Safe from the Storm: What does it mean when the governor declares a State of Emergency?
When a big weather event affects Alabama, you may hear that the governor has issued a “State of Emergency.” But what does that actually mean?
It’s actually less about the weather itself, and more about the emergency preparation before and the response after hazardous weather.
Lisa Castaldo, the Alabama Emergency Management Agency’s Executive Operations Officer explains what a “State of Emergency” means:
“It does allow particularly state agencies to start to posture themselves in a way that they are as ready as possible to respond, so it may be that there is some alleviation of rules on number of hours trucks can travel on roads, the National Guard may be preparing to activate to support something within the state, some mission that they’ve been asked to do in relation to a disaster.”
The most recent State of Emergency proclamation by Gov. Kay Ivey happened earlier this year for counties in north Alabama due to an impending winter storm. That proclamation prepared the National Guard for activation, activated an anti-price gouging law, temporarily waived certain regulations for vehicles moving emergency supplies and allowed for weather-related government office and school closures, if needed.
Watch the video above to learn more about how the State of Alabama responds to severe weather threats.
