Water Utility Emergency Field Guide. North Carolina - Emergency Management Area 15 When you need help: You are not alone during an emergency! Help is available through local, county, state, and non- governmental organizations. • Request assistance from your local resources first (police, fire, health, local Emergency Operations Center or EOC, and existing mutual aid and assistance partners - if applicable). • Contact your County Emergency Management (EM) office or EOC for additional assistance (see numbers on next page) if needed AND be prepared with: a) Your utility's name, address, and contact information. b) The address where the resource is needed, and Global Positioning System or GPS coordinates if you have them. c) A description of the emergency and magnitude (what happened, how large is the affected area, how many people will be affected). d) What you need (kind and type of resource, such as a Type IV generator: a trailer-mounted, 400 KW, sound attenuated, multi-voltage panel, 3-phase generator). Resource typing, or categorizing and describing resources, is vital during an emergency. Be sure to fully describe the function and specific capabilities of the requested resources to avoid confusion. e) When you need the resource by (how urgent is it) and how long you will need it for. f) If you need a qualified operator for the requested equipment. g) Don't forget to ask for an anticipated delivery date, time, and a point of contact, if available. • Your EOC will follow up with you, but you can check back if necessary. There may not be a formal tracking number assigned to your resource request at the County level. • If your County EOC is not activated, the County EM coordinator should still be able to help you. If you are unable to reach the coordinator, contact the State EOC at (919) 733-3300, or (800) 858-0368 for 24/7 assistance. The State EOC can coordinate your resource request with " the County • Utilize mutual aid and assistance agreements such as the Water and Wastewater Agency Response Network (WARN) to request resources from other utilities. Keep in Mind: • If the County EOC cannot fulfill your resource request, they will look to neighboring counties. • If the neighboring counties cannot fulfill your resource request, your County EOC will forward it to your area's Emergency Management Coordinator, to the Branch Manager, and to the State EOC. All will try to locate the resource within North Carolina. • If the State EOC cannot fulfill your resource request, they may use their Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) coordinator to access resources in other states. • The State EOC may also contact the federal government for assistance through FEMA. This can be a lengthy process (at least 3 days), so don't wait too long to ask for help. • Not all assistance will be free-of-charge. You may be responsible for some or all of the costs. • The best way to make sure you get what you need is to have pre-disaster contracts and mutual aid and assistance agreements. If you wait until after the disaster to plan, it may be too late. ------- Who To EM Area 15 State EOC 24/7 800-858-0368 NC DENR Public Water Supply Section (PWSS) Your PWSS regional office can be reached at: Asheville Regional Office Phone: 828-296-4500 Pager: 800-608-2260 *PWSS may try to reach you in an emergency if they do not hear from you EM Area 15 Phone Numbers*: Clay County 41 Court House Dr. 1 layesv ille 828-389-9640 828-389-2256 - After hours Jackson County 401 Grindstaff Cove Rd, Sylva 828-586-7508 828-586-1911 - After hours Rutherford County 339 Callahan Koon Rd. Spindale 828-287-6075 828-286-2911 - After hours Henderson County 211 First Ave. East Hendersonville 828-697-4728 828-697-4911 - After hours Transylvania County 155 South Broad St. Brevard 828-884-3188 Macon County 104 East Main St. Franklin 828-349-2067 828-524-2020 - After hours Polk County 340 Hospital Dr. Columbus 828-894-3067 - 24/7 Phone numbers can change, so be sure to check contact information on a regular basis. Other organizations that can help you locate resources in the event of an emergency are: • NC Rural Water Association: 336-731-6963 • NC American Water Works Association and Water Environment Association: 919-784-9030 • North Carolina Rural Community Assistance Partnership: 919-542-7227 • Southeast Regional Rural Community Assistance Partnership: 540-345-1184 - ext. 18 In the future, you will be able to tap into the resources of all of these organizations through membership in the North Carolina WARN System, which is currently under development. July 2008 ------- |