St. John's chief emergency manager, Alvis Christian, rallied his team this week to remind them that the height of the 2000 Atlantic hurricane season is at hand.
Three weeks after Hurricane Debby's brush with St. John, the team has already mobilized once. Christian, deputy director of the V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency, is now asking Police, Fire, Human Services, Health and Public Works directors to prepare their own buildings in case of weather emergencies.
"We have been asking them to take pictures of their facilities and take inventories of their supplies, to be prepared in the event that a hurricane strikes," he said.
Christian credited regular team meetings for the smooth emergency response during Debby. As part of the assessment of that response, representatives from the Office of Management and Budget came to the monthly meeting Thursday at VITEMA headquarters on Gifft Hill.
After Hurricane Marilyn five years ago, damage to government buildings drove some emergency agencies out of their quarters.
OMB Public Assistance Officer Jo Netta Darden told the group their chances of getting a quick assist for recovery will improve if they can streamline their paperwork.
Next month, Christian said, he may announce a mock disaster drill to keep VITEMA response capability sharp on St. John for the rest of the hurricane season.
