Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Emergency Management topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Emergency management administrator outlines five‑year build of Grand Rapids program, cites THIRA and storm‑ready designation
Summary
Allison Froley, the city’s emergency management administrator, told the Public Safety Committee on Jan. 31 that her office has spent the past five years building the city’s emergency management baseline, completing an all‑hazards emergency operations plan, obtaining access to the Integrated Public Alert & Warning System (IPAWS), expanding public outreach and achieving a StormReady designation.
Allison Froley, the city’s emergency management administrator, told the Public Safety Committee on Jan. 31 that her office has spent the past five years building the city’s emergency management baseline, completing an all‑hazards emergency operations plan, obtaining access to the Integrated Public Alert & Warning System (IPAWS), expanding public outreach and achieving a StormReady designation.
Why it matters: Froley said the city now has a documented operations framework, alerting capability, a growing CERT volunteer base and an ongoing risk assessment (THIRA) that will guide where the city must invest to close preparedness gaps.
Froley said she began building the office after the city terminated a contract with Kent County that previously provided emergency‑management services. She said a federal grant enabled the city to hire emergency management specialists who expanded community outreach and volunteer programs. The office completed an Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) within the first two years and noted that the EOP is reviewed and updated on a four‑year cycle.
On public alerting, Froley said the city now has IPAWS access for pushing critical warnings such as boil‑water advisories and tornado warnings. She highlighted that the city earned a StormReady designation last summer and is the largest city in Michigan with that status.
Froley described current projects: a Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA) to identify priority hazards and stakeholder preparedness gaps; growth of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program (currently 38 volunteers with another class of about 14 in training); and continued development of facility emergency plans, exercises, and recovery planning. She said the office seeks to build capacity for sustained preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation over the next five years and is considering accreditation for the emergency management program.
Committee members asked about stakeholder outreach and inclusion; Froley said quarterly stakeholder meetings are expanding and that she continuously adds organizations to the invitation list as gaps are identified. She invited committee members to participate in future preparedness workshops.
Ending: The administrator said the office will continue the THIRA process, expand CERT and community outreach, and pursue accreditation milestones as capacity allows.
