ROBERTSDALE — The Baldwin County Emergency Management Agency held its annual pre-season tropical weather exercise, which was presented this year as a discussion-based seminar to around 80 attendees from various countywide organizations.

Tom Tyler, director of Baldwin County Emergency Management Agency (EMA), said the exercise involved “as many of our partners as we could” from several municipalities. The event attracted fire departments, police departments, school systems, volunteer organizations, non-governmental agencies and other county departments, Tyler said.

“On paper, the goal was to go through and talk about our hurricane response plan and then talk about plans for recovery,” Tyler said, “but really, the relationships are the most vital thing that we do because we are in the relationship business. After a disaster is not the time to be exchanging business cards.”

The seminar was to help “foster that trust” among the organizations in attendance because there’s often “so much confusion” after a tropical weather event like a hurricane. Tyler said there were around 40 different organizations in attendance.

This year, Tyler noticed more health care organizations than he has in the past. He said EMA doesn’t typically “get down to the individual clinic level,” but after only being able to fit 50 people in the facility last year, invitations had to be specific. This year, the event was held at the Baldwin County Coliseum, which, according to its website, can hold up to 5,000 people for a short-term shelter from hurricanes and tornados.

“One of the objectives of the exercise was to foster a spirit of preparedness,” Tyler said. “We want to discuss amongst ourselves some of the things that some of us do that might either give you some ideas that could work for your organization or inspire you to do better (in emergency response).”

Two things stood out the most in the seminar, Tyler said. One was Riviera Utilities and Baldwin EMC’s joint presentation on some of the technology used to “understand what the power situation is” and also the methods used to “turn the lights back on” after a severe weather event.

Another aspect that stood out among the audience, he said he thought, was a focus on volunteers who show up to help with post-disaster cleanup. He said there was an emphasis on the volunteer reception center through the county, which reaches out and gathers volunteer groups and supplies being shipped to ensure equal distribution to the areas that need resources and volunteers.

Tyler said last year, EMA held a scenario-based exercise working up through different protocols for progressing “hurricane force winds.” This year, it was “just strictly meat and potatoes” with discussion from EMA partners, a briefing from the National Weather Service of what the county and municipal services should do before and after a hurricane makes landfall, and discussion of how to maintain effective communication during a severe weather emergency.

According to EMA’s public information officer, Jessica Waters, a few of the agencies involved included Baldwin County Commission, Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD), National Weather Service, Baldwin EMC & Riviera, Alabama Tourism, Baldwin County Board of Education, Medstar, Healthcare and local municipalities' mayors, emergency management coordinators, fire and law enforcement.