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Oklahoma Senate
Coordination Woes Plaguing Tornado Assistance Efforts,Lawmaker Urges Long-Term Task Force, Hotline
Many victims of Monday's tornadoes aren't receiving all the assistance they're entitled to because of coordination problems at the state level and the disaster scene, according to a lawmaker who represents one of the hardest hit areas in Oklahoma City.
"The state is trying to distribute information through the news media to people who don't even have a home where they can watch TV or receive a newspaper. We need people on the ground, in the disaster area, fanning out and making sure that everyone is getting every bit of help that is available to them," said Senator Dave Herbert.
"The people I've talked to are frustrated because they keep hearing about all the assistance, but they haven't seen anyone at ground zero who can tell them how to get it. We need to do a much better job than we're doing."
The Midwest City legislator is calling on Governor Keating to create special task force and a 1-800 hotline to coordinate efforts on the state level, ensuring that victims in the disaster area have on-site information to steer them in the right direction on assistance questions.
It's important that the task force be commissioned for at least a year, according to Herbert, because recovery will be a long-term process.
"When the TV lights fade and all the national news media move on to their next story, a lot of people are going to wrongly assume that the crisis is over. It's going to take a lot longer than a few weeks or months to recover from something this devastating. We need to be have a task force in place for the long haul to make sure the victims aren't forgotten after all the media coverage is over," said Senator Herbert.
Included in the task force should be such state agencies as the Civil Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Human Services, the Department of Mental Health, the Employment Security Commission, the Health Department, the Insurance Commission, the Oklahoma Housing Authority, the Department of Environmental Quality, the Oklahoma Tax Commission and the Department of Transportation.
"Any state entity that is even remotely involved with the disaster relief efforts should be represented on the task force so that we will be sure that no one falls through the cracks. What we need is a one-stop shop that will be able to point people in the right direction," said Senator Herbert.
According to the lawmaker, relief coordination problems surfaced just one day after the tornado in a damaged area of his Midwest City district. Attempting to reach victims in a neighborhood restricted to the public, Senator Herbert asked the state military department if they could provide a helicopter for the relief effort, but was twice told that there were none in the area. In reality, the helicopters were being used to shuttle Governor Keating from place to place on a media tour.
"We had people who needed help, but all our equipment was tied up in what was essentially a joy ride for some elected officials. There's no excuse for putting the lives of victims on hold just so someone's public relations efforts can stay on schedule," said Senator Herbert.
"If that's any indication of how our resources are going to be coordinated in the weeks and months to come, we're in big trouble. That's why it's critical that we get a long-term task force in place as quickly as possible."
