Mass town employs lessons-learned from Katrina and says community must prepare itself | 07.30.2007 | 07:36:03 | Views: 5771 | ID: July 30 '07: Local officials in Barnstable, Massachusetts told the Barnstable Patriot that lessons-learned from Hurricane Katrina have taught them to look for emergency preparedness and response within the community. Police Chief Craig Tamash said, "For a lot of years, the onus was on the government to take care of people. What we know from Katrina is that's not going to happen." To help push community-based efforts, the town has provided a website and an emergency preparedness handbook for the Cape Cod area. The hurricane preparedness guidebook was published with funding from the Project Impact Cape Cod program - a federally-funded partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The 32-page guidebook has been distributed to fire and police stations, libraries and town halls. Officials in Cape Cod have said the guidebook helps to raise awareness about how the community can take proactive steps to mitigate a disaster. Fire Chief Joseph Maruca told the Patriot, "People should have learned after Katrina that the likelihood that emergency response may be long in coming should be planned for. People need to keep supplies at home. They should be able to fend for themselves, their family and pets."
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