Baldwin County officials launch emergency response pilot program

BALDWIN COUNTY, Ala. (WALA) - Baldwin County officials have launched a program to ensure rural parts of the county know what to do during hurricanes.

Do you know what to do when a hurricane hits?

With hurricane season underway, Baldwin County officials have launched a pilot program to make sure those in rural communities are prepared.

“Our rural communities do not have nearly as many resources available to them as some of the larger communities. And we find that when you prepare for a disaster that you are able to better assist those rural communities and identify areas that we can help them in the long run,” said Katie Shepard with Baldwin County Extension.

Shepard has been working with Baldwin County EMA to launch the Ready Community pilot program. Right now their focus is on ensuring four rural parts of the county — Perdido Beach, Lilian, Elberta and Josephine — are prepared for hurricanes.

“We are helping them create their emergency operation plans to better prepare for when a disaster strikes,” said Shepard.

The emergency operation plan Shepard talks about assigns roles for organizations and individuals during emergencies. It also outlines ways staff and volunteers from larger, surrounding communities can step in and help those rural areas during emergencies.

The program has also been launched in Lee and Lauderdale counties to help rural communities in those areas prepare for floods and tornadoes. Shepard says they are hopeful they’ll be able to expand the program to other parts of the state like Mobile County.

Shepherd also says they have created a survey for people who live in those four parts of Baldwin County – Perdido Beach, Elberta, Lillian and Josephine. The survey is for county officials to see whether people in those areas are prepared for emergencies. If you live in those areas, you can visit this link to complete the survey.

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