City Leaders Working to Make Lowcountry Ready for Disaster

Tuesday April 28, 2009
Channel 4 News, Charleston, South Carolina

City Leaders Working to Make Lowcountry Ready for Disaster

Charleston, SC - The earthquake of 1886, Hurricane Hugo, and most recently the wildfires in Horry County have city officials working together to find new ways to handle natural

disasters.

"That's why we are here, trying to learn from each other, so that we can advance ourselves to be more ready and responsive to our citizenry and let them know they are in good

hands," said North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey .

Mayor Summey, Mayor Joe Riley and other leaders put their heads together to make sure people in South Carolina are protected if disaster strikes.

"The greatest thing that I have learned is that it takes cooperation," said Summey.

Local fire departments put the idea of cooperation into practice, helping to contain the massive wildfire near Myrtle Beach. With hurricane season a month away, the focus shifts

from land to sea.

"Our goal each year is to prepare for hurricane season and say that we were well prepared last year and are even more prepared this year," said Mayor Riley.

The sharing of ideas has not only been beneficial for community leaders in the Lowcountry, but also officials along the Gulf Coast joined in the resiliency initiative.

Gulfport, Mississippi, a coastal city hit hard by Hurricane Katrina, is now better equipped to for the next major disaster.

"When you have 20,000 or 30,000 people actually come in to help, you need somebody to manage those volunteers and one of the things that we have done is put a volunteer

management system in place," said Dr. John Kelly, Chief Administrator of Gulfport.

The conference was organized by the Community and Regional Resilience Institute.

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