Foley part of statewide disaster assistance program
Foley part of statewide disaster assistance program
Officials in Foley and other Alabama communities are working on a plan to get relief supplies to areas affected by hurricanes, tornados or other disasters as soon as possible after the event. Local fire departments and other emergency services are working on a mutual aid system that could get relief to first responders and residents sooner after disasters.
Under the current system, local agencies request resources through the Alabama Emergency Management Agency. Those orders have to be processed before the request is assigned and resources deployed. That has taken several days in the past.
“Immediately after Hurricane Sally, quite frankly before the wind quit blowing, Orange Beach and Gulf Shores in particular, reached out,’’ said Foley Fire Chief Joey Darby said. “There was no doubt we were not going to be able to respond. Quite frankly, we all got hit so hard during the storm.
“In Hurricane Sally, two days after the fact, when resources came to our area to assist, which was very much appreciated, but they were late to the game and quite frankly, they weren’t the right resources when they got here,” Darby added.
Under the plan, each participating agency will agree to share available resources.
“For example, in our area, we talked about staging resources in the Poarch-Atmore more area. Poarch is very much on board with this, so that in the event of a hurricane by the time the wind settles down, we’ve got valuable resources coming our way that hopefully within an hour and a half, two hours,’’ he said.
Darby said that while hurricanes hitting the coast are the most likely disaster in which the plan will be needed, other areas of the state could benefit as well.
Foley Mayor Ralph Hellmich said the plan to share resources is similar to aid agreements used by utility departments following disasters.
“In the power industry, I know Riviera and EMC have this mutual-aid structure,” Hellmich said. “The key is the record keeping for FEMA reimbursement. That’s the big thing, but once that gets set up, it works quite well. They basically exchange across several state areas. But that is a one-time, power-industry type thing. This is going to be a little more broad-based. It’s a good thing.”