Emergency Preparedness Committee
Are you prepared for emergencies? Is the Town prepared? What are you supposed to do in emergency situations?
The Emergency Preparedness Committee is continuing the work of the EmergencyPreparedness Task Force to improve our Town’s readiness in cases of local and regional emergency situations, and raise awareness of Town residents on how to be prepared for emergencies and contribute to an emergency response.
Hazards to Town, Natural and Man-made
Due to the forested nature of our Town, we are particularly vulnerable to snow storms,thunderstorms, and tornadoes—that can bring down trees and branches to cause extendedperiods of power loss. The Town also has challenging man-made hazards nearby in form of theCSX rail line, Roberts Oxygen, and the County Equipment Maintenance and Operations Center(EMTOC) in close proximity to each other.
Emergency-Ready Government
We are beginning the work to formalize a plan for clear procedures to deal with emergencysituations including a chain of command, continuity of operations, interfacing with emergencyresponders, and mobilizing town residents to assist in emergencies.
Improved Infrastructure for Emergencies
The Town is installing a generator system to power the Town office, and to enable McCathranHall to be used as a shelter or staging area in times of emergencies. Based on feedback fromemergency responders, we are investigating how to help them locate specific addresses byimproving the visibility of street and house number signage, and locate fire hydrants by markingthem with high visibility posts.
Improved Town Communication
Improvements to the way emergency information is delivered to Town residents are beinginvestigated. Because different communication infrastructures might fail during emergencies, weare looking into not only electronic communication such as e-mail or text message, but alsophone trees, and door-to-door visits by Neighborhood Watch. We are also communicating withthe local emergency response agencies to be better informed about what to expect duringcatastrophic emergencies.
Strengthen Resident Volunteers
Neighborhood Watch is being re-established not only with crime watch and prevention tasks, butalso as a general neighbor awareness organization that is familiar with the needs of neighborsand will be able to help residents in times of need, by coordinating with the Grove Caresvolunteer group. We are also encouraging residents to take advantage of various trainingopportunities that are available from organizations such as Community Emergency ResponseTeam (CERT), Red Cross (CPR/AED), and Community Animal Response Team (CART). Welltrained residents can be a tremendous help during catastrophic situations.
Everybody Be Prepared
All residents should be prepared for emergencies. Refer to the Emergency PreparednessChecklist to make a plan, make an emergency kit, and stay informed. Please don’t forget theneeds of your pets, as well as your neighbors.
The committee members are: Satoshi Amagai (Chair), David Cosson (Vice-Chair), Patty Klein(Council Liaison), Nan Aitel-Thompson, and Mary Warfield. If you are interested in helping,please contact any of us.
Emergency Preparedness Committee
Satoshi Amagai (Chair)
301-330-1336
[email protected]
Last Updated June 2017