NATCHEZ — City and county officials gathered Monday to talk about the implementation of a program to help them manage potential disaster areas.

The program also could be used by area businesses to gain access to their property more quickly after disasters.

City of Natchez aldermen, department heads, law enforcement and emergency management officials as well as representatives from other agencies heard a presentation from Moshiu T. Knox about the Mississippi Emergency Management Program (MEAP).

In the event of a disaster, disaster response teams cordon off the affected area and grant access only to emergency response team and necessary officials.

MEAP provides software that issues credentials and placards to agencies and officials and tracks entry and exit from the site.

Officials are registered with the program — which is free of charge to governmental agencies — and are granted access, which is based on a tier system that is determined by the local emergency management director.

For example, Knox said, if a tornado struck and the disaster area was guarded by National Guard soldiers controlling access, those soldiers could use smartphones to verify the credentials of someone wishing to enter the site.

Because the software is free to government agencies, Knox said, MEAP offers the service to businesses for a fee ranging from $12 to $30 per person that is added to a business’s database for access. The local emergency management office vets anyone seeking to be added to the system.

Knox said a clear example of the need for the MEAP software arose during Hurricane Katrina when looters posed as relief or repair workers to gain access to the disaster area.

The cost to a business depends on how many employees it wants to grant access, Knox said. A large company such as Exxon, which has thousands of employees in its database pays $12 per employee. A smaller business that would have fewer employees with access needs would pay $30 per person.

When a disaster strikes, a business with MEAP credentials will be granted access when it is safe for representatives to enter the disaster area.

“People never know when some type of event is going to happen, and they get so mad when they get to the area and they can’t get to their business,” Knox said.

Adams County Emergency Management Director Robert Bradford said he has experience with MEAP since it is a statewide program, which is administered by the Mississippi Highway Patrol and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

“It is imperative we get this going in our county,” he said.

MEAP was used in during the rescue efforts in Copiah County to local workers that were trapped at Green Brothers General Pit near Crystal Springs in June, Knox said.

The program, Knox said, is in other states and is currently expanding, with Memphis currently preparing to implement the system, especially for use at crime scenes.

Knox made a pitch to Cleveland to use the program, but the city passed, until, he said, the Delta State University shooting last year, when officials realized they needed a way to track who was entering and exiting the campus during the crisis.

Beyond use during disaster and crisis, Knox said various entities are looking at different ways to use MEAP for events. Jackson State University is exploring the option of using MEAP for football games to save money on costs to ticketing companies, Knox said.Ward 3 Alderwoman Sarah Smith pointed out that the software could be helpful for events such as the Great Mississippi River Balloon Race, with Historic Natchez Foundation using the system for its team of volunteers.

Smith asked Knox to make a presentation to the Natchez-Adams County Chamber of Commerce in an effort to get the word out to local businesses about MEAP.

More information about MEAP can be found online at dps.state.ms.us or msema.org.