Crime & Safety

Fairfax County Emergency Personnel Conducted Mock Hurricane Exercise

Emergency personnel participated Thursday in an emergency exercise at Martha Washington Library and Thomas Edison High School.

County emergency management, public works, public safety, human services, public information officers and related county agencies — along with the American Red Cross — participated in an emergency exercise Thursday at Martha Washington Library, according to Fairfax County.

The exercise, called VERTEX 2014, was based around a weather scenario in which a Category 3 hurricane makes landfall in Virginia, causing severe damage throughout the county requiring the opening of a shelter for displaced residents.

The exercise was held in three locations:

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Public safety and public works staff were exercising incident command principles including unified command and were based in the library parking lot. This exercise was designed to enhance the multiagency planning and response to the threats that face the community during a severe weather event.

Human services staff and volunteers, along with the American Red Cross, were setting up a shelter at the high school to test the county’s shelter plan.

The exercise was coordinated from the EOC and supported by additional county staff exercising from that location.

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