Eaton County emergency management staff aided northern counties under MiMAC, brings intern from Saginaw Valley State

Eaton County emergency management staff told the Public Safety Committee on May 1 that personnel deployed under the Michigan Emergency Management Assistance Compact (MiMAC) to assist Montmorency County after a major ice storm earlier in April and that the county will host an intern this summer.

The emergency-management speaker said they were deployed to Montmorency County to provide organization and debris-management support following severe ice-storm damage. The speaker described serving initially as finance section chief, tracking burn rates, equipment and personnel costs, then helping build an ad hoc debris monitoring program the county will carry forward with consultants. The speaker said their personal deployment lasted six days while the full team stayed about a week and a half.

The speaker noted MiMAC allows time and travel costs to be reimbursed to Eaton County and said the compact was adopted by the county in 2007 (the speaker referenced a governor-issued agreement in 2006 and county adoption in 2007). The speaker also said they have participated in a work group updating the compact's language.

The emergency-management office introduced Megan Randall, an intern from Saginaw Valley State University majoring in criminal justice, who will work with the office from May through August and possibly into September.

Why it matters: MiMAC deployments provide mutual aid among Michigan jurisdictions after disasters; Eaton County staff experience in debris management and reimbursement procedures can shorten recovery times for affected jurisdictions and train county staff and interns.

No committee action was taken on the report.