Pandemic complicates disaster response tactics - Entrepreneur Generations

After a rash of tornadoes killed dozens in the South this week, "officials from Texas to South Carolina were left to grapple with an urgent question: How do we respond to natural disasters during a pandemic without exposing even more people to a deadly virus?" Tara Law reports for Time.

After the storms, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves acknowledged the conundrum, Law reports: "The fact that the coronavirus exists is complicating the recovery from the tornado, while the tornadoes are complicating our efforts to make sure that we do everything in our power to stop the spread of the virus."

Many emergency management services were already under-supplied before the pandemic; finding enough supplies now to respond to natural disasters could be difficult, said Samantha Montano, an assistant professor of emergency management and disaster science at the University of Nebraska, Omaha. Another problem, she told Law, is that disaster response efforts often require people to violate social distancing protocols, which can further spread the virus that causes covid-19.

Covid-19 is affecting other disaster response, too. Federal and state officials are trying to figure out how to fight wildfires during the pandemic. "With the 2020 fire season poised to be severe, numerous questions remain unanswered about how large crews of firefighters will move around the country when some states require quarantines, and how firefighters will be housed when fighting large blazes.," Bobby Magill reports for Bloomberg Law.

Firefighters are often housed in camps with more than 1,000 people when fighting large wildfires, but officials aren't sure how to test or quarantine units if a firefighter falls ill with covid-19. However, it's clear that traditional firefighting strategies will need to be adapted. "Plans for how federal and state agencies will fight fires amid the pandemic are scheduled to be finalized by the end of April, according to an April 9 National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group memo," Magill reports. "The group coordinates wildfire fighting strategy among Interior Department agencies, the U.S. Forest Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and members of the National Association of State Foresters.

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/3by2i33 Pandemic complicates disaster response tactics - Entrepreneur Generations

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