What went wrong on the Gulf Coast?
What they went through, with 90,000 square miles underwater, that’s unprecedented so there would have been problems no matter what they did. There’s been a lot of finger pointing, but the ultimate responsibility does not fall with the federal government. It’s the local government’s responsibility. Unfortunately, I don’t think the local government down there was prepared to handle the situation that arose.

Why shouldn’t the federal government be the first to respond?
It may take three or four days for the federal government to respond. You can’t wait around to see what the feds are going to do. You have to respond immediately, because the goal is always minimizing death and destruction as quickly as possible.   

How, then, is Los Angeles more prepared?
Relatively shortly after 9/11, we had a major bioterrorism drill in Los Angeles. Everyone thought that was in response to 9/11, but really, we’d been planning it for more than a year. What I’m saying is that we are prepared – as prepared as you can be for these kinds of things. We continue to isolate money to prepare for incidents, and one of the best things we’ve got going is mutual aid agreements. They make sure we all work together – on the local, county, and state level whether it’s fire, police, public works, or other entities.

Do we really need to spend the money on all this preparation?
The good news is that we are prepared, the bad news is because of the threats of fires and riots and earthquakes here, we need to be. Plus, there’s a major difference between a hurricane like the Gulf Coast saw and an earthquake that we may need to prepare for here: we don’t have a warning that an earthquake is coming.

What’s being done to prepare and prevent a terrorist attack at LAX?
The County is the City of Los Angeles’ back-up. They train tirelessly for air crashes and incidents of terrorism.

The ports drive so much of the commerce coming into this country, too. They’d be an attractive target too?
It’s important to remember that a lot of what’s going on at the ports and at LAX you’ll never hear about because we don’t want terrorists to find out what we’re doing. The ports have a 100-person strike team ready, and I also called a summit so that the two ports would work together despite being competitors, to plan and prepare against these threats.

Has everything been done that can be done then?
We always need to continue to prepare. There’s always room for improvement, but when I joined the President’s Council, [Homeland Security] Secretary [Tom] Ridge was amazed at how much we’ve done to prepare ourselves for emergencies. It’s a way of life for us because of all the disasters that could potentially happen here.  

Does all this mean private citizens should feel like they’re taken care of?
They should feel safe, but there are things that everyone needs to do as well. There has to be some personal responsibility.

So what do people need to do?
Simple things like stockpiling three days’ worth of food and water and having it somewhere that’s accessible and protected – not stuffed away in an attic. Make sure your water heater has earthquake straps. Put a pair of shoes under your bed in case windows blow out and glass covers the floor. You can learn more and set up your own plan for you and your family through http://www.labt.org/media.

Any last messages for people in the area?
I want to assure people that we’re pretty well prepared here versus much of what I’ve seen in other parts of the country. It’s important to take responsibility as I said while also recognizing that while it may seem we’re not doing much, we’re doing a tremendous amount behind the scenes. Lastly, the most important thing is to feel confident in continuing your day-to-day routine. We’re not going to lay curled up in fear in our homes, that’s what terrorists want, but that’s not what’s going to happen.