CADILLAC — Being ready for an emergency was the topic of conversation at an event held earlier Thursday morning in Cadillac.
Local leaders, law enforcement, medical professionals and others that help out in emergency situations, met at Baker College to talk about their roles during a natural disaster.
The event had the different groups talking about their roles if there was a natural disaster like the tornado that hit Gaylord nearly 2 years ago.
Representatives from Homeland Security and the National Weather Service, both from Gaylord were also at the event to help drive the conversation and share expertise on how the lessons they learned from Gaylord’s tornado could help in future disasters here.
Wexford County Emergency Management Director, Randy Boike who attended the event said there was several lessons learned.
“We’re still learning on Gaylord. The big one is the communication before and during and after reunification with families. People that went to the hospital and families don’t know where they’re located. So, everyone should have communication plans ahead of time with family members so that they’re not worried that there’s a way that they can communicate in a disaster,” said Boike.
Boike also said Northern Michigan tends to have less tornadoes than Southern Michigan, but they can still happen, so it’s best to have a plan in place for everybody, not just people who respond to natural disasters.
