners in preparing for disasters, calling them the "first responders" when a natural disaster strikes.

But in a speech that spanned subjects ranging from disaster preparedness to the government's focus on securing the nation's borders and ports, Chertoff told the audience that the threat can come from anywhere. He reminded them that yesterday was the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, which was the worst terrorist attack on American soil until Sept. 11, 2001.

"It can come from overseas or home-grown. It can come in an airplane. But it can also come from a Ryder truck," Chertoff said in a reference to a rental truck packed with explosives that was detonated outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995, killing 168 people.

Chertoff delivered the keynote address at a forum hosted by Hofstra's Center for Suburban Studies that attracted nearly 400 people, among them law enforcement personnel and other "first-responders."

Chertoff said the federal government has to be prepared for whatever disaster may come, natural or man-made. But he noted that in a natural disaster the first-responder role falls to local and state governments that understand the "unique demands" of their areas.

One of the lessons of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the Gulf Coast last fall, was that the federal government needs to move more quickly when local and state governments become overwhelmed, Chertoff said. He was alluding to criticism that the Federal Emergency Management Agency responded too slowly to the crisis in New Orleans.

State Sen. Michael Balboni (R-East Williston), chairman of the senate's homeland security committee, said in an interview at the forum that Long Island needs more emergency shelters in the event of a Category 3 hurricane striking the South Shore.

Another panel participant, Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said in an interview that it was up to local governments to find shelter locations and ensure coordination among jurisdictions and agencies.

Deputy Nassau County Executive Timothy Driscoll said during the panel discussion that was part of the county's emergency plan, along with improved communications technology and the identification of vulnerable populations.

Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.