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radar and prepositioning resources to be ready to respond as soon as the storms had passed. This type of pre-planning is what makes the state's disaster response effective.
"School safety coordinators, field coordinators were in contact with local emergency managers from the onset," said GEMA/HS field coordinator CJ Worden. "The thing that helped make it work was those relationships with local staff," he said. "Even if they didn't know you personally, they knew the agency and that we were here to help."
So what goes into planning to respond to a natural disaster? Much more than many people may realize, but at the heart of any disaster response is the local community. Prior to the storms, GEMA/HS worked closely with local emergency management officials to ensure the message was getting out about the potential for damages from these storms.
"We checked and double checked communications, and tried to make sure that everyone was ready," said Worden. "We already had resources in the area following the storms on January 2, but we knew what was coming had the potential to be much more severe than the previous storms. As soon as the storms passed we were back out there assisting local emergency managers in getting information so we could get resources where they needed to be."
"WE WERE READY TO DO EVERYTHING WE COULD FOR THE COMMUNITIES AFFECTED BY THE STORMS, BUT WHAT WAS REALLY WONDERFUL TO SEE WAS WHAT THE COMMUNITY DID FOR ITSELf THROUGH ORDINARY PEOPLE HELPING ONE ANOTHER."
GEMA/HS coordinated the efforts of multiple state agencies, including Georgia Department of Transportation, Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Forestry Commission, search and rescue teams and many others who helped get people to safety and immediately began working on recovery. Though the efforts of all of these agencies were remarkable, the community played the biggest role in the response.
"We were ready to do everything we could for the communities affected by the storms," said Worden, "but what was really wonderful to see was what the community did for itself through ordinary people helping one another. It was amazing to see, and was a great example of the spirit of the people of Georgia."
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Photo: SHUTTERSTOCK