As we watched the devastation unfold after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, many of us were shocked at the apparent lack of preparedness and lack of communication between local and state authorities. In the aftermath of Katrina, we have been left wondering, "Is Milwaukee prepared for a disaster of a similar magnitude?"

The situation in New Orleans prompted Governor Jim Doyle to call for a review of the state's emergency preparedness plans. Major General Albert H. Wilkening, Wisconsin's Homeland Security Advisor, completed the report, which was accepted by the Governor on Oct. 7.

The report provides an assessment of Wisconsin's evacuation and emergency management plans, with recommendations for improvements to the plans based on "lessons learned" from Katrina.

Currently, all 72 county emergency management offices and the state of Wisconsin have evacuation and shelter plans. In order to receive federal emergency management grants, county emergency management offices are required to update their plans annually.

An overview of Wisconsin Emergency Management is included in the report. Wilkening describes Wisconsin Emergency Management (WEM) as, "the central point of coordination within the state for response and recovery to disasters and emergencies. The primary focus of the agency when not in a response or recovery mode is to ensure that the state and locals are prepared to respond to an emergency or disaster through planning, training and exercising; as well as to lead mitigation efforts against the effects of future disasters."

"We work closely with the counties, assisting them in updating their plans and conducting exercises," said Lori Getter, spokesperson for Wisconsin Emergency Management.

WEM's focus has changed in the past 50 years. In the post-Cold War era, WEM's efforts addressed such threats as natural disasters, hazardous materials and chemical spills. After the Oklahoma city bombing in 1995 and the terrorist attacks on September 11, WEM's work shifted to terrorism preparedness. Natural disasters have come to the forefront again in the wake of the recent hurricanes. In line with Homeland Security, WEM takes an "all-hazards" approach, meaning it prepares for any disaster, whether natural or man-made.

While we do not have to worry about hurricanes in Wisconsin, we are faced with the threat of other disasters.

"Our major threats are tornadoes, flooding, and chemical spills," says Getter.

Milwaukee is better equipped than a small city to handle such disasters.

"The tornadoes in Stoughton devastated that area," said Steve Fronk, an attorney who works for the Fire and Police Commission and the point person for the Urban Area Security Initiative for Mayor Barrett's office. "This would never happen in Milwaukee. Being a larger city, it has the resources and response capabilities to handle such a disaster."

The most significant finding in the report pertains to mass evacuation of the largest cities in Wisconsin. WEM assessed the evacuation and shelter plans of the counties containing the 12 most populated cities in Wisconsin. These cities are Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Kenosha, Racine, Appleton, Oshkosh, Eau Claire, Janesville, and La Crosse. WEM concluded that all the plans could accommodate small to medium evacuation and shelter efforts, but they would not be able to support a large scale evacuation.

The Governor has directed WEM to work with the counties to correct the deficiencies in their evacuation plans. WEM will issue benchmarks and performance standards to assist them in the process. Exercises will be conducted in the future to simulate the need for a large scale evacuation.

Wilkening identified additional areas in need of attention including transportation, special needs populations, regional planning and exercises, volunteer management, deployment of National Guard forces, and coordination of local, state, and federal responses. This last area was perhaps the most troubling issue to come to light in the aftermath of Katrina.

A diagram showing the State/Federal Response to a disaster has been included in the annex of the report. The diagram details the "chain of command" -- from the role of local responders to FEMA's involvement. Generally, law enforcement or fire departments are responsible for evacuation. Milwaukee County's evacuation and shelter plan states that at the local level, the sheriff of the affected county has the authority to call for an evacuation. Within jurisdictional limits, the mayor has statutory authority to order an evacuation. Finally, in rare circumstances involving smaller areas, a fire chief has the authority to evacuate residents.

Emergency management officials in Milwaukee County have begun to focus on two areas of its evacuation and shelter plans: transportation and special needs populations.

"In terms of transportation, we are working on securing the buses and bus drivers that would be needed for a mass evacuation," says Carl Stenbol, Milwaukee County Office of the Sheriff Emergency Manangement Administrator. Stenbol coordinates resources and service during a disaster. On a regular basis, he plans and conducts exercise drills for first responders.

A regional mass evacuation planning group comprised of emergency management directors from Kenosha, Walworth, Racine, Waukesha, Milwaukee, Washington, Ozaukee and Jefferson counties was recently established.

"The group is looking at ways to share and deploy resources during a disaster," says Stenbol. "State patrol and the state health department are also working with the group."

County fire chiefs are in the process of identifying the special needs population in their respective communities. They are determining which nursing homes would need assistance. By law, nursing homes in Wisconsin are required to maintain resident safety and disaster plans which must be kept at the facility.

"The fire chiefs are looking at local housing authorities to see who needs help,"said Stenbol. "This would include many senior citizens. The chiefs need to identify people who simply don't have the means to get out of town on their own."

The County's emergency management personnel are also working on improving current shelter plans. Several local schools, churches, and parks are under agreement with the Greater Milwaukee Chapter of the American Red Cross to operate as shelter sites. The combined capacity of the sites is 23,471. Recently, another site has been identified, which would be able to house an additional 10,000 people. In addition, back-up electrical power has been added to many of the sites; approximately 60 percent of the sites now have back-up generators.

Could what happened in New Orleans happen in Milwaukee?

Certainly, emergency management officials at the local and state levels are taking steps to avoid the mistakes made in response to Katrina.

Getter stresses the importance of communication among officials and the coordination of local, state, and federal efforts.

"We're working together," said Getter. "What we don't want to have happen is that we are exchanging business cards at the site of a disaster."