It did not take long to realize the weather Monday afternoon caused extensive damage through Columbia. As the calls were coming across the police radios, Police Chief Michael Kelly, who was at Beal’s Collision Center at the time, announced a command post needed to be established. A central location for emergency personnel to report to while the city was assessed for injured people and the damage.
The command center was set up in the conference room of the Columbia Police Department. In the room different people were assigned different jobs, including locating areas damaged, downed power lines and monitoring the weather for the next wave of bad weather.
Not only were members of the police department working at the command center, but also Columbia Fire Department had set up to keep communications open between both departments. Mayor Justin McKenzie and Charlie Conerly, former civil defense director, were also at the command center.
Chief Michael Kelly said the command center came about from 9/11. Through FEMA came the National Incident Management System or NIMS to set up command centers where the various emergency personnel were to gather, and plan and strategize the best way to handle a disaster.
“In order to stop confusion and know what everyone is doing representatives from fire departments, police department, power companies and other emergency personnel gather in one place,” Kelly said.
Once the initial assessments had been completed and more in depth search was needed by both, each had teams to search different parts of the city to make sure every person was accounted for and to make sure there was no damage anywhere else.
Large sheets of paper were hanging on the walls in the conference room to document everything.
One of the lists included buildings heavily damaged or destroyed and making sure every person was out of the buildings. Another sheet had a list of where power lines were down and others.
Throughout the evening both Kelly and Assistant Fire Chief Lyle Bernard stayed in constant communication with their men and women, checking off places which had been cleared.
As the evening continued on the need for a shelter became a necessity. The various personnel in the room started discussing the options as the Red Cross was not providing a shelter. They also had to make sure there were enough cots, food and drinks for the victims.
Kelly said by the time the shelter at The Vine Church was opened one displaced family made arrangements to stay with other family members. There were also individuals displaced who reported to Marion General Hospital. However each of them had medical issues and were admitted to the hospital. The shelter was closed at 11 p.m.
The community came together as well. Businesses and individuals donated food and water for the fire and police departments.
