Pike County Commissioners Address Storm Response Concerns
By: Eric Deabill
Updated: November 2, 2012
Lords Valley, Pike County - Thousands of people remain in the dark tonight. They are all waiting for the lights to come back on.
The Poconos remain the hardest hit area. Thousands of people in Monroe, Pike and Wayne counties are still waiting and watching.
Pike county leaders are already coming under fire for their response to the storm.
Commissioners held a news conference Friday afternoon. They say things have gone well, saying no one has been hurt, but they admit things could have been done better.
For the last five days, George Schmalzle has been without power. Having no electricity means he has been cut off from most information.
"Being the power is off, we don't know what is going on out there," Schmalzle said.
Hurricane Sandy was the first major test for Pike County's new Emergency Center. Some township leaders have criticized the county for not getting shelter and water locations out fast enough in the places that it is needed.
"There are some things we didn't do as well as we would like to," 911 center director Bernard Swartwood said.
During the hurricane, the new Pike County facility handled more than 1,300 calls in just two days. That is the typical call volume for an entire month.
Commissioners say that was their top priority and things went well.
Some township leaders and even members of the media say communication could have been stronger.
"The county didn't see the value in putting information out," a local radio reporter told commissioners at Friday's press conference.
"I think that we need to do a little catching up on the times," Swartwood said. "We've already discussed facebook, twitter, things like that. We need to see what we can do with the staff that we have."
There is still a lot of damage all across Pike County. Many roads remain closed and people are still waiting for power. County leaders stress this event is not over.
"We are going to have an after action-assessment locally with the responsible county people next week. We've already set-up a date and time," Commissioner Rich Caridi said.
County commissioners insist that before, during and after the storm they have maintained constant communication with EMS agencies and fire departments to address any issues that have arisen, including water, food and cots.
