Poor State of U.S. Cities' Disaster Planning of 'Significant National Concern'

"The nation's states and major cities remain unprepared for catastrophe nearly five years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, having failed to develop warning systems, evacuation plans or information for the public, according to a comprehensive report issued yesterday by the Department of Homeland Security.

The department called for a 'fundamental modernization' of disaster plans for the first time since the end of the Cold War, citing President Bush's post-Hurricane Katrina declaration that detailed emergency planning must become 'a national security priority.' The report said the plans must be improved so they can be coordinated and tied to federal funding.

'The current status of plans and planning gives grounds for significant national concern,' the 174-page Nationwide Plan Review states. 'The threats and hazards we face are already sufficiently difficult. We should not have to fight our own plans and planning processes to prepare for or to perform our missions.'

The majority of state and local plans are not adequate, according to the report. They fail to set clear chains of command, provide for public warnings, communicate internally in a crisis, or care for people with special needs, such as the poor, disabled, elderly or non-English speaking.

Nationwide, emergency operations plans were found inadequate in three-fourths of the states and 90 percent of urban areas. Mass evacuation plans remain inadequate and 'are an area of profound concern,' the report stated. They are inadequate in nine out of 10 cases."