Case Study Comprehensive Emergency Management Support Ramsey County, MN Emergency Management and Homeland Security (EMHS)
Challenge
Home of the state capitol, St. Paul, Ramsey County is affected by multiple hazards, including flooding, hail, drought, extreme cold and heat, wildfires, winter storms, tornadoes and sinkholes. The County has experienced a significant increase in “mega rain” events, leading to damaging floods. The spring of 2023 saw the worst flood season since 2001. In April 2023, the County declared a local emergency due to flooding caused by the Mississippi River.
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck the nation, each state was given a major disaster declaration, including Minnesota. Due to constrained resources, Ramsey County needed additional support and expertise to perform disaster preparedness and recovery services to optimize the available funds, enabling them to provide assistance and support to their residents.
Solutions
Emergency Management Support Services, 2016-2020 Ramsey County hired Tidal Basin to provide comprehensive emergency management services on an on-call/as-needed basis. Services included the following: • General emergency planning, mitigation, response and recovery services • Crisis communications/emergency alert and notification • Disaster planning/management • Continuation of operations/disaster recovery planning
COVID-19 Disaster Cost Recovery Services, 2020 Tidal Bain provided disaster cost recovery support services and expertise to assist Ramsey County with capturing all COVID-related costs to get proper reimbursement from the available federal funding sources. Tidal Basin worked with the County upon contract activation to analyze local and Private Non-Profit (PNP) needs and capacities. We designed a path forward on how to educate all stakeholders on the federal funding requirements and developed a grant management strategy to maximize federal funding opportunities for everyone affected. Our team performed intake of the County’s assessed damages to complete the Damage Inventory (DI) and upload to the Grants Portal. Caution was taken to include the structure of the County’s property insurance, potential environmental and historic preservation concerns, and eligibility issues in the DI. COVID-19 After-Action Report / Improvement Plan (AAR/IP), 2021 Tidal Basin supported the County with the development of a comprehensive COVID-19 After-Action Report and Improvement Plan (AAR/IP) based on the first 18 months of the County’s non- stop response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The project’s goal was to develop an AAR/IP that identified both strengths and areas for improvement and to provide the County with recommendations to support the remainder of the response and recovery, as well as future infectious disease emergencies. We gathered and reviewed relevant data based on focus areas to determine trends, challenges, and best practices specific to the County’s pandemic preparedness and response efforts.
• Pandemic planning/management • Evacuation planning/management
• Hazard mitigation planning • Disaster response support • Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP) support • Strategic planning • Long-term post-disaster community recovery support
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