As the United States continues to live with the effects of Hurricane Katrina and braces for the onslaught of Hurricane Rita, the safety of all U.S. cities is getting a closer look.
If a large-scale disaster hit ASU, both city and University officials said they have plans in place to respond to and cope with devastation.
ASU has an emergency operations plan that is set up to coordinate all departments on campus, ASU Spokeswoman Terri Shafer said.
"Communication is one of the bigger issues," she said.
The University's plan is part of the National Incident Management System, which is a muti-agency response team, she added.
That system, operated out of ASU's Office of General Counsel, regularly trains ASU personnel on emergency procedures for different situations. ASU is also working on evacuation plans.
"The NIMS process is evolving through the Department of Homeland Security," said Paul Ward, vice president for university administration and general counsel.
The process is used to examine any emergency situation the University might face, including floods, earthquakes or a terrorist attack, Ward said.
ASU is re-evaluating the system in the aftermath of Katrina but no changes have yet been made, he added.
But the likelihood that Arizona could be hit by something on the level of Katrina, such as an earthquake or flood, is very low, said Ramon Arrowsmith, an ASU geological sciences professor.
There are fault lines in Mexico and Southern California that might be felt in Arizona, but there are no active faults in the Phoenix area, Arrowsmith said.
The threat of flooding is also low because rivers, like the Gila, are dammed, he added.
The only threat to Arizona from a natural disaster would be if an earthquake occurred in Southern California and created a population explosion.
"It would freak all those people out," he said.
If a more likely tragedy, like an expansive power outage, hit Tempe, the police department would be the first to provide relief to the University.
Tempe's emergency management is led by its fire department, which also serves the University.
Jay Spradling, the assistant chief of the Tempe Police Department, said there is a disaster plan in place but no city is ready for something like Hurricane Katrina.
"You can't prepare for the unexpected," he said.
Spradling said the city's emergency plans are always re-examined after something like Katrina.
To test how well they work together, many Valley agencies are participating in emergency drills in Casa Grande next week, Spradling said.
Ward said the communication between ASU and Tempe proved its worth during the 2004 presidential debate and the coordination would remain strong during an emergency.
However, if Tempe had to be evacuated, then most of the responsibility would fall on residents, Spradling said.
"Most evacuation is self-evacuation," he said.
Problems with relief are more likely to come from residents than the teams dispatched to help them, he said.
If a significant disaster hit, it would take two to three days before the police and fire departments could respond to routine calls, he said.
Families should store enough emergency food and supplies to sustain themselves for that period of time, he added.
Reach the reporter at michael.famiglietti@asu.edu.
