Emergency Management

St. Louis County Rescue Squad

Although Minnesota's geological environment makes it unlikely to deal with issues such as hurricanes or seismic earthquakes, it's still important to be aware of a variety of hazards, emergencies, and disasters that may occur in the area.

• A hazard is something with potential danger; an emergency is an incident requiring response to protect life or property; and a disaster is an event that has resulted in severe damage, death, and/or multiple injuries.
• Natural hazards are phenomena presented by the physical world. In Minnesota, natural hazards such as wind, thunderstorms/lightning, tornadoes, floods, fire, extreme cold, heat waves, drought, snow, and ice are historically prominent depending upon the time of year and weather conditions.
• Technological hazards originate from technological/industrial accidents, infrastructure failures, or human activities. Such situations can occur from pollution, nuclear radiation, dam failures, toxic waste, transportation accidents, structure fires, chemical spills, or other similar hazards. These hazards can directly arise as a result of impacts from natural hazards and/or human-made incidents/events.

For more information, visit Disasters and Emergencies (Ready.gov) or FEMA's Full Suite of All Hazard Info Sheets

The Individuals and Households Program (IHP) provides financial and direct services to eligible individuals and households affected by a disaster, who have uninsured or under-insured necessary expenses and serious needs. This includes temporary housing, repair or replacements on homes and privately-owned access routes, hazard mitigation assistance, and other under-insured disaster-caused expenses.

Other information in regard to Individual Assistance, including small business needs, can be found here:

Individual Assistance (FEMA.gov)

Disaster assistance | U.S. Small Business Administration (sba.gov)

The Disaster Assistance Improvement Program’s (DAIP) is a DHS program set in place to provide disaster survivors with information, support, services, and a means to access and apply for disaster assistance. The website has resources to find and apply for disaster assistance, housing, food and nutrition needs, SBA loans, among other necessities.

Emergency plans are your guide to knowing what to do when the unexpected occurs. These plans will allow you and your household to be more prepared for emergencies and provide a better chance of minimal injury, if not also survival. 

It's important to know the types of hazards/disasters that can occur in the area when making emergency plans. Other important considerations are how you will receive emergency alerts and updates (especially if cell phone signal and internet isn't available), shelter, evacuation routes, how your family will communicate if separated, the specific needs of you and your household (e.g., disabilities), what you will do with any pets, and having an emergency kit built for several days for survival. Consider how your plans may change depending on which hazard/disaster happens.

Go through and practice the plans with your household. Update plans and emergency kits as needed.

For more information, visit Make A Plan (Ready.gov)

If you must evacuate, the most important thing you can do to protect your pets is to evacuate them too. Leaving pets behind, even if you try to create a safe place for them, is likely to result in their being injured, lost, or worse. So, prepare now for the day when you and your pets may have to leave your home.

There are precautions you can take to increase your pets' chances of survival, but they are not a substitute for evacuating with your pets.

For more information, visit Prepare Your Pets for Disasters (Ready.gov) or The Humane Society of the United States

Region 2 Pet Disaster Relief Trailer

  FEMA’s Public Assistance Program provides supplemental grants to state, tribal, territorial, and local governments, and certain types of private non-profits so communities can quickly respond to and recover from major disasters or emergencies. General information can be found at the following link:

Assistance for Governments and Private Non-Profits After a Disaster (FEMA.gov)

Information regarding the current eligible work and equipment rates are included below:

FEMA Categories and Examples of Common Eligible Work (mn.gov)

Schedule of Equipment Rates (FEMA.gov)

Other documents, including both Federal and State Public Assistance Damage Indicators forms, can be found on the HSEM website:

Emergency Managers Resources - Forms and Documents (mn.gov)

St. Louis County uses an emergency notification system to alert the public about emergencies and other important community news.  Through NorthlandAlert, anyone can subscribe to receive emergency notices by phone, text and/or email. NorthlandAlert enables officials to provide essential information quickly when there is a threat to the health and safety of residents.

Register for NorthlandAlert