Utah not disaster-ready, feds say

WASHINGTON — Utah is only partially prepared to respond to a catastrophic event such as an earthquake along the Wasatch Front, a federal security analysis concluded Friday.

"An earthquake along the Wasatch Front would be our Hurricane Katrina in magnitude and impact," said Derek Jensen, spokesman for the Utah division of emergency services and homeland security.

A peer review of the state's disaster preparedness plans shows the state can improve its evacuation readiness and communications. But Utah didn't receive a failing score in any of the nine categories the report addressed. That's in stark contrast to the state's self assessment, which said it had no confidence in its plans to adequately manage a catastrophe.

Jensen said the lower self-assessment ranking is because the state didn't have enough information when it was filling out its survey.

"We didn't have a chance to get a lot of clarification on things," he said. "I think the assessment shows we don't have any insufficient areas and, as we move ahead, we're excited for the improvements we'll be making to our plans."

Ten states were rated in a Homeland Security Department scorecard as having sufficient plans to respond to disasters: Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Vermont.

New Orleans is still woefully unprepared for catastrophes 10 months after Hurricane Katrina, and the two cities targeted by the 9/11 attacks don't meet all guidelines for responding to major disasters, according to the analysis.

Florida, accustomed to being whipped with hurricane winds, was the only state to meet all of the department's basic requirements for planning for catastrophes. Response plans for Louisiana, still devastated from hurricanes Katrina and Rita, were deemed insufficient to manage huge emergencies.

The shortcomings in emergency planning, including antiquated and uncoordinated response guidelines, are cause "for significant national concern," Homeland Security's analysis concluded.

President Bush ordered the review of state and city emergency plans in a visit to New Orleans last Sept. 15, weeks after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city. The report analyzes response and evacuation procedures for all 50 states, the nation's 75 largest cities and six U.S. territories.