union county emergency management

Union County NJ - go to homepage

(908) 654-9881
Fax (908) 654-9851

CHRISTOPHER SCATURO, DIRECTOR

300 NORTH AVENUE EAST
WESTFIELD, NJ 07090

 
24 Hour Emergency
Contact
(908) 654-9800

 

pse&g

Restoring
Electric or Gas
Service After Flooding

What Is Emergency Management?

It is the discipline and profession of applying science, technology, planning and management to deal with extreme events that can kill or injure large numbers of people, do extensive damage and disrupt a community.
Union County Emergency Management trains for, maintains equipment for, and responds to disasters and emergencies; coordinates county and regional response and provides Hazardous Materials Response Team.

 

Mitigation

 

Refers to activities that actually eliminate or reduce the chance of occurrence or the effects of a disaster. Recent research has shown that much can be done to either prevent major emergencies or disasters from ever happening, or if nothing else, at least reduce the damaging impact if they cannot be prevented.

 

What is a Mitigation Plan?

 

Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000

The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000) is federal legislation that establishes a pre-disaster hazard mitigation program and new requirements for the national post-disaster Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). DMA 2000 encourages and rewards local and state pre-disaster planning, promotes sustainability, and seeks to

integrate State and local planning with an overall goal of strengthening statewide hazard mitigation planning. This enhanced planning approach enables local, tribal, and state governments to articulate accurate and specific needs for hazard mitigation, which results in faster, more efficient allocation of funding and more effective risk reduction projects.

 

What is hazard mitigation?

Hazard Mitigation is any action taken to reduce the loss of life and property by lessening the impact of disasters (natural, technological and man-made) (www.fema.gov). It is often considered the first of the four phases of emergency management; mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.


Mitigation measures fall into the following six general categories:

Prevention: Measures such as planning and zoning, open space preservation, and development regulations, building codes, storm water management, fire fuel reduction, soil erosion, and sediment control.

Property Protection: Measures such as acquisition, relocation, storm shutters, rebuilding, barriers, flood proofing, insurance, and structural retrofits for high winds and earthquake hazards.

Public Education and Awareness: Measures such as outreach projects, real estate disclosure, hazard information centers, technical assistance, and school age and adult education programs.

Natural Resource Protection: Measures such as erosion and sediment control, stream corridor protection, vegetative management, and wetlands preservation.

Emergency Services: Measures such as hazard threat recognition, hazard warning systems, emergency response, protection of critical facilities, and health and safety maintenance.

Structural Projects: Measures such as dams, levees, seawalls, bulkheads, revetments, high flow diversions, spillways, buttresses, debris basins, retaining walls, channel modifications, storm sewers, and retrofitted buildings and elevated roadways (seismic protection).

 

What is a hazard mitigation plan?

FEMA defines a Hazard Mitigation Plan as the documentation of a state or local government’s evaluation of natural hazards and the strategies to mitigate such hazards.

Hazard mitigation planning is the process of determining how to reduce or eliminate the loss of life and property damage resulting from natural hazards. Section 322 of the DMA 2000 specifically addresses mitigation planning at the state and local levels. FEMA has promulgated hazard mitigation planning regulations pursuant to the DMA 2000. These regulations identify four essential phases to mitigation planning: (1) organizing resources, (2) assess the risks, (3) develop the mitigation plan, and (4) implement the plan and monitor progress.

Union County is preparing a Multi-Jurisdictional All-Hazard Mitigation Plan. The Plan will demonstrate the County and participating jurisdiction’s commitment to reducing risk and serve as a guide for decision makers as they commit resources to minimize the effects of natural hazards.

 

How does this
plan benefit
Union County?

A hazard mitigation plan will assist Union County with the following:

• An increased understanding of natural hazards the County faces
• Development of more sustainable and disaster-resistant communities
• Eligibility for federal funds for pre-disaster mitigation planning (DMA2000)
• Partnerships that support planning and mitigation efforts and may offer potential financial savings. For example:

 

    ◦ Flood insurance premium reduction
    ◦ Broader resources for funding of mitigation projects
    ◦ Enhanced benefit-cost rations for COE projects
• Reduced long-term impacts and damages to human health and structures and reduced repair costs

 

Proactive mitigation leads to sustainable, more cost-effective projects. By contrast, reactive mitigation tends to lead to the “quick-fix” alternatives; it simply costs too much to address the effects of disasters only after they happen. A surprising amount of damage can be prevented if the County anticipates where and how disasters will occur, and take steps to mitigate those damages.

 

Preparedness

The planning of how to respond in case an emergency or disaster occurs and working to increase resources available to respond effectively. Preparedness activities are designed to help save lives and minimize damage by preparing people to respond appropriately when an emergency is imminent. To respond properly, Union County must have a plan for response, trained personnel to respond and necessary resources with which to respond.

 

Response

Is the activities occurring during and immediately after a disaster. These activities are designed to provide emergency assistance to victims of the event and reduce the likely hood of secondary damage. Union County Office of Emergency Management, Union County Police, and Local Fire, Police and Emergency Medical Service providers are primary responders.

 

Recovery

This is the final phase of the emergency management cycle. Recovery continues until all systems return to normal or near normal. Short term recovery returns vital life support systems to minimal operating standards. Long term recovery from a disaster may go on for years until the entire disaster area is completely redeveloped, either as it was in the past or for entirely new purposes that are less disaster prone.

PREPARE A DISASTER KIT
Bottled water
Non-perishable food
First aid kit
Battery powered radio
Flashlight
Extra batteries

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS CHECKLIST

line

Home | SITEMAP| Privacy | Contact Us | Change Font Size - Larger | Smaller

 

Union County Administration Building • 10 Elizabethtown Plaza • Elizabeth, New Jersey 07207
County Switchboard (908) 527-4000 • Toll Free Information (877) 424-1234