Officials urge that you keep a three-day supply of water and nonperishable food, and a camp stove or grill to cook on.

01:00 AM EDT on Friday, July 21, 2006

BY AMANDA MILKOVITS
Journal Staff Writer

Imagine a hurricane has barreled up the East Coast and slammed head-on into Rhode Island.

You and your family are OK, your house is still standing, but the power is out, for days if not weeks. The food in the refrigerator is rotting fast in the summer heat and your faucets aren't drawing water.

If you heeded the warnings of the Red Cross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, you have a three-day supply of water (one gallon per person per day) and nonperishable food, and a camp stove or grill to cook on.

But if you're like two-thirds of Rhode Islanders polled this winter on hurricane preparedness, you never got around to stocking up on supplies beyond crackers and a jar of peanut butter.

And now, because of the hurricane, your local stores are closed.

You need help.

Within 24 hours of a hurricane, if your community has been hard-hit, your local emergency management director should have at least one location set up to distribute food, water and ice. You should be able to drive to the site and pick up supplies (a gallon of water, two meals-ready-to-eat, an 8-pound bag of ice, all per person).

These sites are expected to operate until stores reopen.

Local emergency directors have selected several possible distribution sites.

Robert J. Warren, executive director of the state EMA, said the locations would be publicized after the storm.

It will take at least a day to get the distribution running, because debris and flooding may make some roads impassable.

The distribution sites will receive bottled water and pre-packaged food that FEMA has stockpiled in 17 tractor-trailers in the state -- the first time Rhode Island will have stockpiles from FEMA, Warren said. The trailers hold enough water to supply 5,000 people for 10 days and enough food to feed 10,000 people for a week.

(FEMA is also sending four shelter kits, each holding generators, toiletries and enough blankets and cots for 250 people.)

Because supplies are limited and more federal supplies could take three days to arrive, Warren has suggested local sites distribute the food and water sparingly.

FEMA has warned states that they'll be on their own for 72 hours after a hurricane, until federal trucks can get through to deliver more supplies. Warren hopes to reduce that time by calling for federal help when a massive storm is imminent. The state has also requested bids from companies for additional ice, water and food.

Jarrett W. Devine, who handles logistics for FEMA's region 1, said FEMA will store extra supplies at Westover Metropolitan Airport, in Chicopee, Mass., for trucks to deliver within 24 hours.

In the 48 hours after a storm, FEMA will draw on supplies from across the nation to aid the most devastated communities.

North Central Airport in Smithfield is the state's main distribution point.

The state EMA has also solicited bids from vendors to supply food, water and ice for hospitals, group homes and nursing homes, but no contract has been awarded.

It's unclear how many people would need food and water after a storm. The state EMA recommended that local directors use a "worst-case scenario" of supplying every resident in their community. But federal studies have shown that only 40 percent of the people in devastated areas seek out supplies.

Some local directors are still trying to find people to staff the distribution sites -- the largest of which would need about 70 workers a day -- and are seeking equipment to move supplies.

amilkovi@projo.com / (401) 277-7213