On my lunch hour today I learned what I will be doing on the afternoon of Sept. 7.
As I signed onto my MSN email account, I saw in Chicago's headlines that Mayor Daley has planned downtown evacuation drills. I clicked on the link immediately imagining what a waste of time this will be for the poor saps who are going to be forced to participate.
Well according to the article, I will be one of those poor saps. Of the five buildings listed, mine (111 S. Wacker) is one. The article states the "date has been set for Sept. 7. The practice is expected to take a few hours and will likely kick off in the afternoon."
The article also states, the reason for doing this is due to events that happened, at earliest, one year ago.
"(With) memories of chaos following Hurricane Katrina last year and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Daley administration is planning emergency drills in the downtown area."
Um, ok. The timing, and purpose, seem a bit off.
Yes, I do work a stone's throw away from the Sears tower, so there is always a lingering thought in the back of my mind that it has the potential to be a 9/11-type target. But that was five years ago which I hardly feel now necessitates a disruption of a work day. Did someone drop the ball on this? It seems like something that should have been planned, oh, I'd say four years ago at the latest. And as for Katrina, the last time I checked, no hurricanes have blown through the Chicagoland area - ever. Although my co-worker Katie did inform me of the possiblity of Tsunami-like conditions .
This leads me to question what the actual purpose of this drill will be. But with the Daley administration, these things are hard to tell. At least I now know to plan accordingly for the afternoon of Sept. 7. Cross your fingers for me it's at least a nice day.
2 comments:
Take a personal 1/2 day!
bcj.
with the sears tower being a stones throw away you probably should be up to date on the best routes out of your building and out of the general area. Have a plan, go over it every once in awhile and when something does happen you wont have to think about it. but your point was made , an evacuation drill 5+ years after the fact does seem like too little too late. but a personal plan and backup plan would be the best course of action
Post a Comment