GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Even before a single flake fell, Kent County Emergency Manager Matt Groesser was making his days about preparedness.
“We’ve had three or four days to prepare,” he said. “We’ve been blessed with that amount of time to get the word out, make sure everybody understood what this is going to be.”
And what it’s going to be, is dangerous.
“It is going to be impactful, we’re going to see some trouble,” Groesser added.
The blizzard conditions are expected to coincide with Christmas Eve and could stand to severely endanger or even cancel travel plans for thousands of people.
“The timing on this event is terrible,” said Groesser. “It is on one of our busiest travel holidays of the year and we can’t ignore that fact and we understand that there’s a lot of emotion that goes into being able to be with your family at this time of the year.”
To keep even the county’s first responders and administrators safe, the Emergency Command Center, where Groesser Zoom called with FOX17 on Thursday, will be set up remotely so first-response leaders and county administrators can virtually join the operation to keep people safe.
“Even though we’ve set the room up, we’ve got it all set up and ready to go, there’s a good chance that we’ll be virtual throughout most of this event. We’ll be on computers, laptops at our homes, cellphones and communicating that way,” said Groesser. “As we learned with COVID, there are some threats where you can’t meet in person. And tomorrow is one good example of that.”
Groesser urged people to stock up on supplies, including water – a gallon per day, per person he recommends.
This week, Kent County 911 rolled out its texting feature, allowing people to text with operators when a call isn’t possible. The 911 center’s slogan: “call if you can, text if you can’t.”
The EOC will also be working closely with The Red Cross and the Salvation Army to identify dangerous situations or residents in immediate need of help, and Groesser encourages people who can to check on their elderly neighbors and family.
