ANNEX A - BASIC PLAN


I. PURPOSE
This Plan anticipates actions of the local governments of Wood County and cooperation private organizations to:
· Prevent disasters, if possible
· Reduce the vulnerability of County residents to disasters
· Establish capabilities to protect citizens from disasters
· Respond effectively to disasters
· Provide for recovery from disasters.

II. SITUATIONS AND ASSUMPTIONS
A. Situations:
1. Potential Hazards - The residents of Wood County are exposed to many hazards, all of which have the potential to disrupt the community, cause dam- age, and create casualties. Possible natural hazards include floods, tornadoes, earth- quakes, severe weather, and fires. There is also the threat of war-related incidents such as nuclear, biochemical, or convential attack. Other disaster situations could develop from a hazardous materials accident, major transportation accident, terror- ism, or civil disorder.

2. Local Characteristics - Wood County lies on the western border of West Virginia and consists of 365 square miles of territory and an approximate pop- ulation of 96,000. The terrain consists of medium to wide valleys and rolling to me- dium steep hills with elevations varying from approximately 590 feet above sea level to a high elevation of approximately 1, 300 feet. Wood County has one major inter- state highway (I-77) which bisects the County south to north and one major Appala- chian highway (US Route 50) which bisects the County west to east. There is one rail line that runs along the western border of the County south to north with a bridge crossing the Ohio River at Parkersburg. The incorporated population centers of the County are as follows: Parkersburg - 33,650; Vienna - 10,970; Williamstown - 2,870; and North Hills. Surrounding these incorporated areas are unincorporated communities of Waverly, Red Hill, Davisville, Mineral Wells, Pettyville, Lubeck, and Washington Bottom. The largest manufacturing area is in the Washington Bottom area and consists of two large chemical and plastics plants (DuPont and General Electric Plastics) with several smaller industrial and warehouse sites.

B. Assumptions:
While it is likely that outside assistance would be available in most major disaster situations affecting the County and while plans have been developed to facilitate coordination of this assistance, it is necessary for Wood County to plan for and to be prepared to carry out disaster response and short-term recovery operations on a short-term independent basis.

III. CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS
A. General:
1. Responsibilities - Local Wood County governments have the re-sponsibility to protect the life and property of their citizens from disasters. These units of government have the primary responsibility for emergency management ac- tivities, but when the emergency or disaster exceed their capability to respond, as- sistance will be requested from the State government. The Federal government will provide assistance to the State, when appropriate. This Plan is based upon the con- cept that emergency functions for various groups involved in emergency manage- ment will generally parallel their normal day-to-day functions. To the extent possi- ble, the same personnel and material resources will be employed in both cases. It is generally true, however, that a disaster is a situation in which the ususal way of do- ing things no longer suffices. It is desirable, and always attempted, to maintain or- ganizational continuity and to assign familiar tasks to personnel. In large-scale dis- asters, however, it may be necessary to draw on people's basic capacities and to use them in areas of greatest need. Day-to-day functions that do not contribute directly to the emergency operation may be suspended for the duration of any emergency. Efforts that would normally be required of those functions will be redirected to accomplish the emergency task by the agency concerned.
2. Integrated Emergency Management System - In keeping with the nationwide strategy of the Integrated Emergency Management System (IEMS), this Plan is concerned with all types of emergency situations that may develop. It also accounts for activities before, during, and after emergency operations.

B. Phases of Emergency Management:
1. Mitigation - Mitigation activities are those designed to either pre-vent the occurrence of an emergency or long term activities to minimize the poten- tially adverse effects of an emergency.
2. Preparedness - Preparedness activities, programs, and systems are those that exist prior to an emergency and are used to support and to enhance re- sponse to an emergency or disaster. Planning, training, and exercising are among the activities conducted under this phase.

3. Response - Response is activities and programs designed to address the immediate and short-term effects of the onset of an emergency or disaster. It helps to reduce casualties and damage and to speed recovery. Response activities include direction and control, warning, evacuation, and other similar operations.

4. Recovery - Recovery is the phase that involves restoring systems to normal. Short-term recovery actions are taken to assess damage and return vital life- support systems to minimum operating standards. Long-term recovery actions may continue for many years.

C. Interjurisdictional Relationships
1. Planning and Operational Fire Service Areas - Wood County is divi-ded into eleven fire service area, wherein the fire department is the primary respond- er to disaster or emergency situations. The Wood County Office of Emergency Ser- vices is responsible for developing, maintaining, and updating the County Emergen- cy Operations Plan. Each fire service area is responsible for developing, maintain- ing, and updating Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). There is also mutual aid agreements between the various response organizations and the Wood County Fire- fighters Association to which the fire departments of all fire service areas belong. The fire service area are as follows. A map showing the fire service area boundaries will be included in the Resource Section of this Plan.

Area Number Area Description

Waverly area
2 Vienna - Vienna City to Parkersburg City limits to East to I-77 and
North to Central, Boaz, and Williamstown area
3 Waverly - Ohio River and Pleasants County line along Bull Creek
Road to Deerwalk area to St. Marys Pike to I-77 and Vienna and
Williamstown areas
4 City of Parkersburg - Municipal boundaries of the City
5 Eastwood - Waverly area at St. Marys Pike - City of Parkersburg -
Little Kanawha River east to the County line, then with the Deer-
walk area line in the Walker area
6 Deerwalk - Wavery and Eastwood area lines and Ritchie and Plea-
sants Counties' lines
7 Blennerhassett - From Little Kanawha River at Parkersburg city
limits along the Ohio River and following the Ohio River to the
Washington Bottom area in the vicinity of the DuPont Plant to
Route 95 and parallels Route 95 to the city limits of Parkersburg
8 Washington Bottom - From a point in the vicinity of the DuPont
Plant along the Ohio River south to a point near Belleville and back
north to place of beginning with a line roughly parallel to New Eng-
land Ridge Road
9 Lubeck - From the junction of Blennerhassett, Washington Bottom,
Lubeck fire service areas and with the Washington Bottom area line
roughly parallel to New England Ridge Road to a point near Belle-
ville east to a point near Wadesville and then north to a point on
County Road 32 and then east to the Little Kanawha River and
with the Little Kanawha River to the city limits of Parkersburg to
the border of the Blennerhassett area to place of beginning
10 PMBS - From a point of the Little Kanawha River where the Lu-
beck area joins the River and then west to a point on County Road
32 and then south to the border of Lubeck area to a point near
Wadesville and then east to the Wirt County line and then with the
Little Kanawha River to place of beginning.
11 Pond Creek - Beginning at a point near Belleville with the junction of Washington Bottom and Lubeck areas and then east with the Lu-
beck area border to a point near Wadesville and then east with the
PMBS border to the Wirt County line and then southwest with the
Wirt County line to the Jackson County line to the Ohio River and
with the Ohio River to place of beginning.

2. State of West Virginia - In case of a major emergency, the State plays an important role in providing direct service to the local level and in serving as a channel for obtaining and providing resources from outside the State.

D. Direction and Control
1. Responsibility - The responsibility for emergency management and related activities depends upon the type of situation or activity and the location of the event. The responsible official per type of activity and its location are defined in the following chart.

Situation/Activity County Municipality
Emergency Management President County Commission Mayor*
Law Enforcement Sheriff Police Chief
Fire Fire Chief of Fire Service Area Fire Chief

* The Director of the Wood County Emergency Services assists local municipalities in developing and coordinating Emergency Operating Plans.

E. Continuation of Government
1. Succession of Command
· The line of succession for local elected officials is clearly defined in the West Virginia State Code
· Successors to Magistrates and Judges will be appointed by a Circuit Judge, the Supreme Court, or the Governor.
· The "Continuity of Government Annex" of this Plan provides further information on succession.

2. Organization and Assignment of Responsibilities

IV. ADMINISTRATION AND LOGISTICS
A. Procedures
· The West Virginia Code, Chapter 15, Article 5, confers upon the Gov- ernor and upon the executive heads of the political subdivisions of the State, the authority to declare a state of emergency or disaster.
· In carrying out response and recovery actions in a state of emergency or disaster as described in Chapter 15, Article 5 of the West Virginia Code, the political subdivision may enter into contract and incur ob- ligations necessary to combat such disaster, to protect the health and safety of persons and property, and to provide emergency assistance to the victims of such disaster. Each political subdivision is authorized to exercise its powers under this section in light of the extenuates of ex- treme emergency situations without regard to time consuming proce- dures and formalities prescribed by law (except mandatory constitu- tional requirements) pertaining to the performance of public work, entry into contracts, incurrence of obligations, employment of tem- porary workers, rental of equipment, purchase of materials and sup- plies, levy of taxes, and appropriation and expenditure of public funds.
· The incident commander will maintain an accurate record of all ex-penditures for persons hired, equipment, supplies, or materials con- tracted for and used during a state of emergency or disaster.
· If the state of emergency or disaster exceeds the ability of the political subdivision to respond to and recover from, the executive head of the political subdivision may request assistance from the Governor.

V. PLAN DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE
A. Responsibility - This Plan is the principle document describing Wood County's emergency management activities. Almost every head of local govern- ment has some responsibility for developing and maintaining some part of this Plan. Overall coordination of this process will be carried out at the local level by the Wood County Office of Emergency Services.

B. Coordination - It is frequently necessary for emergency management plan- ning and operations to be coordinated across jurisdictional boundaries; therefore, State and Federal government authorities may become involved in the planning pro- cess. The nature and extent of this involvement will be coordinated through the Wood County Office of Emergency Services, and all personnel involved will be in- formed. Nothing in the process of coordination and support should be interpreted as relieving agency chiefs of their responsibilities for emergency planning. Following is a list of agencies responsible for development and maintenance of each plan ele- ment.
· Wood County Emergency Services
· Wood County Commission and other elected County officials

planning process to keep the Plan updated, especially as resources change.