Emergency preparedness officials in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula conducted training exercises this past weekend as frigid temperatures and snow provided a real-world backdrop for shelter decision-making. The Houghton and Keweenaw County Office of Emergency Measures held the training session while the region experienced the type of severe winter weather that often forces difficult choices about public safety. “Ready and prepared to move” serves as the motto for emergency preparedness, but Emergency Measures Manager Chris VanArsdale said the decision to open emergency shelters involves complex considerations that go beyond temperature alone.
“Maybe people are going to be without power, but if the roads are really bad and they’re having lots of accidents, is it more dangerous to ask people to get on the road and go to a warming center or a shelter?” VanArsdale said. “Or are they safer to be home even if there’s no heat or no power? We don’t have a good answer for that, but it’s definitely something that we think about.”
The weekend’s extreme cold coincided with numerous accidents on Thursday and Friday, highlighting the challenge emergency managers face in balancing risks. VanArsdale noted the diverse nature of the counties, which include more urban areas in the city and rural locations where residents may be more self-sufficient.
During major storms, VanArsdale maintains constant contact with area fire departments and other organizations that can provide real-time information about conditions residents are experiencing in specific locations.
“Take the one over Thanksgiving as an example,” VanArsdale said. “If I had said, Calumet is an obvious location for a shelter on the north end, then when the outage was all in Bootjack and not in Calumet, people are going to be like, ‘Well, now I got to drive 20 miles or 30 miles in some cases, depending on how far out there you are.’ Whereas maybe the fire hall in Bootjack is a better choice, but we aren’t going to know that until the impacts really start to come in.”
Emergency officials must also consider the scope of power outages and how quickly utility companies can restore service before making shelter decisions.
“Half of the battle is the coordination and the communication between different agencies that don’t always work together and keeping that information flowing,” VanArsdale said.
Rural communities face particular challenges during emergencies, including having equipment and first responders ready to deploy quickly and maintaining effective communication with the public.
VanArsdale said officials want to revive their Copper Country Strong website as a dual-purpose resource. During normal times, it would connect volunteers with community agencies seeking help. During emergencies, it would serve as a central information hub, similar to its use during COVID-19 and flood responses.
“We’d like to have it as that single resource for people to be able to go to,” VanArsdale said.
People interested in supporting Houghton and Keweenaw County emergency management as volunteer responders should contact the Houghton County Office of Emergency Measures to learn about local response groups.
VanArsdale emphasized that the most important step people can take before an emergency occurs is developing a personal plan. Information about creating emergency plans for cold weather sheltering and other winter emergencies is available online through county emergency management resources.
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