Emergency preparedness

All-hazard emergency preparedness plan

Predicting how and when crisis situations will strike is difficult, so preparation is critical. SCAD has created an all-hazard emergency preparedness plan to assist members of the SCAD community in nearly all emergencies. Many examples in the plan focus on emergency weather-related scenarios, such as hurricanes, due to the tropical climate of some SCAD locations.

SCAD is StormReady

SCAD is the first coastal college or university in Georgia to be recognized as a StormReady university. A National Weather Service initiative designed to recognize entities that have achieved a high level of severe weather preparedness, StormReady communities, universities, and other groups are better prepared to protect their populations during severe weather through advanced planning, education, and awareness. SCAD has extensive emergency preparedness plans in place, with the health and safety of our students, faculty, and staff our primary concern.

StormReady communities develop plans to handle all types of extreme weather — from tornadoes and tropical weather to winter storms — and encourages a proactive approach to managing local hazardous weather operations.

To be officially StormReady, a community or organization must:

Establish a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center
Have more than one way to receive severe weather warnings and forecasts and to alert the public
Create a system that monitors weather conditions locally
Promote the importance of public readiness through community seminars
Develop a formal hazardous weather plan, which includes training severe weather spotters and holding emergency exercises

Collaboration for safety

SCAD’s first priority is ensuring the safety of its students. SCAD emergency management and preparedness is aligned with federal, state, and local emergency management agencies as well as with local fire, law enforcement, and other emergency first responders.

At the federal level, SCAD collaborates on emergency management and disaster planning with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). At the state level, SCAD works with the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (GEMA/HS) to prepare for any possible disaster. For disaster preparation at the local level, SCAD works with the Chatham Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) in Savannah and the Atlanta-Fulton County Emergency Management Agency (AFCEMA) in Atlanta.