The Shoreline City Council approved an Emergency Operations Plan at its May 27 meeting, which will allow the city to apply for federally funded State and Local Assistance (SLA) funds for emergency management. The SLA funds, estimated to provide $5,000 to $10,000 each, and will go toward planning how the city will respond in emergencies.
The Emergency Operations Plan outlines the city’s roles, responsibilities and organization in the event of threats to life, health, public or private property, the economy and natural resources. The plan also calls for a drill and annual review each year. The plan will now be sent to the Washington State Department of Emergency Management (DEM) for review.
The Council also voted to authorize an interlocal agreement to ensure that during a disaster, local resources are shared locally before being offered to other regional agencies as part of the King County Regional Disaster Plan. It also outlines terms and conditions for sharing and reimbursement of resources in an emergency.
“Having these plans in place helps our city respond quickly and effectively in any emergency or disaster,” said Shoreline Police Chief Denise Pentony.
The plan ensures that the city work with the Shoreline Police Department, Shoreline Fire Department, Shoreline School District, utilities and other agencies to continuously improve and update its emergency plan to respond to changing conditions. In addition, the Shoreline Police Department must keep in close contact with federal, state and other local agencies to evaluate threat levels in the area.
In addition, the Shoreline Police and Fire Departments offer eight-week Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) classes periodically to help teach neighborhoods how to work together in event of an emergency. For more information about the CERT classes, contact Shoreline Fire’s Community Education Division at (206) 533-6564.
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