A full-scale disaster-response exercise was conducted at the Cerro Gordo County Emergency Management Agency offices in Mason City this week, as part of the agency’s year-round, coordinated training efforts.
The agency’s members are made up of individuals with various areas of expertise, including city and county workers, law enforcement, energy, health, logistics and finance.
Members work on a volunteer basis, meeting monthly and quarterly for smaller “table-top” exercises, and annually for a large-scale exercise, all of which are designed to mimic real-life public emergencies, such as tornadoes, floods, and in the case of the most recent drill, mass power outages. Kara Ruge, who serves as a public information officer at the agency, said the exercises are worked through as though they are really happening, including live, incoming calls from players representing the public, giving the volunteers a feel for what kinds of issues might work their way to the surface during a crisis.