WILMINGTON — At Wednesday’s Clinton County Commissioners’ meeting, Tom Breckel, the director of the Emergency Management Agency (EMA), presented the Clinton READY 2023 plan. The purpose was to outline how the EMA will prepare the area for potential severe weather in the the spring.

Breckel told the commissioners he had chatted with the National Weather Service to look at patterns over the years, and spoke with local organizations on how severe weather affects certain individuals. This included highlighting the effects power outages could have in the area.

“(There are) 647 citizens with electrically dependent medical devices (e.g. ventilators, BiPaps, O2 concentrators, IV infusion pumps, suctions pumps, at-home ESRD Dialysis, motorized wheelchairs/scooters, electric beds, cardiac devices),” according to the presentation.

In the plan, Breckel highlighted pre-plans for village public facilities and work on Emergency Operation Center appointments. In January, there will be department appointments, in February, EMA will be tailoring lists for Clinton County Emergency Alerts, and between February and July there will be FEMA online training courses.

The plan also includes specific training in February and March, including damage assessment teams for Blanchester, Sabina, and Wilmington. During the summer, the EMA plans to conduct surveys to get a snapshot on preparedness locals had for extreme weather.

The EMA conducted a study with members of the Core Planning Committee (consisting of representatives from each jurisdiction of Clinton County) to find out what potential hazardous scenarios they were most concerned with. The top selection was severe wind and tornadoes, followed by utility failure.

Among the goals the committee helped develop included increasing public information and awareness about hazards affecting Clinton County and expanding awareness and minimizing the effects of droughts and floods.

“If there’s anything else you’d like to see detailed just let me know,” Breckel said to the commissioners.