Baldwin County Disaster Plans May Be Updated

BALDWIN COUNTY, Ala. — According to planners and officials, there is a need for Baldwin County communities to update their disaster plans to incorporate lessons learned from recent hurricanes and to accommodate continued growth, Gulf Coast Media reported. In Fairhope, the city council is scheduled to vote on a proposal to update the city’s Coastal Resiliency Index study on August 22. More than 70 Gulf Coast communities have taken part in the index, which debuted in 2017. Executive Director of the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce Casey Williams, who took part in the initial project, said officials and community members performed a drill simulating a major hurricane hitting the region. The drill identified where more information was needed about which services would be available after a disaster. "One of the areas that we really had no information on was your business after a storm," Williams said. "Who’s open? Who’s not? Critical infrastructure like banks, lumberyards, hardware stores, grocery stores, some of those immediate needs." She added that the chamber is working with Daphne and Spanish Fort officials to update the index.