In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, many AU students are wondering what kind of plan exists for D.C. if a natural or manmade disaster were ever to strike the area.
District residents are more likely to be ordered inside during an emergency than outside seeking shelter, according to Jo'Ellen Countee, a spokeswoman for the D.C. Emergency Management Agency.
"People are far more likely to come into harm by rushing out," Countee said.
The district has partnerships with surrounding governments to help shelter people in case of an emergency, but residents are usually first asked to "shelter in place," or stay where they are and wait for further instructions, Countee said.
"People's first impulse is to flee," she said.
This is especially important in the case of terrorist attacks, during which a toxin could be released into the air. While D.C. may be vulnerable to weather catastrophes, the risk factor in the district for other types of disasters is much higher.
"Our vulnerability is not the same as New Orleans," Countee said.
Kevin VanderMolen, a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs, said he probably would not wait for instructions in an emergency based on how the federal government responded to Hurricane Katrina.
"It took Bush... days to even visit New Orleans, and FEMA seemed to have no clue about the magnitude of the situation," VanderMolen said.
Other AU students have expressed similar concerns.
"I think the government response [to Hurricane Katrina] was appalling," said Paco Cantu, a sophomore in the School of International Service. However, he said he would listen if the district called for an evacuation since disasters, both weather and manmade, are not everyday occurrences.
In 2002, the district's Emergency Management Agency organized a community outreach program for the general public, the local business community, and local universities. The agency made sure universities had emergency plans that followed the template of the district's plan, Countee said.
The Emergency Management Agency has not identified any of the district's universities as shelter sites yet because all but the University of the District of Columbia and Southeastern University are residential schools that must house their own students, she said. However, she said, these schools contain necessities during a large-scale emergency such as large kitchens and fleets of buses that could be called upon if the need arose.
"We look at colleges and universities as an asset," Countee said.
Patricia Kelshian, executive director of risk management and public safety at AU, said the university is in contact with city officials if a large-scale emergency occurs.
"In the event of an emergency, it's a cooperative effort," she said.
AU's emergency plan is designed for evacuation, Kelshian said. Buildings have been designated for usage in the event of having to displace students from residence halls or elsewhere, she said. Building marshals are assigned to each building to carry out the emergency plan if the need arises.
The AU plan mirrors the district's plan "to a certain extent," Kelshian said. The university has route maps to follow if the city must be evacuated, and plans have been written for shuttle buses to be used in an emergency.
The AU evacuation plan has not been used since the mass evacuation of Sept. 13, 2001, when the university received a bomb threat, Kelshian said. The Metro police recommended the campus be evacuated because of the attacks two days before and the protocols the university followed at the time.
AU is a "different world" from D.C. because of its small campus and its distance from the Capitol, Cantu said. "I feel safe on campus, and maybe that's a false sense of security."
Kelshian said she can only hope AU is prepared for every catastrophe.
"There's always the unexpected," she said. "We... have everything prepared so we can get people to safety."
For more information on D.C.'s disaster preparedness, visit the D.C. Emergency Management Agency's web site at www.dcema.dc.gov.
