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#1

Hello class! The three threats that are most prevalent in my area are tornadoes, flooding, and hazardous materials. Hazard adjustments are important because they can help reduce the risk of vulnerability to future disasters (Lindell, 2006). They can also reduce the amount of loss during a disaster, which is always a good thing!

There are a few hazard adjustments that I would make for my town. Starting with tornadoes, having a better way to quickly communicate with the public is needed. For those who do not have cable or a television, a better app or text messaging alert would be very helpful. More education on the importance of a designated safe room would also be a good hazard adjustment that could save many lives. For flooding, the phrase “Turn Around, Don’t Drown” should be taught more to the citizens. Many people do not know that a mere six inches of moving water can sweep you off your feet (Lucas County, n.d.). Also, making sure people who live in flood zones are aware of the danger is important. Finally, I feel like over half of the people in my area have no idea that we live in an area that is at a very high risk of hazardous material contamination. If there were to be a major spill or explosion, our whole area would be infected. We need more education on this topic! Developing a family emergency plan and having a disaster kit would greatly help in this type of a situation. For the most part, I feel like our area has good plans in place for disasters. The main problem is education to the public about these plans and what threats we face, is lacking.

Works Cited:

Lindell, M. K., Perry, R. W., Prater, C., & Nicholson, W. C. (2006). Fundamentals of emergency management. Washington, D.C.: FEMA.

Lucas County. (n.d.). Retrieved December 30, 2018, from https://www.co.lucas.oh.us/731/Flooding

#2

Greetings Everyone

Living in a small community has its drawbacks but it is also rewarding.  I have chosen wildfires, floods and railroad incidents.  I could have used server weather also because we get server thunderstorms, ice storms, and blizzards but the three I chose have or can have more of an impact on the community.  As all communities making hazard adjustments to reduce the risk is important for us.

Wildfires are something we deal with every year and they are getting more intense and with more extreme fire behavior.  With the all of forest proper land and forest management is an important part of the hazard adjustment including timber harvest.  We also educate people through the Fire Wise Program and community awareness.  Was part of the wildfire crew we do control or prescribed burns to lighten fuel loads and increase wildlife habitat.

Flooding here happens every spring and the biggest thing to get across is turn around don’t drown.  Most of the flooding is from ice dams during the spring melt and break up causing the rivers to flood.  Parts of the surrounding area we cover get cut off from services such as fire and EMS because of the flooding.  We have the rescue boat with portable pumps and other firefighting supplies and a backboard to transport and EMS patient if needed. We also preplan for sandbags and barriers that we block the roads with.

As for the last the railroad incident this is important because the rail line splits the town and an incident could cause major issues by blocking several of the major and only roads into and out of the area.  Route 1, route 169, and Bancroft Road are the three ways into Danforth and the rail line crosses all three.  The 169 crossing is right in the middle of town and it not only crosses the road but the river.  This could make it impossible to provide services to the other side of town not to mention it would affect the fire department seeing the tracks run about 200 feet behind the station.  The railroad transports everything through here from tar sands oil, liquid propane, and ethanol.  The last incident at the route 1 crossing a log truck struck empty propane cars and derailed them.  Training, educating, and working with the railroad is a key part of helping prepare for these incidents.

Lindell, M. K., Perry, R. W., Prater, C., & Nicholson, W. C. (2006). Fundamentals of emergency management. Washington, D.