ROBERTSDALE – Baldwin County officials said they plan to add new systems for communicating with the public and other agencies during emergencies such as hurricanes and other disasters.
During the July 7 meeting with local officials to discuss county emergency operations, Jenni Guerry, assistant director of the Baldwin County Emergency Management Agency, said the county plans several improvements in disaster communications.
One addition is the creation of a Joint Information Center made up of EMA officials, municipal and county government agencies and public service organizations. Guerry said the center will be similar in operation to the county Emergency Operations Center. The EOC coordinates responses to and preparation for emergencies in the county, including hurricanes.
The new Joint Information Center will concentrate on communications.
“The Joint Information Center will be similar to that, so a lot of the structure that you see in the Emergency Operations Center, the operational pieces, the logistical support pieces is mirrored in the Joint Information Center, but we’re focused on collecting information, assimilating information and disseminating information,” Guerry said.
She said the center will coordinate communications both between agencies and with the public. Guerry said government officials planning responses to an approaching hurricane may need a different set of data than residents.
“The messages are going to be different based on who the audience is, because as a partner, I’m going to give you the real nuts and bolts of it,” she told the meeting audience. “You need to know all this so that you can plan for this in your jurisdiction and you can make the decisions you need. So, to the public, we’re going to construct messages that are going to be very concise. They’re going to be very instructional – if they need to evacuate, if they need to seek shelter. We’re going to construct those messages very differently.”
Guerry said the Joint Information Center would be set up if a disaster seems imminent.
“It’s going to be activated well in advance of an expected event,” Guerry said. “Typically, it’s going to be two or three days in advance of landfall if we have a major hurricane and there’s a reason for that. There’s so much messaging and so much information that needs to be shared in advance of this so the decisions for evacuation have to be made 72 to 96 hours out. And we all know the decision for evacuation is declared by the governor. We have to get that ball rolling very early in the game so people can be informed and take appropriate action.”
The county is also working on creating a crisis communications team to work year-round to coordinate training and exchanging information during emergencies.
“The crisis communications team is where I can go to help you if you have a situation and you can come to help us if we have a situation,” she said. “It may a hazardous materials situation. It may be a gas spill or a gas leak. So, we can help one another. If we train together, we can work together.”
She said the improvements will bring in more information from different sources that can be useful during emergencies.
“We’re pulling information from our federal partners,” she said. “We’re pulling information from our state partners so that we can really keep a great perspective and some of that information is going to be important to you. If ALDOT is closing a bridge, you need to know that.”
Guerry said one of the best sources for immediate information for residents and officials is through the county EMA app. The app is available at the county EMA website https://baldwincountyal.gov/departments/emergency-management-agency.
