PreparednessPurdue helps Chicago prepare for disasters

Published 19 August 2011

To be better prepared for a major natural disaster or a terrorist attack, seventeen counties near Chicago, Illinois have banded together to create a disaster preparedness plan with the help of Purdue University and the University of Illinois, Chicago

To be better prepared for a major natural disaster or a terrorist attack, seventeen counties near Chicago, Illinois have banded together to create a disaster preparedness plan with the help of Purdue University and the University of Illinois, Chicago.

The two universities were selected by the Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications to develop strategies for how counties and cities should handle large influxes of people fleeing a major catastrophe.

For each of the seventeen counties, all will have the benefit for the better planning strategies and better methodology for a large-scale event,” said J. Eric Dietz, the director of Purdue’s Homeland Security Institute. “Sometimes we don’t spend enough time worrying about these things.”

Dietz added that the plans could be used for any situation where sheltering and medical care is needed, including industrial accidents, tornadoes, or terrorist attacks.

The two universities will divide the work with Purdue focusing on the development of planning guides for regional centers and the University of Illinois crafting a plan for the private-sector. The plans will encompass ten Illinois counties, the city of Chicago, five counties in Indiana, and one Wisconsin county.

Once the project is complete, we will have plans in place to integrate the combined resources of the entire Illinois-Indiana-Wisconsin Combined Statistical Area to respond to a catastrophic incident,” said Gary Schenkel, the executive director of Chicago’s emergency management office.

According to Dietz, the plan stems from growing concerns that initially came to light during the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster relief efforts where cities struggled to handle displaced people and animals.

We want to develop a shelter strategy,” Dietz said. “Basically the requirement is to meet the shelter needs for a number in the thousands (of people) for a number of weeks.”

Purdue will also help counties set up their own plans that include establishing command centers to register displaced resident and triage the injured.

The yearlong $3 million project is funded by DHS and each university received a $1.5 million grant.