NATCHEZ &8212; A consulting group has an emergency plan for the Miss-Lou, but it&8217;s not one emergency management directors on either side of the river agree with.

The consultants &8212; hired by the United Way &8212; met with community members Wednesday to further the progress of current storm disaster plans.

The team was hired after Hurricane Katrina caught many off guard, said United Way of the Miss-Lou board member Thomas &8220;Boo&8221; Campbell.

&8220;I believe this group has been hired to iron out the kinks in the plan before the hurricane season comes again,&8221; Campbell said. &8220;I believe this has everyone&8217;s best interest at heart and that&8217;s all that matters.&8221;

Consultants Brad Tiffee, Jessica Diez, and Sean Fontenot of Baton Rouge make up he Innovative Emergency Management team offering the proposal.

The proposal makes planning and training recommendations and suggests practice exercises to simulate a possible disaster.

Planning recommendations include receiving copies of notes and reports to study from the areas hit hardest by Katrina and offering a mission as a purpose.

Also included will be training recommendations outlining how to train people strategically positioned throughout the community in

the event of a disaster.

Practice exercises requiring officials to go through a simulated disaster would be the last stage of the proposal.

&8220;This is the first in a series of meetings since Hurricane Katrina to identify what our needs are,&8221; said Kathy Stephens executive director of the United Way of the Miss-Lou. &8220;We (United Way) made a list of needs and a regional disaster plan was at the top of our list.&8221;

Although wanted by most, Adams County Emergency Management Director George Souderes and his Concordia Parish counterpart Morris White, said they feel the current plan is unnecessary.

&8220;We don&8217;t need this plan; we already have one,&8221; Souderes said.

White also said he wasn&8217;t sure the proposal was needed at this time.

&8220;This team is the premier emergency management consulting company in the United States,&8221; Stephens said.

&8220;We are blessed they chose us and blessed we could afford it.&8221;

Members of the IEM team thought a few things were necessary in the construction of an updated plan.

&8220;Communication is essential,&8221; Tiffe said.

&8220;For this to be successful people have to come together.&8221;

Some still thought the proposal was a bit premature.

&8220;When we get it to where these two state emergency offices are on the same page, then we need this,&8221; White said.

&8220;Until then none of this matters. Until we come together on this, we have nothing. We have to work together.&8221;

Despite controversy, Fontenot felt the proposal was accepted and understood.

&8220;I thought it went well,&8221; said Fontenot. &8220;We are here to make recommendations, and from there the officials can do as they please.&8221;

No one knows for sure how the hurricane season will go he said.

&8220;The water in the gulf is a few degrees warmer than it was this time last year, which isn&8217;t good,&8221; Tiffee said.

&8220;What we want to do is make sure that people are as prepared as they

can be if this happens again.&8221;

Hurricane season begins on June 1, and the events outlined in the proposal are scheduled to be completed in late June.

The consulting fees are around $49,000, which will be paid for through grants.

&8220;The situation here today is to improve upon those things where we need to improve,&8221; Mayor Phillip West said.

&8220;More people need to understand what&8217;s on those plans to be more prepared for future disasters.&8221;