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Emergency management cites improved power-outage response, flags sheltering limits and federal grant uncertainty
Summary
Kane County emergency management reported operational improvements between last July’s tornadoes and a later March straight-line wind event, highlighted new access to ComEd outage data and mapping tools, noted an expanded volunteer program and raised concern about sheltering capacity and the status of federal/state mitigation grants.
Scott, representing Kane County emergency management, presented an after-action summary on April 10 comparing responses to a July tornado event and a March straight-line wind/small-tornado report that affected portions of the county.
Scott said National Weather Service-confirmed measurements recorded wind gusts of 67 mph at Lily Lake and 63 mph at Sugar Grove during the March event; damage was mostly straight-line wind with localized severe damage (roof loss at First United Methodist Church in Elgin and a flattened barn in Hampshire Township). He said the county’s situational assessment and information-sharing have improved since July because staff are mapping damage points and developing forms and an EOC (Emergency Operations Center) software system to speed data collection.
A notable operational improvement was new access to a ComEd portal that allows emergency staff to identify outages affecting critical infrastructure. Scott said that capability allowed the county to spot power losses at nursing homes, a fire station and water pumps and to get them restored ‘‘within 2 to 3 hours’’ in March, avoiding evacuations.
Scott also reported growth in volunteer capacity: ‘‘a new high in volunteer hours at over 13,000’’ last year (equivalent to roughly 6.5 full-time employees) and 18 new volunteers starting training, bringing the roster to about 72. At the same time, he said sheltering capacity remains a county problem: the county is planning to develop local sheltering resources because the American Red Cross has limited surge capacity and some sheltering requests during recent events were unnecessary.
Scott flagged concern about federal and state preparedness funding. He said about half of IEMA (Illinois Emergency Management Agency) funding is federal and that Kane County’s current annual share from state-distributed grants is roughly $85,000; staff have been told those distributions are ‘‘on hold’’ though not yet canceled. Scott said mitigation grants (BRIC-like programs) were also suspended, and that sustained interruptions to federal grants would materially affect preparedness at state and local levels.
Ending: Scott said longer-term work includes GIS layers for windshield surveys, a long-term recovery group, EOC software implementation and continued volunteer recruitment and training. He said the county will continue advocating to keep federal/state preparedness funding intact.
