After filing a report last week with the Federal Communications Commission on Verizon’s 911 outages, Fairfax County officials are looking at how to improve their own communications during emergencies.
The county wants to know how it can better communicate with residents and businesses in a disaster like a derecho, hurricane or terrorist attack. Officials are seeking feedback in a short, online survey.
"We’re asking for every resident to provide input, as well as business owners," said David McKernan, coordinator of the Fairfax County Office of Emergency Management. "It’s important for us as emergency planners to learn how this storm affected our residents, businesses and infrastructure so that we can implement corrective measures and plans for a better response for future storms."
To take the survey, visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/fairfaxemergencyinfo. This survey is part of the county’s official review of its response to the July 2012 derecho.
However, this storm is not the last time that the county could experience widespread, long-lasting power outages.
Hurricane season lasts until Nov. 30 in the Washington, D.C. area, and forecasts calls for five to eight hurricanes in the Atlantic this year. It’s not only the Gulf Coast that’s at risk, officials say. In 2003, Hurricane Isabel left thousands in the area without power and water for days.