Small State and Rural Community Emergency Management Case Studies

In 2012, Larimer County, Colorado experienced a major wildfire, followed by a major flood in 2013. Many residents were isolated by these events, either through damage to infrastructure or communications systems. These two disasters showed gaps in the county’s emergency capabilities and public safety information outreach.

Mobile homes damaged by the winds and rain of Hurricane Ike in 2008, resulted in new homes for 54 residents of Montgomery County, Texas. Little did they know just how much that hurricane would change their lives.

When communicating life safety and preparedness messaging, cultural differences need to be considered.  In Amish communities, there is a minimalist lifestyle. They do not typically use electricity and don’t adopt or use the conveniences of modern technology. There are many pockets of Amish communities across the country A warning coordination meteorologist and an emergency management director teamed up to initiate a project which has become far reaching beyond the bounds of Eastern Kentucky.

The Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa has seen the recent impacts from flooding events on their wild rice which are a cultural and important natural resource for the tribe. The tribe has invested in several planning efforts over the years to help mitigate/reduce the flooding risks to the wild rice lakes. Recently, the Grand Portage Ojibwe people reached out to Cook County, Minnesota and collaborated with other neighboring tribes to integrate their hazard mitigation, wetland and climate adaptation plans.

A common FEMA project in rural areas is the repair or rebuilding of unpaved roads. In 2013, the Arkansas Association of Counties, the Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts, the Farm Bureau, The Nature Conservancy and a dozen public and private partner organizations joined forces to establish the Arkansas Unpaved Roads Program.

On April 25 and 26, 1992, three powerful earthquakes rocked the Cape Mendocino area of Northern California. This series of quakes, measuring 7.1, 6.2 and 6.5 respectively, emanated from a complex geological area known as the Mendocino Triple Junction. Three major faults, the San Andreas, the Mendocino fracture zone and the Cascadia subduction zone, meet at this point forming one of the most seismically active areas in the United States.

Livermore, Maine, is a rural community of rolling countryside along the Androscoggin River. The town is also in the snow belt of south central Maine. Snowfalls of 24 inches are not uncommon, and winter snowfall totals can be upwards of over 100 inches. When followed by a heavy spring rain, which happens more and more often, the trickle that is Ford Brook becomes a torrent of water that has destroyed both bridge and concrete culverts before.

Tucker and Randolph Counties stretch for more than 75 miles along the northern fringe of the Allegheny Mountains in eastern West Virginia. In 1990, they had a combined population of just over 35,000 in this predominantly rural area with most settlements restricted to narrow river valleys. Thus, the primary concern in this area is flooding. Since 1967, both counties have received Presidential disaster declarations as a consequence of flooding five times.

After Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and several subsequent tornadoes wreaked destruction upon areas surrounding Leesburg, Alabama, Mayor Edward Mackey decided his town needed a safe place for its residents.

In 1994, Tropical Storm Alberto devastated central and southwestern Georgia. The river communities of Newton and Albany were among the hardest hit by floods from the storm.