With the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season just a few weeks away, the EPA encourages its partners in hurricane prone areas to take advantage of the calm before any potential storms by accessing by taking steps and accessing its resources. In addition to accessing a full list of preparedness steps found in its Hurricane Incident Action Checklist, EPA encourages partners:
- Assess vulnerable assets and determine the consequences using the Flood Resilience Guide. Determine your ability to establish emergency contract provisions with vendors and transport fuel using the Power Resilience Guide.
- Plan for emergencies by reviewing or updating your utility’s emergency response plan (ERP) and ensuring all emergency contacts are up-to-date. The ERP Template and Instructions can be easily modified to meet utility specific needs.
- Train laboratory staff to coordinate response with the Water Laboratory Alliance Response Plan (WLA-RP). Attend the next WLA-RP Tabletop Exercise on Thursday, May 20, 2021 to enhance emergency response best practices. You can register here.
- Respond to hurricanes with the Water Utility Response On-The-Go App to contact emergency response partners, monitor severe weather, review hurricane checklists, and access Incident Command System resources.
- Access the Creating Resilient Water Utilities (CRWU) Storm Surge Inundation Map for real-time coastal storm advisories and the latest 2020 hurricane season data.
- Join a local mutual aid network, such as your Water and Wastewater Agency Response Network (WARN), to quickly obtain help in the form of personnel, equipment, materials and associated services from other utilities to restore critical operations.
- Recover effectively by searching for the right funding before disaster strikes. Use EPA's Fed FUNDS tool to access: steps to prepare for funding; funding success stories; reimbursement tips; and ways to combine funding.
