Disaster Network Goes On-Line : Computers: New electronic system is a clearinghouse of information that 750 groups can tap to coordinate emergency relief. It was tested during recent rains.

Hollywood producer Mark Flaisher has helped organize the Three Tenors Concert, the opening and closing ceremonies for the 1984 Olympics and the 1993 Super Bowl halftime show featuring Michael Jackson.

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But his latest assignment is to organize a much more chaotic event: Los Angeles’ next disaster recovery.

After the Northridge earthquake, Mayor Richard Riordan asked Flaisher to create a telephone and computer communications network that will allow community groups and private businesses to coordinate emergency aid after the next disaster.

The result is Emergency Network Los Angeles, an electronic clearinghouse of information that 750 community groups can tap to make sure food supplies, shelter, mental health services, volunteers and other necessities end up where they are needed most in an emergency.

The network operates an on-line computer system on the Los Angeles Freenet, an Encino-based system that is a huge computer bulletin board providing access to disaster information and electronic mail.

It was activated for the first time last week in response to the heavy rains that flooded streets and filled some homes with mud and water. But because flood victims were relatively few, the network’s role in the recovery was minor.

Still, Flaisher said, the storm provided a chance to test the system to make sure all the bugs have been worked out.

“We had too much horsepower for this one,” he said. “It’s very refreshing because we have more resources than we needed.”

The idea for the network was born of the chaos following the Jan. 17 quake.

Early in the quake recovery effort, Riordan was surprised to learn that food banks, churches, volunteer groups and private businesses had no network in which to share information on resources and manpower.

For years, such a network existed under the name Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, which was part of a nationwide assistance group. But after the head of the group died nearly six years ago, no one kept the organization operating.

After the quake, Riordan said, emergency workers spent hours on the phones to reach community groups to help coordinate the recovery. “We did it, but it took a lot of human effort,” he said.

Frustrated over the situation, Riordan contacted Flaisher, a producer and computer whiz who had previously worked for the mayor’s foundation, and asked him to organize the network, taking advantage of advances in computer, cellular and fax technology.

The result was a network whose participants include such assistance groups as the American Red Cross, United Way and the Salvation Army and is underwritten by Kaiser Permanente, Unisys Corp., LA Cellular and The Times.

As designed, community groups such as the Los Angeles Foodbank and Habitat for Humanity can call the network through a computer or telephone line and either ask for help or offer assistance in a disaster.

The network was designed so that participating members can not only get information from the computer billboard but also post information about services or resources they have to offer. Those without computers can call Flaisher at the city’s emergency operations center in City Hall and have him post or retrieve the needed information from the system.

In most cases, the Red Cross oversees the first response after a major disaster: It assesses the damage, helps evacuate victims and then feeds and shelters those displaced.

Emergency Network Los Angeles is designed to take over during the recovery phase, Flaisher said. “We may help in a small part during the initial response, but we will own the recovery phase,” he said.

Kimberly Hall, who heads the earthquake response team for the San Fernando Valley Interfaith Council, said her group is involved because it provides fast referral to a broad array of services for disaster victims who may turn to churches for help.

“Quite often the organizations down the street from each other almost don’t know they exist,” she said. “It’s a vital linkage for people because sometimes you may have a problem and you don’t know where to turn.”

The network can also help coordinate resources. After the earthquake, for example, drinking water was distributed in an almost haphazard manner.

“We had companies bringing water all the way from the East Coast, and it was a horrendous job figuring out where to send it and who should distribute it,” said Garvel Wike, Southern California’s director of disaster services for the Salvation Army.

Under the network, he said, individual volunteer groups will be assigned to oversee a particular area of the recovery, such as accepting and distributing donations or delivering water or blankets within a particular region.

But the network has some weaknesses. For example, Flaisher said, only about 100 community groups in the network have computers that can tap into the Los Angeles Freenet. The others must be contacted by phone or fax, he said.

But Flaisher said the mayor’s office and other network members are working to get computers donated to each member. He also said he can use an automatic fax system that can fire off faxes to dozens of groups at once.

Another potential flaw is that communication systems such as computers and telephones are liable to shut down in a disaster, cutting off network members from communicating with each other.

For that reason, Flaisher said he is urging each community group to get short-wave radios or cellular telephones.

Despite such drawbacks, participants say the network will help bring some order after the next disaster.

“It streamlines everything from information sharing to problem solving,” said John Suggs, director of public policy for the Los Angeles chapter of the United Way.