The Emergency Management Agency for the U.S. state of Illinois has undertaken an ambitious disaster preparedness monitoring and advice centre, in the form of a new website located at www.iema.illinois.gov. Illinois citizens can receive information about man-made and natural disasters affecting the state by consulting the news section of the website. The site also offers alerts and recommended action expected from citizens in the event of a natural disaster.
Agency officials have suggested to the press that the cheap web hosting and development of the IEMA site is part of a concerted attempt to make the workings of Illinois state government more transparent and accessible to the citizenry, promoting awareness and teaching residents about the value of organization and resources in terms of disaster preparedness. In addition to emergency response advice, the site also presents resources on a several other important disaster-related projects related to flooding, potential earthquakes and the relevant building codes.
The director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, Joe Klinger, suggested that the website was an important device to educate the public about the preventative role of the agency, rather than their role in responding to natural and man-made disasters after the fact. We hope to increase awareness of hazard mitigation and encourage more communities to implement hazard mitigation actions.
In addition to partial financing of cheap webhosting costs associated with the site, the United States Federal Government has also put the rubber stamp to the Illinois Hazard Mitigation Plan. The plan outlines dangers currently facing the state and suggests measures for dealing with each, in the event that a large-scale natural or man-made disaster should strike.