This past Monday at North Carrollton Town Hall, I met with an official from the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency concerning points of distribution for Carroll County. These distribution sites, known as pod sites, are vital when a disaster happens like tornadoes, flooding, and weather-related events. It always begins with a local declaration of emergency, followed by state declaration, and then a federal declaration of emergency.
However, last year the declarations of emergency went in a different direction with the COVID-19 pandemic. Having distribution sites in place is very effective, and for a disaster it’s a must. Having things in place before a disaster hits is important.
In Carroll County our distribution sites have a balance with a pod site in North Carrollton at town hall and the other at the old Vaiden High School Gym. With designated sites like this in place throughout Mississippi, it can have an effect across municipal and county lines. It’s a network where one county may have supplies that can be forwarded to a neighboring county. That will save time in getting disaster supplies faster for recovery efforts where otherwise would have to come from far away.
Last year through the pandemic, the state sent supplies in the form of masks and hand sanitizer for distribution. I would meet the truck at the MEMA office in Greenwood to bring those supplies back to Carroll County. That happened many times through 2020 on almost a weekly basis. Over a year, we distributed over 13,000 masks in Carroll County along with sanitizer and other supplies in efforts to combat the coronavirus. These supplies helped in combating the pandemic for people from all walks of life; including law enforcement, first responders, and citizens. Having a distribution site was important for the COVID-19 response, and it helped in getting supplies not only out but where they were needed most in a timely manner.
Local, state, and federal agencies have to work together and combine resources. This kept going through my mind Monday as we were planning for the designated sites here in Carroll County. I remember back during my earliest years in municipal government, when disaster struck from storms, we assessed the debris and having an effective plan along with resources is vital. In any disaster, lessons are learned. COVID-19 was an unexpected state of emergency that brought emergency management to a new level.
It is important in taking a proactive approach to disaster management by creating emergency preparedness programs to mitigate threats ranging from terror attacks to natural disasters. It is so important to the coordination of first responders on the ground.
These distribution sites that were designated last Monday here in Carroll County will be ground zero in our efforts of responding with supplies when disasters strike along with being prepared. It is very important to work with other counties and municipalities. I have always tried to not only make those relationships but build on them with other governments. The distribution sites for response efforts are a reminder of how important those relationships can be across many different levels of government. That brings the effort in recovery to reaching its full potential to serve our communities.
Ken Strachan serves as the mayor of North Carrollton and is a member of the Mississippi Municipal League board of directors.
