TRUMBULL COUNTY In case of an emergency, be prepared; the EMA is not

County commissioners temporarily placed the EMA offices inside the second floor of the county 911 center.
By STEPHEN SIFF
and PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
HOWLAND -- Trumbull County officials trained to coordinate disaster response are not sure exactly what they would have done if the tornadoes that devastated several Mercer County towns last week had touched down here.
Trumbull County has plenty of police and firefighters and an active Red Cross and Salvation Army. What it lacks, as it has for the past six months, is a place where their leaders can get together and figure out what needs to be done.
Since the discovery of toxic mold evicted the county Emergency Management Agency from the health department building's basement in May, the county has been without an emergency command center -- a place with telephone lines, radio equipment, flip charts and maps that would permit officials to coordinate a multiagency response to disaster.
"I'm concerned there would have been a breakdown," said Cheryl Oblinger, head of the Trumbull County Red Cross and a member of the EMA's executive board.
Delays are certain
"How can the various people coordinate efforts and come together quickly if there is no central spot to do it?" she asked. "It is going to result in delays, and it could result in there being needs that we are not aware of until it is too late."
County commissioners temporarily placed the EMA offices on the second floor of the county 911 center, the former Hillside Hospital tuberculosis ward, after the three-member EMA department had to leave the health department's Chestnut Avenue building.
Radio equipment, which would allow top officials to communicate with officers in the field and the state Emergency Management Agency, have been packed for storage in old hospital rooms.
Weekly test broadcasts to Ohio EMA have been suspended, as have regular test exercises by local amateur radio operators. All the flip charts and files are also stuck in storage.
The offices in the 911 building are cluttered with files and supplies for 911, and a table in the small meeting room is laden with practice 911 computers.
In case of an emergency, EMA has permission to use a second-floor room at the Howland Fire Department, but officials have never practiced in the room, which the fire department regularly uses as a classroom.
They don't know if this ad-hoc command center has sufficient telephone lines for communication with the field, or what supplies would be available.
"It is totally inadequate at this time," said Ernie Cook, the sheriff's chief of operations and a member of the EMA executive board.
The room offered by Howland is also on the second floor -- a problem when the emergency is a tornado.
Moving equipment and files
To mobilize in case of a disaster, the three EMA employees would have to load files and equipment into cars and drive them to Howland. The county car driven by EMA director Linda Beil has 147,000 miles on it and a leaky trunk, she said.
Through generous federal Department of Justice grants to combat terrorism, the EMA has been able to buy five trailers loaded with equipment to clean up chemical spills, treat mass casualties or comfort people forced to leave their homes.
But because the agency doesn't have a permanent base, it has had to ask fire departments to garage its trailers. And in the case of emergency, the EMA also has only one vehicle capable of driving them, a Chevy Suburban used by Don Waldron, who is also the head of the county Hazmat team.
The agency is also forced to park its mobile command unit, a converted classroom trailer decked out with about $100,000 worth of equipment, in the weather because it lacks a garage, Beil said.
"It is a mess," said Cortland Mayor Melissa Long, who also sits on the EMA executive board. "If they had an emergency, it would take 45 minutes, at least, to get their equipment."
County's responsibility
State law requires counties to furnish their emergency management agencies with a command center, she said. The agency is supported primarily with local and federal grants, but it does receive $15,000 a year from the county's general fund.
Beil said she has requested a larger facility and asked commissioners when the agency will be moved from the 911 center to a permanent home, but she has not received a clear answer.
"I don't see a reason to hurry," said Commissioner James Tsagaris. " I want to make sure we do it the right way. We don't want to rush."
Commissioners Joseph Angelo and Michael O'Brien did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
siff@vindy.com
sinkovich@vindy.com