ADOT participates in statewide emergency training exercise

Practice makes perfect when it comes to emergency training, which is why several agencies got together earlier this month to prepare for a major disaster.

Not that anyone’s expecting something like this to happen, but the groups involved took on a scenario that included a statewide power outage and severe weather.

“Our statewide exercise is our largest exercise that we will conduct this year,” says Arizona Division of Emergency Management Director Wendy Smith-Reeve in the video, adding that there were more than 2,300 participants and approximately 240 agencies involved. “The reason why we practice is to improve upon our actions and activities, to enhance our relationships with the partners that we have at the local level, county, tribal, other state partners and federal partners. It’s all about practicing with them.”

ADOT was involved because if there ever is statewide emergency, transportation could certainly be affected.

ADOT Assistant State Engineer Lonnie Hendrix explains in the video above that ADOT used the statewide exercise to put into practice the operational and communication plans already in place.

“We’re working with everything from flooding to fires to power outages,” he says of the exercise. “Obviously if something like that were to occur, the transportation system is critical. It allows supplies to get to where they need, it allows people to get evacuated and so it’s important that we’re there, that we respond and we do it quickly.”

You can find more preparedness information on the Arizona Emergency Information Network website at www.azein.gov.