[August 30, 2009] Construction, policy changes since Katrina Tweet PICAYUNE, Aug 30, 2009 (Picayune Item - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- While the damage left behind by Hurricane Katrina is less noticeable in Pearl River County than in the southern most counties of Mississippi, there have been some local changes prompted by her visit more than four years ago. Some changes are more visible than others. The visible changes mostly deal with construction of new buildings, while the less visible aspects deal with policy changes that will ensure the county and its emergency personnel are better prepared to handle the next major storm. Two new buildings are being built to replace one that was damaged in the storm, Chimney Square. Satellite offices that were housed in the building prior to the storm's landfall are currently scattered throughout the county. Some are at Millard, such as the Department of Human Services, while a many of them are stationed at a strip mall in Carriere. County Administrator Adrain Lumpkin said the new Chimney Square, now under construction on Goodyear Boulevard, will house the majority of those offices again, except for DHS. DHS is expected to have a new building constructed next to the jail in Millard. Lumpkin said construction of the building is on schedule and he expects it to be done by April of next year, that is if there are no delays. Construction of the building is being funded by $4.7 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency and Community Development Block grant funds. Construction of the DHS building is funded by about $3 million in CDBG funds. Lumpkin expects construction of the new DHS building to begin in January and to take about 15 months to complete. Damage sustained to the county courthouse during the storm also prompted the county to replace the building's roof, Lumpkin said. Since the storm, the county's emergency management office has relocated to a rental building just outside of Poplarville. Lumpkin said the county is seeking grant funds through several places, but so far have been unsuccessful. Generators have been added to a number of county and city buildings. Lumpkin said the Poplarville hospital and the county jail have generators strong enough to power the entire buildings. Picayune Fire Chief Keith Brown said generators also are installed at each fire department in the city and at city hall. For more than a decade the city has been trying to get funding to build a new fire station. Brown said it was not until after Katrina that they were finally able get the funding through a CDBG to build the $2.3 million building. Another grant that will help the city be better prepared deals with installing storm shutters on all critical city buildings. Brown said the new city hall, all fire departments and the police department will get the shutters. The A.L. Franklin Annex will get impact resistant glass installed in lieu of the shutters. "God forbid, but if we do get another Katrina we'll be able to operate as normal, or as close to normal as we can," Brown said. Poplarville Chief Kris Foster said the city's new $1.1 million fire station is under construction and is also FEMA funded. Like the Picayune station, it will have a hardened structure making it a safe place to operate out of during a tornado or hurricane. Poplarville also will get storm shutters on its city hall, police department and water treatment facility, said Poplarville City Clerk Jody Stuart. Picayune City Manager Harvey Miller said the city has implemented avenues to keep better records of purchases for FEMA reimbursement. The influx of people in the city also prompted the city to purchase the old Arizona Chemical building, which is now the new city hall. The historic city hall now houses the investigations division of the police department and Partners for Pearl River County. Miller said the city purchased the Arizona Chemical building and the adjacent 237 acres for about $750,000. He said the compound has a fixed asset value of $2.2 million. Poplarville was slightly more fortunate after Katrina. Stuart said the city has received some community revitalization grants, one of which installed new sidewalks. Other grants paid for the city to form a comprehensive plan and to develop a zoning plan and regulations. The lack of communications in all departments was dealt with after Katrina and is not expected to happen again. Brown, Emergency Management Director Danny Manley and Foster all say there are now several layers of back up communications in the county. Pearl River County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy Shane Tucker said that agency was given radios that operate on a state-wide frequency. While the number of those radios at the department is limited, the radios will operate when all other forms of communication go down. Brown said Picayune city hall has been outfitted with a grant-funded satellite communication system that will maintain phone, Internet and fax communications. The fire department also has two satellite phones. Deputy Tucker said county radio towers have generators on them in case they lose power. "That was our main focus after Katrina, to take lessons learned and come out better than before and I think we have," Brown said. Law enforcement has been working on ways to better their response after a storm. The Sheriff's Department and the Picayune Police Department have both implemented changes concerning how they station officers during a storm. Picayune's Deputy Police Chief David Ervin said instead of stationing all their officers in one central location during a storm, the department now will use five locations. Tucker said his department will have deputies posted in various locations in the county. That way the deputies can be dispatched from those locations, allowing greater access to the county roads that are not blocked by storm debris. Emergency officials have worked on policies that will help them better serve their communities. Foster and Manley said fire departments in Poplarville and the county now utilize the National Incident Command System. That system gives those departments a set of standards to work with on every call. Manley said he has had conversations with officials of the local power companies who have expressed to him that they have made strides to get power back up and running in a shorter period of time. While electricity is out, generators are expected to keep the county's infrastructure going. That includes sewer, where available, and water county wide. To help with shelter security, patrols and any other law enforcement needs, volunteer fire fighters are being cross trained in those areas, Manley said. District V supervisor Sandy Kane Smith said the best training tool so far has been implementing all those changes during Hurricane Gustav. Contraflow was put to the test and better ways to get the word out to the public have been found. Manley said the EOC plans to have WWL radio station at the EOC to disseminate up to date information concerning gas and food to motorists caught in contraflow. A recent announcement from the EOC also states it will use Twitter to inform the public. Contraflow has been extended from the Poplarville exit to mile marker 55 in an attempt to help reduce congestion. However, Manley is concerned that if the state did not have the manpower to support contraflow up to Poplarville, how will it have the manpower to handle contraflow up to mile marker 55. 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