This article is the first in a series on homeland security and disaster preparedness in Jefferson County.
The planes flown into the Twin Towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001, turned the United States into a country on watch for terrorists and the next deadly incident. Since then, in a move that would have been unimaginable  not long ago, the Jefferson County Commission has set up its own office of Homeland Security. Called the Jefferson County Office of Homeland Security/Citizen Corp/CERT (Community Emergency Response Team), its role, according to the office’s project coordinator, Barbara Miller, is to coordinate with federal Homeland Security programs and to focus on pre-disaster management. “That’s anything that can be done before a disaster that can mitigate its effects,” she said.
“Our mission is to build partnerships with government at all levels, as well as with businesses and volunteers,” Miller explained. Officials hope that local coordination could help reduce the economic, environmental, and health- and safety-related impacts of disasters on county residents and to speed the county’s return to pre-disaster conditions.
The idea of Jefferson County being involved in a full-scale response to a major disaster might seem remote to county residents, but to federal disaster planners the county is a priority consideration. It’s part of the “Katrina effect,” a term coined after Hurricanes Rita and Katrina triggered massive out-migration from New Orleans and other Gulf cities and towns. Baton Rouge and Houston were the most publicized cities to accept an influx of people desperately seeking shelter, but scores of towns in the region suddenly saw their populations double. In addition to the overnight population growth, these towns had to quickly go into the disaster relief business, providing shelter and coordination for emergency services.
With railways and highways from Washington, D.C. and Baltimore leading toward the Eastern Panhandle, the prospect of people fleeing an urban disaster for the relative safety west of the Blue Ridge has to be one federal, state, and local planners consider in their calculus of homeland security.
Miller’s office is coordinating the search for a planner to coordinate regional planning for such a “chaotic mass evacuation” from the Washington, D.C., area. The planner will be hired for a one-year contract funded by a U.S. Department of Homeland Security grant and will report to the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, which includes the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security.
The planner will develop  a regional strategy document that will put together the bits and pieces of plans that are already in existence, working with emergency responders, hospitals, and the community,” Miller explained. “An important part is working with the law enforcement agencies on a transportation plan to keep the traffic moving if people from the Washington area do come through Jefferson County to evacuate from a terrorist event.”  For example, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office has a plan, as do other entities, according to Miller. The planner will synthesize these documents into one plan.
Although the major impetus behind homeland security planning was the prospect of terrorist attacks, the emphasis is as much on natural disasters. The idea is to have the county, towns, and a cadre of volunteers deal with fire and life safety, terrorism and crime prevention, disaster medical operations, planning for people with special needs, planning for animals in disaster, disaster mental health, light search and rescue and incident command to help them to protect their families and neighbors.
Miller spends a lot of time working with volunteer groups and instructing them about disaster preparedness. She provides programs such as Disaster Ready Kids, a presentation offered to  organizations that run children’s summer activities; the program teaches children about home and fire safety and storm and disaster preparation.
It’s easy to become alarmed thinking about the consequence of disaster. But by preparing for storms, floods, fires, and other major events, planners in Jefferson County hope to alleviate some of the concern by ensuring the region is as well prepared as possible if called into action.