Washington Post (July 3)Washington Post (July 3)
A “freak summer storm that laid waste to much of the mid-Atlantic on Friday night left chaos in its howling wake — and a mess of questions about the region’s capacity to cope with the unexpected.” Emergency 911 phone service was disrupted, as was electricity supply. In certain areas, nearly 10% of customers were expected to still be powerless a week after the storm. “The storm gave rise to massive inconveniences and discomforts across the Washington area. Usefully, it also exposed the region’s absence of reliable fail-safes, spotty preparedness and sluggish response times in the face of emergencies. Now it’s up to leaders to identify and act on those shortcomings.”A “freak summer storm that laid waste to much of the mid-Atlantic on Friday night left chaos in its howling wake — and a mess of questions about the region’s capacity to cope with the unexpected.” Emergency 911 phone service was disrupted, as was electricity supply. In certain areas, nearly 10% of customers were expected to still be powerless a week after the storm. “The storm gave rise to massive inconveniences and discomforts across the Washington area. Usefully, it also exposed the region’s absence of reliable fail-safes, spotty preparedness and sluggish response times in the face of emergencies. Now it’s up to leaders to identify and act on those shortcomings.”
Tags: 9/11, Disaster preparedness, Electricity, Storm, Washington