Percy C. Ashcraft

Many of us were breathing a sigh of relief late last week when Category 3 Hurricane Florence took a different path and never headed in the direction of Prince George County and the Tri-Cities area generally.

Watching the devastation through photos and live coverage breaks the hearts of all of us and certainly brings gratitude for dodging a major event.  It does beg the question, however, if Florence and all of its power had come right at Prince George County, how prepared were we?

The most experienced emergency management personnel will tell you that planning for everything before and during a disaster is never 100 percent.  There are always things that happen unexpectedly, causing split decisions to be made and the best laid plans to change.

But without a doubt, an anxious Prince George County community can be aware the Emergency Management Team had taken every measure to prepare for the wrath of Florence that never happened.  And although it turned out to be an emergency drill rather than reacting to the real thing, the exercise continued to show that preparedness is a major part of public safety operations.

Coordinated by Fire & EMS Director Brad Owens and Emergency Management Deputy Coordinator  Donald Hunter, hours of preparation began when the first sign of Florence was identified by national weather officials.  It progressed to daily updates within the department, and then the coordination to involve other departments and agencies in the event the Emergency Operation Center had to be activated.

County Staff was also scheduled if emergency shelters had to be opened, and a damage assessment team in place to respond to property if it was affected by the storm’s strength. 

Protective measures were also taken to lead evacuations from homes due to flooding and landslide risks.  Pre-discussions took place to assist the elderly and those who needed help with mechanical devices and  medications in the event electricity was lost.  The Animal Services & Adoption Center was also on alert to help with any crisis involving pets.

Discussions with VDOT took place to react to any road closures that might occur, and private vendors were put on standby if trees or other debris had to be removed quickly from roads and byways or even people’s yards.

An organized volunteer effort was also in place, that included the Fire & EMS companies and citizen-led Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) and the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).  All these volunteers train year round and play a vital role in planning and recovery operations.

The quality of life important to a community begins with public safety, but close behind is the ability of the community to survive a disaster.  County residents and business owners can be proud of the Emergency Management team and their many hours of putting an orderly plan together in the midst of a disorderly situation.  We were as prepared as we could be if disaster had struck.