Tenn. Responders Discuss Communication Challenges During Disaster Response

May 02--JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- Technology has increased the ways information can be gathered and disseminated during a disaster -- but it also creates new challenges, media professionals and public safety officials said Tuesday.

In the old days, sirens and the Emergency Broadcast System were used to alert people of a pending weather emergency or natural disaster. Now, cell phones, social media and text messages are common forms of communication.

The discussion was held during a meeting of the Mountain Empire Media/Public Safety Council at WJHL Channel 11.

Some Mountain Empire counties are installing reverse 911 systems to alert people of emergencies such as tornado warnings. The system works well for traditional phone lines but not cell phones. A person can relocate and keep the same phone number. A reverse 911 system does not know where a cell phone is located.

Andrew Worley, Elizabethton/Carter County Emergency Management Agency director, said his organization has looked into reverse 911 but has faced challenges.

"It's hard to track all of them [cell phones]," Worley said. "There are so many complications with a cell phone."

For some reserve 911 systems to notify people with cells phones about an emergency, the users must opt into the system.

But the traditional forms of communication don't always work either. Wythe County turned the sirens on during a recent snowstorm. Residents evacuated their homes and went to a local school, which serves as a shelter. But the school system did not know the residents were coming so the building was locked, creating logistical challenges for the county.

Several emergency officials said the mountainous terrain would require millions of dollars and hundreds of sirens to create an effective system.

Emergency responders can also use text alerts and email, but not everyone has access to the technology.

WJHL meteorologist Rob Williams said technology has changed the gathering of weather information and meteorologists have to be careful that they don't announce too many weather alerts. The technology works, but the TV station does not want to get to the point where people ignore important information, he said.

WJHL News Director John Soares said the station went on the air full-time during the potential tornadoes last month because it wanted to alert the public.

"I don't want to scare anyone with weather," he said. "We err on the side of caution."

Sullivan County Health Department Public Information Officer Kristin Harmon said the public must also be aware that the law limits what information can be released. During the E. coli outbreak in Sullivan County last year, the department had to wait for positive confirmation before any information could be released officially, despite the fact that people were already talking about the outbreak on social media.

jshea@bristolnews.com

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