by Todd Habiger
todd.habiger@theleaven.org
LEAVENWORTH — Chuck Magaha is ready for anything. If there is a disaster or crisis, he has a plan. As director of Leavenworth County Emergency Management for the past 38 years, it’s been his job to be prepared.
It’s no wonder that he’s been tapped to assist in the Regional Coordination Center during the FIFA World Cup in Kansas City. This will be a huge regional event affecting many locations. Security is just one part of many that needs to be monitored during the events while the World Cup is here.
“I could have retired many years ago, but I told folks I was sticking around because of the World Cup,” Magaha said. “I feel that my expertise and knowledge would be a benefit to the entire Kansas City metropolitan area.”
Soccer is the most popular sport in the world with an estimated 3.5 to 4 billion fans — 650,000 of whom are expected to descend on the metro. With that many new people in the area, the risk of crime, accidents, human trafficking, terrorism — you name it — increases.
The nine counties that make up the Kansas City metropolitan area have been planning for the World Cup for two years. Magaha, who is a parishioner of Holy Angels Parish in Basehor, sits on the planning committee of the Mid-America Emergency Managers Committee, for which he is the co-chair on the Kansas side.
For Magaha, his goal is to make the World Cup in Kansas City a safe and welcoming event.
With Algeria, Argentina, England and the Netherlands setting up their base camps in the area, not to mention the fans from Austria, Curaçao, Ecuador and Tunisia that will be pouring into the city for the first set of games, there will be a mix of cultures and religions coming together in a relatively confined space.
Magaha said that there are many challenges in hosting an event like the World Cup. For one, expect transportation delays — even on your regular routes around town.
“What might have taken 45 minutes . . . may now take two to three hours,” he said.
His team has to be prepared for traffic accidents to avoid critical slowdowns on major roadways.
Transportation to a match will also be much different than what people from this area are used to. There will be transportation hubs all over the city, where people are expected to park and then be bused to the game site. Buses are expected to be running to and from the stadium every 15 minutes.
But with thousands of people boarding at the rate of approximately 50 per bus, that takes time. If it’s hot, there’s the threat of heat stroke. Tempers could flare, leading to violence. Magaha has to be prepared for anything.
Everything has a plan. Cyber-attack? There’s a plan for that. Terrorist attack? There’s a plan for that. Hantavirus? There’s a plan for that.
Regardless of the situation, there’s a plan for that. Magaha’s job is to make sure those plans are implemented every day and to look for shortfalls in those plans.
“With the information we get we want to make it safer for the fans, make it safer for the citizens and make it safer for the responders,” Magaha said.
Another issue for Magaha is making sure visitors from other countries can reach the proper people in case of emergencies, as not all countries use 911.
“If they’re using a different set of numbers, we’re hoping we have the technology that can convert that into 911 here locally,” he said.
Magaha said that they are also working with the ambassadors from other countries to relay information to visitors via social media channels.
Finally, at any sports gathering of this size, there is always the possibility of some sort of criminal activity. Magaha said people should not let their guards down.
“We need to be welcoming, but we also need to be vigilant,” he said. “When I say vigilant, I mean that we’re taking extra precautions to make sure that our parishioners stay safe.”
At Holy Angels, Magaha has recommended that kids use the buddy system with adult supervision during the World Cup.
“You want to make sure someone doesn’t wander off on their own because you never know what’s going to be out there,” he said.
Magaha also said that people need to be aware of their surroundings. And while this affords the archdiocese a chance to be a welcoming one, he stresses that individuals need to trust their instincts.
“If it doesn’t look right, it’s probably not right,” he said.
