By Marianne
Sullivan, Courier Senior Staff
Writer:
ESSEX:
Are you ready for an
ice storm? Extreme cold? School closings? Power outages? The town’s emergency
services have considered the same questions and given the answers serious
thought.
Town officials,
including First Selectman Philip Miller, participated in an emergency
preparedness policy exercise recently with 14 other communities in Middlesex County. The exercise, “Extreme Cold-Ice
Storm Tabletop,” was conducted to help local and regional officials identify
policies, or gaps in policies, necessary to prepare communities to response to
extreme cold weather events.
The areas of
emergency preparedness and response studied were security, transportation,
power/energy loss, isolated populations, fuel shortages, and medical
emergencies. The 15 communities met to dissect their local response and review
the response assumptions of neighboring communities and Middlesex Hospital.
It was the second in
a series of hospital and public health-focused exercises meant to involve
decision makers from participating municipalities and for neighboring
communities in the name of regional cross-discipline emergency planning.
“We are committed to
the health and safety of our citizens,” Miller said. “This exercise challenged
us to consider the possibility that we could be shut off from essential
services for days on end. The reality is that every one of us needs to develop
personal emergency plans in addition to strengthening our town’s plans.”
Participants
included municipal leaders from Haddam, Chester,
Deep River, Essex, Old Saybrook, Westbrook, Clinton,
Killingworth, Durham, Middlefield, Madison, Middletown,
Cromwell, East Haddam, Portland, and East Hampton. Also in attendance were experts from
several state agencies including Department of Emergency Management and
Homeland Security, Department of Public Health, and Department of Environmental
Protection, as well as the American Red Cross, National Weather Service,
Northeast Utilities, Wesleyan
University, Valley Shore
911, Clinton Crossing Outlet Mall, and the Connecticut River Estuary Regional
Planning Agency.
Essex will continue to participate in regional
preparedness efforts, including an up-coming preparedness campaign called “3
Days, 3 Ways...Are You Ready.” This campaign will highlight the importance of
each resident to prepare for being on their own for at least three days, making
an emergency plan, building an emergency kit, and getting involved in emergency
response in their community.