County EMA working on safety plan

By Staff
Jonathan Willis
County officials are busy making sure that proper plans are in place in the event the area is hit with a natural disaster.
The Franklin County Emergency Management Agency and the Northwest Alabama Council of Local Governments will soon begin holding discussions to review the county's hazard mitigation plan.
Federal authorities require all counties to have a plan in place for them to be eligible for federal funding if a disaster occurs.
County officials are in the process of updating and renewing the plan here.
County EMA director Roy Gober said that having storm shelters, storm warning sirens and drainage systems are all part of the plan.
"It is anything that mitigates or lessens the effects of a natural disaster," Gober said.
"You can't stop a tornado, but you can have shelters and warnings in place to help people if one does hit."
Work is nearing completion on six storm shelters across the county and. Gober said the county has gotten funding for a drainage system to alleviate flooding problems in Red Bay.
"We have had a good plan in place that has allowed us to do some things, but there are areas to work on," Gober said.
There will be a series of meetings between local officials to get the mitigation plan ready, beginning on March 6.
"We will have representatives from the EMA and each municipality working on it," Gober said.
"It is something you have to have in case we ever have a disaster."