Funding Cleared for West Virginia Evacuation Preparation

Funding Cleared for West Virginia Evacuation Preparation

West Virginia's efforts to prepare for a potential mass evacuation of the Eastern Seaboard received a major boost Wednesday, with the release of critical federal planning dollars.

"West Virginia learned the lessons of Katrina. We've got to be prepared for disaster. We know that a terrorist attack could strike the East Coast at any time, sending potentially millions of people toward our state. We need to gear up for future evacuations, and this funding will help us to finalize these important plans," Byrd explained.

"West Virginia has been working hard to create a plan to handle any massive evacuation from the east. We've got to be ready to respond at a moment's notice. This funding will be a major boost to our efforts to be prepared," West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin explained.

The State of West Virginia will receive nearly $13.3 million in federal homeland security funds for this year. Of that total, more than $7.5 million will support efforts to protect citizens in an emergency, including mass evacuation preparations. Another $5.5 million will assist state and local law enforcement agencies to prevent and respond to potential acts of terrorism.

The West Virginia evacuation plans would include "preset" services and provisions that can help to speed people westward from the Washington, D.C., area. Those items would include gasoline, medical supplies, beds, food, water, and other essential items that help to facilitate a more efficient evacuation.

Byrd has worked closely with Governor Manchin and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on the mass evacuation planning. Last fall, the Senator authored a key provision of law that paved the way for the Department of Homeland Security to work with state and local governments to develop multi-state, multi-jurisdictional emergency evacuation plans.

The Byrd provision directs that "plans should include, where appropriate, the pre-positioning of items that will be required during a mass evacuation, such as food, water, medicine and interoperable communications equipment."

"West Virginia is a case-study for rural states across the country. We are nestled between major metropolitan areas, and would face a crush of humanity if a terrorist attack were to strike those urban centers. We hope that such an attack never happens, but we must be ready to respond if it does," Byrd explained.

"Last summer, after the terrible stories of human tragedy from the Gulf Coast, we took a hard look at the state's emergency response plans. Like most rural states, we were way behind where we should have been to handle such an onrush of people. Senator Byrd met with our key emergency response officials in Charleston, and I traveled to the Capitol to meet with him, and together we forged a solid plan to handle such a massive evacuation. If called upon, West Virginia needs to be ready," Manchin said.

http://byrd.senate.gov/newsroom/news_may/evacuation_funds.html