WASHINGTON  -  U.S. Representative Jo Ann Emerson (MO-08) will join a panel of
congressmen for a field hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure on February 24, 2006 at 9:00 a.m. CST.  U.S. Senator Jim Talent will testify before the committee about the importance of earthquake preparedness all along the New Madrid Fault.

 

Bill Shuster (PA-09) will chair the hearing, scheduled to be held at the University of Missouri – St. Louis J.C. Penney Conference Center’s Summit Room at 1 University Blvd. in St. Louis.  The event is open to credentialed members of the media.

 

“Planning and preparedness are going to save lives in the New Madrid Seismic Zone if and when a major earthquake occurs,” Emerson said.  “We cannot allow a repeat of the failures that took place after Hurricane Katrina on federal, state and local levels.  And unlike a hurricane, an earthquake cannot be forecast and gives no warning.  At the very first moment we know an earthquake is occurring, we must be in response mode.”

 

“A comprehensive earthquake preparedness exercise would help identify those emergency response capabilities we will need in the event of an earthquake along the New Madrid fault,” said U.S. Sen. Jim Talent. “As is the case with military training, planning and preparation exercises help to improve current capabilities, but more importantly, they tell us where we need to focus additional time, effort and resources.”

 

Emerson and Talent have argued in Congress for a full inventory of earthquake response resources and a comprehensive preparedness exercise that would include federal, state and local entities. 

 

“We need a full scale test of our reaction so we can assess where our weakness are,” Emerson said.  “Right now, I am afraid there are a lot of weaknesses in our region – and there is a lot to account for.  Only one bridge between St. Louis and Memphis is built to withstand a magnitude 6.0 earthquake – and it is in Cape Girardeau.  We have a critical crossroads of interstate highway, river, rail and pipeline transportation.  Most of the communications equipment available to first responders is vulnerable to earthquake damage knocking out telephone lines and cell phone towers.  Emergency response vehicles and medical equipment that would save lives immediately after an earthquake are stored in buildings that can’t withstand a major seismic event.  The list
goes on and on...

 

“In addition, an earthquake could strike at any time: in the dead of night, during the World Series, or when the Mississippi River is at flood stage.  We must begin to think about the scale of damage an earthquake might cause, and how different circumstances could make the destruction a lot worse,” Emerson said.

 

In the House of Representatives, Emerson has founded a working group of congressmen from six states in the New Madrid Seismic Zone: Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi.  Staff members have already attended a major briefing by Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Central U.S. Earthquake Consortium officials in Washington.