Utahns on their own in wake of disaster?

It's a disaster waiting to happen.

No, it's not the big one, the monster earthquake destined to hit the Wasatch Front. It's what happens in the hours and days just afterward, when even the best-laid plans of government, business and others are laid waste — at least initially — if a big enough cataclysm hits.

A recent legislative committee meeting gave some indication of what might be in store. While representatives of business and industry spoke of ways they are working to improve disaster preparedness, one bottom-line conclusion was that the typical Utahn will be on her own, to one degree or another, in the immediate wake of a natural disaster.

A scenario cobbled from testimony at the recent meeting of the Business and Labor Interim Committee paints a sobering picture of the aftermath of a huge earthquake hitting the "spaghetti bowl" of I-80 and I-215:

• Utahns being trapped, or worse, in the rubble that once was a sea of unreinforced masonry buildings along the Wasatch Front.

• Ground shifts shearing utility lines, leaving people without natural gas, water and electricity — a condition exacerbated if the tragedy hits during winter.

• Utahns seeking supplies at grocery stores, only to find quickly depleted shelves and credit card transactions paralyzed because of telecommunication troubles.

• Potential devastating long-term effects on the Utah economy and various levels of government's dependence on it to provide needed revenues for services.

"When it comes to you and me as a business owner, if we're operating our business and something occurs, the sad and simple truth is we're pretty much on our own if it's a catastrophic event," said Renee Murphy, program director for private sector and critical infrastructure for the Division of Homeland Security in the Utah Department of Public Safety's Office of Emergency Services.

"Certainly we as public officials have the responsibility to care for and shepherd the state of Utah and all the people who reside here," said Rep. Craig Frank, R-Pleasant Grove. "But the primary response in all this is the individual — not just the individual in the family, but this takes on a whole flavor if the communication lines are down and we don't have access to the basic needs that we've discussed here today.