“Private businesses and citizens have a personal and civic obligation to prepare themselves for an emergency,” explained Secretary Chertoff to an audience at Monroe Lecture Center Theater.

Disasters, natural and terrorist-related, can come at anytime, anywhere, and point out the need for emergency preparedness at the local, state and federal levels. That was the message delivered by U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff during a keynote address at an April 19 Hofstra forum titled “Emergency Preparedness: Risk-Based Assessments Post-9/11 and Post-Katrina,” sponsored by the Center for Suburban Studies.

Secretary Chertoff, who had just returned from the Gulf Coast where he met with officials of areas devastated last year by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, spoke to an audience of about 250 firefighters, police, emergency medial technicians and other first responders, as well as local government officials, about the need not only for the federal government to do a better job of preparing for and responding to natural disasters such as hurricanes, but also the responsibility of local citizens and businesses to prepare themselves.“Private businesses and citizens have a personal and civic obligation to prepare themselves for an emergency,” he said. “That means 48-72 hours of food, water, medical supplies … [and] understanding local emergency plans.” That allows first responders to concentrate on helping those citizens who cannot help themselves, he said.

On the federal level, Secretary Chertoff said, the much-criticized Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been overhauled with new administrators who have firefighting and Coast Guard experience. They have been meeting with first responders and government officials in areas prone to hurricane strikes, he said.

Secretary Chertoff reminded the audience that hurricane season begins June 1. “There’s no question that there’s going be a lot of focus on the Gulf this year, but that doesn’t mean Long Island is off the hook,” he said. “Students of history will remember that in 1938 Long Island was struck by one of the worst hurricanes in our nation’s history, the so-called Long Island Express. That was a category 3 storm that killed more than 600 people, and there have been other storms since, and there will be more in the future.”

(L to r) Congressman Peter King, Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, President Stuart Rabinowitz and Vice President for Business Development and Director of the Center for Suburban Studies Richard V. Guardino.

To prepare for the coming season Secretary Chertoff said, the federal government has planned a series of exercises with communities more likely to be hit by a hurricane. These will help assess “what our capabilities are and what our shortfalls are.” Long Island will be one of those communities, he said.

FEMA is also adding technology to keep track of logistics and help ensure that communications do not go down during a hurricane or other disaster, he said.

But hurricanes are only one of many threats that signal the need for emergency preparedness, and Secretary Chertoff reminded the audience that the forum was taking place on the 11th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, which up to that time in history had been the worst instance of terrorism on American soil.

“It reminds us that threats can come from anywhere. It can be from overseas or it can be homegrown. It can come in an airplane, but it can also come in a Ryder truck,” he said. “So we always have to be careful that we make sure we’re not captivated by the most recent disaster or the most recent attack, but to always look across the entire range of threats to make sure that it is the next threat that we are anticipating and not merely re-fighting the struggle against the last threat.”

Following Secretary Chertoff’s remarks, which also touched on controlling U.S. borders against illegal immigration, the audience heard from a panel consisting of U.S. Representative Peter T. King (R-Seaford), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security; State Senator Michael Balboni (R-East Williston); John Colgan, Commanding Officer of the NYC Police Department Counter-Terrorism Division; and Deputy Nassau County Executive for Law Enforcement and Public Safety Timothy Driscoll.