Last week’s damaging storm has prompted Pittsburgh’s mayor to order officials to draft a plan so the city can better prepare for natural disasters.
In ordering the creation of a hazard mitigation plan, Mayor Ed Gainey on Thursday noted that climate change brings additional risks of increasingly severe storms and said officials need to be prepared.
The first step will be an assessment by the city’s Office of Emergency Management & Homeland Security that will document information on the April 29 storm, its effects and the response by the city, Allegheny County, utilities and others.
The report, which must be completed within 90 days, also will include recommendations to address any problems or vulnerabilities in the city’s storm response.
Gainey in an executive order signed Thursday ordered the city’s emergency management coordinator and planning director to collaborate on the hazard preparedness plan.
Officials could not immediately estimate how much the effort would cost or how long it would take to complete.
They did not outline specific tangible results they hoped to get from the process but broadly said the city needed to take a more proactive approach to severe weather planning.
Officials said the recent storms — which killed at least three people in Southwestern Pennsylvania, left buildings badly damaged, trees blocking streets and thousands without power for days — highlighted the need for a plan to improve the city’s response and ensure its aging infrastructure can handle drastic weather.
“It was a wake-up call,” Planning Director Jamil Bey said.
Planning will involve various city departments, the public, utility companies, researchers and people at the county, state and federal level, Bey said.
Officials will look to other cities for inspiration and analyze what went well and what could be improved based on Pittsburgh’s storm response.
Emergency Management Coordinator Darryl Jones said they’ll look to find ways to help residents become better-equipped to handle power outages and other issues that may arise in the immediate aftermath of a storm.
Some people were without power for a week.
Jones recommended having enough food, water and medicine to get through 72 hours — but he also acknowledged some low-income residents who struggle to make ends meet every day may not be able to stockpile extras.
Jones said the city should look for ways to fill those needs.
“This will not be a theoretical or symbolic plan,” Bey said. “It will be an active, evolving strategy to help our city prepare for, respond to and recover from climate-related hazards.”