City Hall may donate old computers to a ravaged city
CITY HALL — Elected officials recently made public citywide efforts to assist Hurricane Katrina victims, earning community members praise for their outpouring of relief.
The Santa City Council this week heard an official report from emergency service personnel regarding the situation in the South, and what local government and non-profit steps have been taken in recovery effort.
The discussion, brought forth by City Councilmen Bob Holbrook and Richard Bloom, included brief presentations by John Pacheco representing the Santa Monica chapter of the Red Cross, as well as Paul Weinberg, city emergency services coordina-tor, and Santa Monica Fire Chief Jim Hone.
“The chaos that occurred as a result of this disaster is unimaginable,” Bloom said. “It’s important we learn lessons on what we can do to improve our own systems.”
Chief Hone said 90,000 square miles were devastated by Katrina, in which 40,000 people were initially rescued.
A total of 240,000 people are estimated to have been evacuated from the impacted areas, which is said will cost $125 billion to re-build, with 12 million cubic yards of debris that needs to be removed.
Pacheco indicated that as of Tuesday, the local Red Cross earned $537,000 for hurricane victims. More than 700 shelters have been set up nationwide, housing 200,000 people. The local Red Cross has deployed 65 volunteers to the disaster areas, with 160 almost completing training and a total of 1,000 expected to be assisting relief efforts by November.
A “fast track” system has been established to make it easier for volunteers to receive basic disaster relief training so they can be in the field quickly to provide aid to hurricane victims. Those wishing to volunteer must attend four classes to qualify, and all sessions are held at the Santa Monica chapter of the Red Cross.
Nearly 500 Hurricane Katrina disaster relief containers have been filled by donations from Santa Monica residents, and people are still streaming in the door with donations and mailing in checks, according to local Red Cross representatives.
In the meantime, 77 families self-evacuated and arrived in Santa Monica last week. Eight of the families are being housed temporarily in motels. So far, the Red Cross has spent more than $21,000 to cover their stay, while a total of $100,000 is expected to be needed, until the Red Cross can help them find other accommodations, Pacheco reported.
City Manager Susan McCarthy asked a national municipal association to start a program in which cities establish a partnership between those which have been affected. Santa Monica is expected to begin such a cooperative effort with a southern city in the near future, said McCarthy, providing advice on how to restore and improve infrastructure.
City Hall also may receive updated programming from Microsoft and donate hundreds of old computers to its partnered city, McCarthy said.
Weinberg said Los Angeles County is one of the best prepared regions for a serious disaster, with mechanisms in place for nearly 100 municipalities to coordinate and assist each other should calamity strike. Nonetheless, he noted the importance that residents visit the city’s Web site to see what they can do to prepare for a disaster — www.santa-monica.org.
“The scary thing is something similar could happen here,” Holbrook said. “City Hall could be without communication, no one could take care of each other, and everyone would have to take care of themselves.”
“The scary thing is something similar could happen here. City Hall could be without communication, no one could take care of each other, and everyone would have to take care of themselves.” — BOB HOLBROOK City Councilman
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 17, 2005. Read the original PDF.