ROBERTSDALE -- The hours leading up to a hurricane landfall can be the most critical to public safety.
Coastal residents have learned that preparation, having the proper safety measures in place before the storm hits and knowing when and where to …
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ROBERTSDALE -- The hours leading up to a hurricane landfall can be the most critical to public safety.
Coastal residents have learned that preparation, having the proper safety measures in place before the storm hits and knowing when and where to take refuge from the storm, either at home or at a designated emergency shelter, can mean the difference in avoiding serious injury, even death.
It is equally important that local and state officials be prepared for the storm and that they work together to ensure the safety of their residents.
With that in mind, the Baldwin County Emergency Management Agency hosted a briefing for elected and appointed officials on Thursday, July 18 at the EMA Operations Center in Robertsdale.
“A lot of this is routine, but it’s also a way to let the elected and appointed officials know of new procedures we have in place and new technology that’s available to them,” said EMA Director Mitchell Sims.
The two-hour seminar covered a wide range of topics including:
The National Weather Service is predicting an active storm season in 2013 for the Atlantic and Gulf Coast regions, Sims said, and while August and September are typically the most active months of the hurricane season, it’s important to be prepared all the time.
“We don’t prepare based on the forecast,” Sims said. “We prepare because, as anyone who has lived on the coast for any length of time knows, it only takes one major storm to have a devastating effect on an area. Predictions are a tool that we use, but they are just one tool. We have to be ready no matter what the situation.”
Generally, Sims said, the briefing is held at the beginning of hurricane season in May, but it was delayed this year because of training.
“We have been hosting a lot of training exercises this year and did not want to take away from that,” Sims said. “But I am pleased with the turnout.”
More than 70 officials participated in Thursday’s exercise, including elected and appointed officials from municipal, county and state agencies.
