A group that monitors economic growth along the lower Mississippi River doesn’t want Missourians hit by a new major earthquake to face the same kind of government failure Hurricane Katrina victims faced. The Delta Regional Authority is hosting the New Madrid Earthquake Conference on November 2nd and 3rd to address a potential disaster. The Authority’s Rex Nelson says response to an earthquake on the New Madrid Fault needs the emergency service coordination that Katrina’s response lacked. He warns not to underestimate the 150 – mile long fault, whose quake in 1812 rang church bells in Boston and caused the Mississippi River to flow backward. That’s why he’s pointing at failures with Katrina to promote the conference. Nelson wants to strengthen communication between federal, state and local governments, non-profit organizations and the business community in order to be better prepared for what the Authority says is the greatest risk east of the Rocky Mountains.
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