To protect the City of Independence by coordinating and integrating all activities necessary to build, sustain, and improve the capability to prevent, mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from threatened or actual natural disasters, acts of terrorism, or other emergency events through a comprehensive, risk-based, all-hazard emergency management program.
Emergency Management is the system used to coordinate the efforts of city agencies and partners to plan for, respond to, and recover from disasters.
Preparedness involves planning, training, evaluating, and improving procedures before a disaster occurs. This could include things like writing an evacuation plan, installing tornado outdoor warning sirens, strengthening partnerships, etc.
Response begins when the disaster is imminent or has already occurred. This may include monitoring conditions, activating the emergency operations center, acting as liaison with local, state, and federal agencies, and providing support to emergency response organizations that are directly involved with the incident.
Recovery is the process of returning the community to its pre-disaster state. This phase takes place when the immediate threat to life and property has ended. This is a restoring process that includes things like repairing damaged homes, making repairs to city utilities, tracking costs, applying for federal assistance and generally re-establishing a sense of normalcy.
Mitigation refers to the steps taken to reduce the impact of a disaster before it occurs. This could include projects such as constructing a dam to prevent flooding, reducing residential zones in hazard areas, constructing new buildings to withstand high winds and earthquakes.