NATCHEZ &8212; The local emergency response plan needs updating. In fact, Adams County&8217;s defense director said he has been trying for years to make it happen.

Civil Defense Director George Souderes said Wednesday he has been asking the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency for years to look at updating the county&8217;s emergency response plan.

A study released Monday by private company IEM said the Natchez-Adams County Emergency Operations plan is outdated and threadbare.

The existing 10-year-old plan does not comply with newer state and federal regulations for such plans and does not detail enough of the who and how of operations, local United Way Director Kathy Stephens said Wednesday. The United Way of the Greater Miss-Lou funded the study.

Souderes said he talked with the state director of MEMA and was told to wait on state and federal guideline updates before revising the local plan.

&8220;They&8217;ve been telling me since the year before Katrina hit they&8217;re waiting on the revision of the federal response plan,&8221; Souderes said Wednesday.

According to the IEM study, federal and state guidelines have been updated four times since the plan&8217;s finalization in May 1996.

The state provided the roughly $28,000 it took to complete the current local plan, and they are willing to do it again, Souderes said.

He said he would be interested in revising the plan, but it would have to be through MEMA and go through the correct channels.

&8220;Any way we can get it up and going, but it has to be done the right way,&8221; he said.

For now, the emergency operations plan is adequate, Souderes said.

The biggest problem the study found with the local plan, Stephens said, was the organizational structure it laid out.

&8220;The who, what, when and where is missing,&8221; she said.

The study done by a private company, IEM, funded by the United Way was paid for mostly by out-of-state and in-state donations, although some money did come from the national United Way, Stephens said.

The company who conducted the study donated some of their services, she said.

&8220;It&8217;s very expensive to do, but we wouldn&8217;t have done it if we didn&8217;t think it was worth it&8221; Stephens said. &8220;It would normally cost $30,000 more (than the $49,000 paid).&8221;

Stephens said no money was pulled from other United Way agencies to pay for the study.

The study covers the most likely situations, like hurricanes and tornadoes, she said.

&8220;With limited funds, we asked for the most likely scenarios,&8221; Stephens said. &8220;It doesn&8217;t cover a nuclear problem or a barge spill, but it&8217;s a good start.&8221;

The study was originally supposed to include Concordia Parish&8217;s disaster plan, too, but Stephens said the Adams County emergency management agency asked the parish police jury not to be involved.

The study was presented to the Adams County Board of Supervisors Monday.

Supervisors President Darryl Grennell said Wednesday the board would discuss the plan with Souderes at their next meeting, Aug. 7.