ROTARIANS HEAR TALK ON HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS

Posted by Jim Hudson 
 

Director of Beaufort County Emergency Management Division Mr. William Winn, Jr.

and Bluffton's Director of Operations Tim Bennett addressed the members of the Bluffton Rotary Club on July 9 concerning hurricane preparedness. 

 

Mr. Winn, who has served in his current position since 1979, spoke on the importance of personal responsibility and preparedness.  Valuable lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina include depending less on government officials and more on making sure you as an individual have done your homework and have your own personal plan. Where will you evacuate to, how will you get there and what will you take with you?  In addition, do you have the proper insurance in place to protect your property?

 Of course, Beaufort County and the City of Bluffton do have plans in place for both evacuations and for recoveries after a hurricane.  In fact Mr. Winn is very active in both local and national planning.  In addition to his role with BeaufortCounty, Mr. Winn serves on several committees with FEMA including the FEMA Hurricane Liaison Team of the National Hurricane Center, the FEMA Hurricane Evacuation Team, and a special FEMA After-Action Study Team. 

 

Tim Bennett reviewed some of the town's post hurricane clean up plans, including clearing debris, accessing damaged buildings for safety and setting up a government command center.  Once the areas are accessible and safe, citizens can return to start the recovery and clean up process.

 

According to Mr. Bennett, recovering from a large storm would require corporation and hard work.  One of the keys to a quicker recover is help from volunteer groups, such as service clubs like Rotary, the United Way, the Red Cross and churches.  Volunteers are needed to hand out supplies including water, ice and food and to help with debris removal.

 

 

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