Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and other officials from Harrisburg joined local emergency management officials at the dedication of a new building in Hamburg. The building will be headquarters for 20 counties from Philadelphia to Susquehanna County, and joins Central and Western district offices to provide emergency help across the state.

The building has an operations center filled with computers and phones and screens that allow everyone to see what is going on at the same time. Greg Doyle, emergency management specialist and doorkeeper for the dedication, said that otherwise it is like "Whisper down the Line," which changes meaning as people pass on what they think they hear but may not be what was it started out as.On the perimeter are offices. In the lobby is a Year of History in Nature which shows the serious emergencies over the past years.Most of the work is done in the county. In case of an emergency the Emergency Operations Center can be opened.Chief Deputy Director Robert Full welcomed team members and family. The building was many years in the planning and construction."Emergency management is all about teamwork - local, federal, and state. It takes great leadership to do what we do. Two years ago Glenn Cannon recognized the importance of the Emergency Management Agency. He took an agency that had been fiddled away and made this," said Full.Director Glenn Cannon of Emergency Management and Homeland Security said since 1970 the agency lived underground with no windows."This is the first time we had windows," Cannon said. "This is the Eastern area office where we will respond when bad things happen. We try to make them better through mitigation."Three years after storms Lee and Irene people are still living in trailers. It is the 34th anniversary of Three Mile Island.Money was appropriated in 2006 but it languished until November 2011.The money allocated in 2006 would not pay for as much in 2011. Several of the speakers mentioned that it is a plain cinder block building and not a Taj Mahal.Staff members were introduced. Of special note was Dan Searfoorce who was instrumental in building construction and Tim Wilhelm of the Hamburg Center who was always there to help. He identified a tree near the parking lot that was in danger of falling. The Hamburg Center also houses an Intermediate Unit and a hospital.Cannon introduced Gov. Tom Corbett by saying that the two of them have worked together for public safety."If you wait until something happens, you're lost," he said.Corbett thanked the volunteers and first responders. He said the room was as full as it will ever get. "We get it right because we are preparing for tornadoes, hurricanes and ice storms. All of those things affect the Eastern part of the state."He told the staff they had saved lives and even helped the pets.There have been more declarations of emergencies in two years than in the previous eight."People expect us to help and without money. As first responders you are state police, EMTs, firefighters and PEMA. You are to be congratulated for what you do. I'm glad we can dedicate this building," said Corbett.Corbett and Cannon wielded the golden scissors that cut the ribbon formally opening the building."Leaning forward" is a term meaning catching a problem before it becomes serious and the agency believes in it. Full said most of the people in the building are out on the street helping local agencies."I want to thank all of the PEMA employees. We are coming into spring with its hurricanes and tornadoes," said Full.