"Our number one threat is a hurricane and we are not going to get wet by ourselves," said Creig Moore, Gloucester County's emergency management coordinator. "If we don't work together to plan regionally, we are making a big mistake."
Gloucester County recently received $145,000 in federal grant money. The funding is being used for regional emergency preparedness, specifically in the areas of evacuation and shelter planning in Gloucester, Mathews and Middlesex counties.
"It's very important that we work together," said Edwina Casey, a Mathews Board of Supervisors member appointed as the county's emergency management director. "It's a scary thing to think about but we have to be prepared."
Middlesex County Administrator Matt Walker said geographically the partnership makes sense with the three counties huddled together — stuck between Hampton Roads and Richmond.
"The more willing we are to work together the more effective and efficient we become," Walker said.
The grant funding is from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management's 2014 State Homeland Security Grant program. Moore said $45,000 will go to a coordinated effort by the three counties to enhance evacuation preparedness. The remaining $100,000 will go to creating a regional sheltering plan for the partnership.
In December, a meeting was held to discuss the two projects and hosted by the consulting firm hired to help, The Olson Group, Ltd.
As work on the plan gets underway in the next few weeks, the evacuation portion of the project will involve review of the current flood zones and a revision of the current evacuation zones. Officials also plan to develop multi-cultural training materials on flood zones and evacuation plans, and host workshops to educate the population.
Moore said the goal will be to clearly define who would need to evacuate under specific circumstances and where they would need to go. He said new tools and technology allows them to easily identify the main people at risk in an event.
It will also look at how to effectively move evacuees from all over through the main artery of Route 17 without major issues.
"You can't plan for everything but you take and do the best calculations you can," Moore said.
The evacuation project is expected to be complete by May, just in time for hurricane season, Moore said.
The regional sheltering project will take a bit longer to develop, but Moore said it is designed to enhance the counties' current sheltering plans. It will look at the Middle Peninsula's post-event sheltering needs and define those who can contribute to the sheltering capabilities, including faith-based organizations.
Middlesex Emergency Management Coordinator Mark Nugent said that days into an event the Middle Peninsula may no longer need multiple shelters open in each county. One regional shelter could be sufficient at that time for those still in need of shelter and all three counties could share the responsibility of its operation.
Casey said Mathews currently has a problem with sheltering because it only has a Category 1 sheltering option. The county is hoping the new YMCA building planned for the Hudgins area will be approved as a possible Category 2 shelter, but it has not been constructed yet.
Officials hope to have the regional sheltering project portion complete by March 2016.
The consultant is expected to begin meeting with representatives from each county to gather data and discuss individual needs to be incorporated into the plan.
Moore said training exercises will be held at the completion of each project to work out any problems.
"You don't just write a plan and stick it back on the shelf and say 'hey, we have a plan.' That's a plan to fail," Moore said. "You should have a plan and stick to it."
©2015 the Daily Press (Newport News, Va.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
