City begins process to update preparedness reports | Local News

THIRA helps communities “understand their risks and what they need to do to address those risks,” according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Those collecting the information are guided through the process based on these three questions: The first question is, “What threats and hazards can affect our community?”

These will likely include such events as fires, floods and earthquakes.

Unique risks to Roswell would be such things as a major failure of the city’s two major water reservoirs, which combined can hold up to 15 million gallons, or a serious malfunction of the Wastewater Treatment Plant.

A very recent example of a potential infrastructure crisis being averted occurred this past weekend. Heavy snow caused havoc at the wastewater treatment plant. Crews with the city and Xcel Energy were busy for several hours, starting early Sunday, working to keep effluent from flowing where it shouldn’t — including outside of the system — and they were finally able to bring the operation back to normal. A downed line caused the facility to lose its main power source, City Manager Chad Cole and Robert Glenn, the city’s superintendent of water maintenance and transmission, both said Wednesday.

The response to the problem went the way it was supposed to and was completed before the city needed to switch over to a generator for an alternative source of power at the plant, Glenn also noted.

Adding…