A state of emergency is in effect in Columbia Borough due to power outages, and freezing temperatures and strong winds expected overnight.
The Columbia Borough Emergency Management Team is activating shelters in each of the three Borough Fire Companies:
* Columbia #1 Fire Company, at Front Street south of Locust Street
* Susquehanna Fire Company, at 10th & Manor Street
* Columbia Consolidated Fire Company, at 10th & Mifflin Street.
Anyone not able to travel is asked to contact Columbia Borough Police for assistance at (717) 684-7735 or (717) 684-2014.
MORE INFO:
http://www.columbiapa.net/hello-world/
18 comments:
as a resident without power for 34 hours i'd have to say this: THE NUMBER ONE THING THAT SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED IN THIS STATE OF EMERGENCY AND THAT MUST HAPPEN EVERY TIME HEREAFTER IS THIS: THE POLICE AND OR FIRE COMPANIES MUST USE THEIR PA SYSTEMS AND DRIVE ALL THRU TOWN AND INFORM PEOPLE OF THE SHELTERS...WE HAVE WAY TOO MANY ELDERLY, SICK, ETC. THE MAJORITY OF US HAD NO IDEA THERE WAS SHELTERS SET UP (NOT UNTIL ALMOST 2 DAYS LATER). EPIC FAIL.
yes i'd have to agree....we have so many elderly who don't have cell phones anyway. no one even knew the boro set up shelters for those of us without power, heat, water, etc. disappointed that the emergency mgmt folks did not think about this. i also liked the idea from another resident who stated "the police and or fire dept SHOULD use their PA systems and drive thru boro and inform people that there is somewhere safe to go" AND even offer their assistance if they have no way and no help....hopefully everyone made it thru this ordeal ok. yes it was a fail. next time no excuses. common sense is all it takes.
good comments. i hope the Mayor and Boro mgmt read this...
It is hard to imagine that anyone living in this town doesn't realize that we have shelters of all types. I imagine that anyone posting on this site either has internet access, or knows someone that does, and has a cell phone, or knows someone that does, so how hard is it these days to contact the Borough or Police Department to see what help is available if you need help ?
reaslly? re read the comments....a huge amount of boro residents were WITHOUT POWER for up to 48 hrs...some less some more....a majority of residents include elderly who do NOT own cell phones...who have no one who checks on them and i guess maybe no kind caring compassionate neighbors who would be concerned about them either. anyway without power and NO contact from the outside there was NO WAY of knowing that EMERGENCY SHELTERS WERE SET UP FOR THOSE WITHOUT POWER AND HEAT.
your point is well taken - and if what you say is true.....that " a majority of residents do NOT own cell phones, and have no one to check on them " , then maybe this brings to light a larger concern. If this town is a parking lot for elderly people that are neglected - then perhaps there should be a community organization that insures that EVERY person has a cell phone or pager for emergency's. Some kind of low cost wireless electronic device that they can use to alert for help, and that the Borough or Organization can use to send messages.
There are ways:
Elizabethtown, Mount Joy, Strasburg and Terre Hill use Swift911 - a call-out or text-out or email alert system. There are others.
http://www.swiftreach.com/Solutions/Swift911%E2%84%A2.aspx
that sounds great! wouldn't it be awesome to be able to make it possible for every elderly resident to have one of those phones!!!! we have an awful lot of elderly living here in the Boro....back in the days you ALWAYS looked out for and made sure your neighbor(s) were ok!!! you took care of them//shoveled for them..carried in their groceries...checked to see if they needed anything if you were going to the store....
excellent !, so why would we not do something like this ?, talking about saving human lives - this must be more important then most of the other grant initiatives
so if for example electric is down, internet is down, and phone is down, does this system still transmit to an electronic device ?
i wondered the same thing!!! now for someone to tell Boro mgmt that these emergency phones would be an amazing thing to give to senior citizens who are alone...and especially who have NO one to even check on them to make sure they are ok.
It does; with 3G/4G and texting capability, Swift911 (and other systems) - CodeRED - AmeriAlet, etc. "Swift911™ delivers messages via multiple contact methods including; voice, text, email, fax and social media and syndicates messages via RSS and CAP/IPAWS."
this would be a good project for the CEDC - put some of that grant money back in to the community - rather then some silly tourist attraction
what a great idea!!!!!! love this!!!!!!!! :) maybe the CEDC would get involed!
or some other groups and individuals....
the problem is that no other "groups and individuals" will have much of a chance at getting grant money because they don't have the excellent political life long good old boy home town connections that the CEDC has which offers the best access to direct grant money funding for these great high profile projects that utilize well connected contractors to give their sincere additional support to help out the suffering community funded by public money collected from hard working citizens..
Oh, if only it was so - while the CEDC has a statement on its Form 990 that says it's role is, "ensuring and facilitating a higher quality of life for the Borough of Columbia, Pennsylvania by promoting business development and expansion within the borough,” the CEDC shows no specific grants received in its 2012 filing (there were contributions).
semantics
Can the CEDC use it's political influence to help facilitate grants for other worthy causes ?
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