Brookhaven Mayor Bob Massengill offered salient and insightfulcomments Wednesday as he testified before a U.S. Senate committeeinvestigating activities surrounding Hurricane Katrina.

As the leader of a community directly on a main evacuation routefor many New Orleans and other Louisiana residents, Massengill hada first-hand perspective on the hurricane and its impact on livesand communities. He spoke proudly of Brookhaven and LincolnCounty’s response to evacuees’ needs despite this community havingpower outages, home damage and other problems of its own.

Massengill also pointed out factors that will be vital for thecountry and communities to be prepared to respond to futuredisasters. Those include proper planning ahead of time, open linesof communication and leadership.

In general, Mississippi has received good reviews for itspreparedness for Hurricane Katrina, while New Orleans, Louisianaand federal response efforts have been met with criticism. AsMassengill said, leaders at all levels must learn the lessons -both good and bad – of Hurricane Katrina and become better plannersfor future emergencies.

While Massengill is proud of his community’s response to thehurricane, the community can be proud to have a capable leader whois helping to shape policies and plans that could save lives andproperty when the next disaster strikes.