Press Releases
10/15/2015
Gov. Malloy Announces State Will Hold Emergency Preparedness Drill Beginning Saturday
(HARTFORD, CT) - Governor Dannel P. Malloy today announced that a two-day statewide emergency preparedness drill designed to enhance readiness and disaster planning at all levels of government, with an emphasis on school emergency preparedness and response, will take place on Saturday, October 17 and Wednesday, October 21, 2015.
Coordinated by the Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, the exercise will simulate a tornado touching down in participating towns and will test the coordination and response of all participating stakeholders. The exercise is part of Governor Malloy's ongoing Emergency Preparedness and Planning Initiative, which began in 2011 and included the first statewide exercise in 2012.
"As several recent storms and emergencies have shown us, all key stakeholders in the state must be prepared and ready at any given time for any type of sudden, unexpected situation, and that's why it is imperative that we must come together and regularly conduct these drills to ensure that we have a coordinated response that can help limit the impact of potential disasters," Governor Malloy said.
The state's other recent drills simulated situations such as hurricanes and major winter ice storms.
"These exercises improve our ability to respond to crisis and help us protect residents and infrastructure," Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman said. "Establishing strong partnerships among municipalities, state officials, and others is key to building cohesive response teams that more efficiently restore services, transportation, and normalcy."
At the Governor's direction, state agencies are participating and will include a test of each agency's emergency contact list as well as reviewing, convening and updating of each agency's Incident Management Team and each primary Emergency Support Function agency's Continuity of Operations Plan. State officials will also support state and local emergency operations by staffing the state Emergency Operations Center in Hartford as needed during the exercise. In addition, during Wednesday's drill, the state's Urban Search and Rescue Team will exercise the search for victims in a collapsed building at Camp Hartell in Windsor Locks.
The state's utilities will also participate in the exercise in order to test their coordination and response to power restoration with participating municipalities and the state.
Materials related to the exercise and the Governor's Emergency Planning and Preparedness Initiative can be found at www.ct.gov/demhs.
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