In the event of a disaster, the single most important factor for an effective response will be availability of information, La Conner Emergency Management Commission member Jerry George said last week.

“And that information,” he stressed, “has to be accurate.”

George and the advisory panel are attentive to communications and information systems well ahead of the next flood, earthquake, windstorm, cold snap or heat wave.

At its Jan. 2 meeting at Maple Hall commissioners heard from Skagit County Emergency Management Coordinator Joan Cromley; Skagit County Fire District 13 Capt. Ted...