December 9, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Conference Set To Discuss Winter Emergency Response
DECATUR - The Macon County Emergency Management Agency’s Joint Information Center will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. Thursday, December 11 at the Macon County EMA office.
The office is actually located at 282 E. Macon Street, in the part of the Law Enforcement Center (LEC) facing AmerenIP.
The purpose for the conference will be to discuss emergency planning, preparedness and how information will be provided to the media and public during emergency situations. The community is just two years removed from the monumental ice storm of 2006, a storm that left more than 500,000 people in Central and Western Illinois without power, some for up to a week.
The storm should serve as proof that winter emergencies do, in fact, happen and it is important that both the public and local government be prepared to respond and endure Mother Nature’s wrath. Macon County EMA coordinates year-round planning for a consortium of city and county government, healthcare, service and response agencies and the group has a detailed plan for dealing with emergency situations.
The EMA Joint Information Center is made up of representatives from Macon County EMA and the Macon County Sheriff’s department, the Macon County Health Department, Decatur Memorial and St. Mary’s Hospitals, AmerenIP, the Macon County Mental Health Board, the City of Decatur and the Decatur Police Department, the Mid-Illinois Chapter of the Decatur Red Cross and the United Way of Decatur & Mid-Illinois.
For more information contact Billy Tyus at 424-2753 or Phil Anello at 424-1327.