The Emergency Management Department of the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians is responsible for the planning, response, and recovery of any emergency which impacts Tribal assets or its members.  These disasters can be natural disasters such as wildfires and ice storms or manmade events including the recently experienced pandemic or civil unrest.

 

The Emergency Management Department will anticipate possible emergencies and develop mitigation strategies to reduce the impact on Tribal members.  We will also create relationships and agreements with other entities such as Aroostook County Emergency Management, Maine Emergency Management, and Federal Emergency Management Agencies.

The Emergency Management Coordinator develops a program which aligns the Tribe with the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and National Preparedness System. NIMS implementation objectives are guiding principles which give the Tribe direction for emergency
response capabilities, training & qualifications, and resource management. Consequently, support and funding is available to accomplish these objectives.

 

To prepare for an emergency, read below;

  • Increase your cyber-awareness. This includes taking steps that would protect you or your business from a cyber attack. You can get more information here: https://www.cisa.gov/shields-up

  • Power outages are something we should prepare for normally anyway. That said, would you be prepared if there were a cyber attack that took down the power grid for a period of time? You can find more information on how to prepare for power outages here: https://www.ready.gov/power-outages

  • We have all gotten used to the convenience of cell phones in our lives, but what if our daily ways of communicating were not working? How would you communicate with your family and work if you could not use your cell phone and internet was down? Having a back up plan on what you would do can take a lot of the stress out of this situation. Here are some tips for you to use: https://www.ready.gov/sites/default/files/2021-04/family-emergency-communication-plan.pdf

  • Building an emergency kit can be empowering by making someone feel ready for an incident. This simple task should be done by each of us anyway, but can be especially helpful during these times. Click here for more information on how to build an emergency kit: https://www.ready.gov/kit