On Thursday, March 16, a tabletop exercise was held at the Marshall Regional Law Enforcement Center to explore how local organizations would come together to handle a community-wide emergency. By walking through a hypothetical scenario, the 34 organizations in attendance were able to identify gaps and needs for emergency response in Calhoun County to ensure that if a real emergency hits, response can be more efficient. This event was hosted by Emergency Management Coordinators Lt. Chris Young from the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office and Jared Hall from the Battle Creek Police Department.
The scenario that participants responded to at the exercise was an EF5 tornado that touched down on the west side of M-66 and Beckley Road and traveled 18 miles through the City of Marshall near 24 Mile Rd and Michigan Ave. This was a simulated scenario, but a tornado of this size has touched down in Genesee County in the past. Participants analyzed how they would respond to the situation when there was just a tornado watch and warning, then discussed how to handle response after the tornado touched down in multiple cities. A tornado of this size, on this path, could cause over $574M in damage, leveling 1,772 residential buildings and 649 commercial buildings, as estimated by Calhoun County’s Geographic Information Systems Department.
“Our job is to plan for the plausible so we’re prepared for the probable,” said Lt. Chris Young. “I am thrilled by how many of our first responders and decision makers in our community attended so that we can meet now in case we need to utilize each other in the future.”
Young and Hall were assisted in this exercise by Joseph Hahn, Emergency Management Specialist at William Beaumont University Hospital Royal Oak, and Tim Mautz, Chief of Emergency Preparedness and Response for Wayne County Public Health Division. In attendance was Calhoun County Board of Commissioners Chair Kathy-Sue Vette. Organizations that were present included, American Red Cross, Auxcomm, Battle Creek Fire Department, Branch County Emergency Management, Bronson Hospital Battle Creek, CCEM, Calhoun County Consolidated Dispatch Consumers Energy, Calhoun County GIS., Defense Logistics Agency of Battle Creek, Gryphon Place, Harper Creek Community Schools, Marshall Area Fire Fighters Ambulance Authority, Marshall Police Department, Michigan Army National Guard, Michigan Independent Search and Rescue, Michigan State Police Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division, Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, Oaklawn Hospital, Pennfield Fire Department, Sheridan Township Fire Department, Skywarn, Team Rubicon, Tekonsha Fire Department, and the VA Medical Center Battle Creek.
Pictured is Lt. Chris Young speaking with the participants at the tabletop exercise.
