Working through the consequences of a natural disaster on the scale of a 19th century earthquake that caused the Mississippi River to flow backward, or Super Storm Sandy’s devastation of the mid-Atlantic coast several years ago has caused local and state officials to work more closely with federal entities to mitigate the cascading effects of widespread devastation.Speaking by Skype to attendees at the Association of the United States Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition, Gen. Charles Jacoby, commander of Northern Command, said, "The distance between the home game and the away game is narrowing" in dealing with natural disasters to terrorist threats.Looking back at the earthquake of 1811, with major aftershocks lasting for more than a month, he said, "New Madrid was a bad one."The "Responding to America’s Worst Day" forum, a Homeland Security Seminar, used that event as a focus for discussion of how officials at all levels of government have to work together to manage such events.David Applegate, referring to the earthquake that affected what is now seven or eight states with a population of more than 7 million, said, "We need to be able to take on all comers – including Mother Nature."Applegate, who is an earthquake specialist with the United States Geological Survey, said while earthquakes often are larger in the far West, the ones in the East and Midwest, like New Madrid, have the potential to cause far more damage because the effects are spread over greater distances.Adding to the potential for greater damage is that buildings, bridges and other infrastructure in those parts of the country are not designed or built with earthquakes in mind.If New Madrid happened today, he estimated "3,000 bridges would be out and [we would see] levee failure" up and down the Mississippi Valley.Chief James Schwartz of the Arlington County, Va., Fire Department, whose department was among the very first responders to the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the Pentagon, said Defense Department officials have to realize that "there is a wide diversity of skills and capabilities" in police and fire departments across the county.But for first responders, such as his department (even with its disaster planning and mutual aid agreements), they "must understand that this is not a routine incident" and recognize "the high degree of probability that their officers and firemen will be victims too."In short, "mutual aid will not be available."Brig. Gen. Gregory Mason, Missouri’s assistant adjutant general, said that his state’s procedures are "to have all guard units report to their armories" even before receiving formal orders from the governor.Realistically, if New Madrid happened again today, the 9,000 Army National Guardsmen and 2,000 members of the Air Guard would be overwhelmed by the disaster and Missouri would "be looking to Western states for support."This is because those to the east would be having the same problems as Missouri in preserving lives and mitigating damage of exploding gas pipelines, destroyed water treatment plants and more.Robert Fenton, assistant administrator for response at FEMA, said the agency’s goal in such a disaster is "think big, act smart, but be smart."That means integrated planning before such a disaster, knowing who is who and being able to tailor plans "and start pushing those resources out."One of those resources is the Army Corps of Engineers. Maj. Gen. John Peabody of the corps said, "We are FEMA’s engineers" in coping with disasters.Maj. Gen. Glenn Lesniak of the Army Reserve said a change in federal law now allows the Army Reserve to provide immediate response "in saving lives, preventing human suffering and mitigating damage."In most cases, this would be for less than 72 hours.Following a presidential declaration of disaster, the Army Reserve, working through U.S. Army Forces Command, could provide a range of resources from logistics to transportation to chemical, biological and radiological assets in response to the disaster.Lesniak added, "Don’t forget our soldiers are living in these communities" and take pride in being able to help.