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N. Strabane debuts new emergency website

3 min read
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North Strabane Township recently unveiled a new emergency management Web portal that township officials hope will make preparing for and recovering from natural disasters easier for residents.

“We want to help residents prepare and be proactive instead of reactive,” said North Strabane emergency management coordinator Paul Shiring.

Shiring said the website was the township’s latest effort to reach out to the public. The portal, available as a link on the township website, www.NorthStrabaneTwp.com, is meant to connect residents with up-to-the-minute weather maps and updates, as well as advice on emergency preparedness and cleanup.

“We asked, ‘What’s the best approach to recovery?'” Shiring said. “What can we get done to speed the process up?”

The new website comes at no cost to township residents. Shiring said he worked with township manager Frank Siffrinn and the website administrator to build a page for the additional information.

Shiring said officials were working on other measures to keep the township in a constant state of preparedness. He hoped to offer educational classes and training workshops sometime in the near future.

The measures are meant to help residents react in a level-headed way in the event of a catastrophe.

“These resources offer ways that, while the emergency is occurring, will give you a general idea of what the emergency responders are doing,” Shiring said. “It’s a little better knowing how to help them in their efforts.”

Recently, township officials met to take part in a roundtable exercise in which emergency management personnel walked through the response to an imagined flood. In the drill, department heads of the police, fire, public works and emergency medical services departments discussed communicating with state and federal authorities after a 5-inch rain causing 100 residents to be evacuated.

Shiring said the efforts are part of a new approach to make local government and emergency responders more visible and accessible. The emergency management, fire and police departments were in the process of building social media profiles to help engage the public.

“We want residents to know we’re here to help them prepare, not just react afterward,” Shiring said. “In this day and age, it’s the easiest way to let residents know we’re here.”

Shiring said he hoped the website would become a valuable tool for citizens hoping to find out the latest path of an oncoming storm or the closest place to seek shelter from it.

“When there’s going to be a lot of danger,” Shiring said, “we’re there to help mitigate it.”

As part of an overhaul of the emergency response plan, Shiring said township officials were looking for input from the public on more ways in which they can cooperate.

“Obviously, we want people to know we’re working hard to update and improve our system,” Shiring said. “We want to let residents know what we’re doing and why we’re here.”

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