Hanover County's Emergency Plans

Hanover County has had an Emergency Operations Plan for more than 30 years, including emergency response plans for disasters ranging from storms to nuclear attack. For decades now, Hanover County has cultivated a close working relationship with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM), and inter-jurisdictional agreements with neighboring localities have long been in place. But what makes it all work are the hundreds of County employees and volunteers who have spent thousands of hours training, developing procedures, and familiarizing themselves with the County’s elaborate emergency response plans.

Hanover County emergency services personnel, including law enforcement, Fire/EMS and Emergency Communications, participate in both tabletop and full-scale emergency drills every year. Every two years the County participates in emergency response drills with Dominion Resources’ North Anna Power station. This exercise is evaluated by the Department of Homeland Security, Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy, and for eight consecutive years Hanover has had a perfect score on each of these drills.

Hanover’s emergency services providers got the chance to put their years of training and expertise into practice in September 2003 when Hurricane Isabel swept through the County, causing millions of dollars in damages, followed by a tornado just four days later.

Hanover County’s Emergency Operations Center was activated the day before Hurricane Isabel struck Hanover and a 24-hour emergency phone number was established. Representatives of the Sheriff’s Office, Fire/EMS, Building Official, Health Department, Extension Service, Public Utilities, Public Works, Community Resources and County Administration handled hundreds of calls and leaders directed responses throughout the Hurricane, the tornado and the aftermath of the storms. Such long-range planning as equipping each fire station with generators paid off during Hurricane Isabel.

However, in any large-scale disaster emergency providers will be very busy and for 72 hours of more, many residents will have to depend on their own emergency plans. Click here to learn more about what you can do to protect your family.