Resiliency and Preparedness

Community Preparedness

All emergencies begin locally, most stay there.  Local governments must be somewhat prepared to take care of themselves during an emergency, as well as perform their function of assisting their constituents.  When citizens are overwhelmed they turn to their towns, and towns should be ready.  Towns should have an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) with backup power, a designated Local Emergency Management Coordinator/Director, a designated emergency shelter with backup power, and an up-to-date Local Emergency Management Plan (LEMP).  Communities are also encouraged to adopt sound land use and floodplain regulations, road standards to avoid damage from washouts, and a Local Hazard Mitigation Plan.  TRORC provides assistance with many of these items.  LEMPs are public documents located on each town’s page, but redacted for privacy as these include home addresses and phone numbers. Local Hazard Mitigation Plans (if they exist) are located in each of our member town’s documents page as an additional resource.

The Nature Conservancy created a Community Resilience Building Workshop for town’s to increase their preparedness before and after a disaster. The following Community Resilience Building Workshop Guide is designed to provide clear instructions on how to lead your community towards improved resilience. This Guidebook carefully illustrates the essentials of the Community Resilience Building Workshop process as well as the “before” and “after” workshop considerations to help ensure immediate goals, outcomes, and strategic direction are realized within your community.

Individuals & Families

Individuals and families should always have a disaster kit ready in their homes and a plan as to what to do during emergencies, including where to go if they cannot use their home.  Such plans should take into account the special needs of disabled persons, elderly, or pets.  The more prepared we all are for disasters, the less loss of life and damage to property will occur and the quicker we and our communities will bounce back. The links below can help you get started.

Links for Individuals & Families

Businesses

Loss of a private business or non-profit due to the effects of a disaster can ruin the organization and its employees’ livelihood, and, if large, cripple a local economy. Business failure due to predictable disasters can also open the company to lawsuits. The links below offer valuable information that will help for-profit and not-for-profit companies weather the strain a disaster can deliver.

Links for Businesses

 

TRORC is now a NOAA Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador– a group dedicated to strengthening national resilience against extreme weather. You can learn about this program on the National Weather Service Website