Hey Sue,

I think there are at least two definitions of "preparedness" that would apply to local governments.

1) Policies and protocols written addressing disaster preparedness.

---- I suspect there is a fair number of municipalities that have "something" on the books that would qualify as a "plan" to make them eligible for some kind of federal or state grant. But it's only on paper.

2) Policies and protocols with actual human mechanisms in place/equipped/rehersed and redundant chains of commands in place and practiced.

---- I doubt anybody really has that done on a municipality level although I'm proud to say Baton Rouge is making some impressive progress toward it.

Katrina gave us a good kick in the gonads and the pain is still clear enough in our memories to make us want to avoid that experience again.

Some businesses (chem plants, hospitals, etc) and smaller entities (school systems, etc) would have that in place to one degree or another.

It pretty much goes back to the neighborhood/family/individual level to be prepared.

After Katrina I was impressed with my wife's church and how they responded to the needs.

It was the small local groups that had any initial effectiveness in dealing with the aftermath.

We evolved in small tribes, we survive in small tribes. No one survives alone for long.