[californiadisasters] Windstorm Leads to Changes in Pasadena

City is evaluating its response to destructive storm

By Yvonne Beltzer | KNBC-TV Los Angeles

|  Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012  |  Updated 3:44 PM PST

The severe windstorm that crippled parts of Pasadena last month has forced the city to take a hard look at how it responded to its citizens' needs. One problem brought up at a forum on the city's response Tuesday was the city had too many phone numbers and not enough operators for people trying to get information.

So the city has decided to create its own 3-1-1 centralized database, which would serve as a one-stop number for all residents' service needs.

City officials also admitted they were overly optimistic about restoring power to customers because they underestimated the damage to the power systems.

As a result, the city is planning to invest in a new power outage management system so it can better determine the number of customers without power.

Both the 3-1-1 database and the power management system had been in the works prior to the storm, but were on hold due to the city's financial situation.

They are now top priorities because of the windstorm.

Pasadena City Manager Michael Beck told the forum that the biggest lesson of the storm was that the city used electronic media to communicate with customers, while ignoring traditional communication methods.

These methods included communicating with neighborhood leaders and getting them to keep their neighbors informed.

Pasadena city officials are planning to release a report on the response to the windstorm in March.

Source: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Windstorm-Leads-to-Changes-In-Pasadena-137597733.html?_osource=Newsletter-Daily

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