Township Needs Better Emergency Communications

The recent storms, Irene and Lee, brought out the best in our police, firefighters, and neighbors. Homes were pumped out by our volunteer firemen. Motorists were directed safely around downed power lines and prevented from entering flooded roads. Many of us provided neighbors and friends with a place to shower, and store food items. However, several communications deficiencies within our township came to light.

In one instance, after dialing the non-emergency police number to determine the safety of a certain road, a resident received a busy signal. Dialing again, he was routed to the department’s voice mail. He never received a call back.

In another instance, a father received a message from the Honeywell Instant Alert system that he registered with at the beginning of the school year. The message indicated that the 6:50 a.m. school bus was running late. Not knowing any other details, the father elected to drive his kids to West Morris Central HS. He found the intersection of Coleman/Naughright and Bartley was flooded with no “road closed” warning. He detoured and eventually got onto Bartley Road but soon found himself door-sill deep in water. Again, there were no signs to indicate the trouble. All schools were eventually closed on that day.

The final anecdote relates to a 911 call that was relayed to the county dispatcher at 8:30 a.m. Subsequently the emergency was solved and the resident attempted to cancel the call. The dispatcher informed the resident that the call could not be cancelled. The police responded to that call at 1:30 p.m. – five hours later.

Several questions came to my mind:

1.   Why don’t we have a pre-recorded message and phone number available to keep us abreast of worsening weather and travel conditions?

2.   What was the disconnect between the school and municipality that allowed a resident to attempt traveling on a road that should have been barricaded to a school that should have been closed?

3.   What was the problem with the county dispatcher that didn’t allow them to cancel a call, and why the five-hour response time?   

For the future, we need:

1.   A township phone number that residents a can access to keep informed about emergency conditions. The township’s website should also have up-to-date information on it.

2.  A relationship with the area’s local radio stations and online news sources to keep listeners apprised of changing conditions and closures.

3.  A thorough analysis of the effectiveness of the county dispatch system.

4.  Better communication between the school’s Honeywell system and the township.      

Communications are vital to survival. JCP&L certainly needs to get its act together. On day three of the blackout, my neighbor knocked on our door to ask if we had power again. He had called JCP&L and was told that power had been restored to our area. That was clearly news to all of us on Beacon Hill who were still on generator power. All of this reveals gaps in communication at the regional and local levels, even between the township and our schools. Public safety relies on...actually demands...clear, quick communications. Washington Township deserves better.