Emergency Preparedness
People living in rural communities have always been among the more self-sufficient in our society; able to fulfill most of their needs on their own. That spirit of self-sufficiency and being prepared for those rainy days is part of what is now called Emergency Management.
Preparing for emergencies starts with each individual. Whether your emergency is loss of electrical power, wind or flood damage, or hard times from a loss of income, it pays to be prepared.
Did you know the federal government encourages all households to be prepared to shelter in place for at least three days in the event of an emergency?
Any disaster aid provided is usually not free. If approved, aid is usually in the form of low interest loans. Purchase insurance to mitigate your risk of loss.
Take pictures of any damage before clean-up and recovery begin. You'll need for insurance claims and aid applications.
Emergency Resources
Quick Tips
- Practice your family emergency plan
- Have extra supplies on hand such as food, water, medicine...
- Plan for backup power
Emergency Planning
The most common cause of an emergency in the town is something weather-related. Travel on our roads may be restricted and there may be a loss of power. How do we respond?
Actually, there are federal and state requirements which guide our actions, with assistance from county government. By resolution (#107-2015) the Town of Harrison adopted the Waupaca County All Hazards Mitigation Plan as our official plan. A more individualized Town Emergency Response Plan was adopted by resolution 108-2018.
So how do these government requirements and plans for managing emergencies actually affect you? What are the expectations for mitigating various kinds of emergencies? For those of us who have lived in the Town of Harrison for a few years we know of specific examples where some roads were impassible and/or power was out for up to three days. Rare, but not without precedent.