Free Republic

Emergency Management chief Herman Andaya defended his decision not to set off warning sirens as the deadly wildfire barreled toward Lahaina Andaya said Wednesday Hawaiians are trained to seek higher ground when they hear those sirens, which are usually used for tsunami warnings In the wake of the fire that killed at least 110 people, some are questioning Andaya's fitness for his positionThe man in charge of Maui's Emergency Management Agency said Wednesday he does not regret not activating warning sirens as the fatal wildfire swept across the island.Chief Herman Andaya said he opted to send out alerts via mobile...

Emergency officials will soon be able to blast critical alerts to anyone with a cell phone in a certain section of the city. If Times Square needs to be evacuated because of a bomb threat or if a hurricane is bearing down on Queens, warnings will be bounced from cell towers. "Making sure that [people] get useful and life-saving information, quickly and easily, right on their mobile phones, will help more people get out of harm's way when a threat exists," said Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator W. Craig Fugate. The system - called PLAN or Personal Localized Alerting Network...

National Level Exercise 2009 (NLE 09) is scheduled for July 27 through July 31, 2009. NLE 09 will be the first major exercise conducted by the United States government that will focus exclusively on terrorism prevention and protection, as opposed to incident response and recovery. NLE 09 is designated as a Tier I National Level Exercise. Tier I exercises (formerly known as the Top Officials exercise series or TOPOFF) are conducted annually in accordance with the National Exercise Program (NEP), which serves as the nation's overarching exercise program for planning, organizing, conducting and evaluating national level exercises. The NEP was...

TAMPA Hillsborough County officials exerted their authority Tuesday, declaring they would be in charge if a hurricane or other disaster strikes. The message appeared to be aimed at Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio. "We are the entity that's in charge. We will exercise that duty," Hillsborough County Administrator Pat Bean said during a news conference at the county's Emergency Management Center on E. Hanna Avenue. Her remarks came a day after she canceled, for the second time in less than a week, a meeting with Iorio to discuss hurricane preparedness. Bean left open the possibility of a one-on-one meeting with Iorio...

<p>D.C.: Did not return calls seeking information.</p> <p>Maine: No separate budget; two full-time employees. Activities are supported by various state agencies. Pending legislation would create plans for medical quarantine during biological attacks. State criminal code now includes terrorist-related offenses. Contact: Maj. Gen. Joseph Tinkham II, (207) 626-4440.</p>