A selected neighborhood in Ashland will be asked to participate in a planned evacuation exercise to help staff and residents prepare for a real emergency. Residents who have been selected will be notified via mail beforehand with instructions on the exercise. In order to keep the exercise as real as possible, the City will be sending out an alert about the drill to all of Ashland via its Nixle notification system. Only those who have been contacted beforehand and have agreed to participate in the drill will participate in the exercise.

 “If you think about it, evacuation is very a community-centric process in the sense that we have to coordinate with other evacuees smoothly and sometime creatively, if we are to save our own lives and possibly those of our family member, neighbors, and pets.” said Mayor Stromberg, who has stressed the importance of a planned evacuation in recent months.

Kelly Madding, City Administrator, stated that “the goal of this exercise is for City staff and the public to learn more about what a real evacuation may look and feel like. While it is common for City staff to do exercises on paper, it is unique to do a live drill. But it is only by conducting a live exercise that the positive actions and gaps can be understood. There will likely be hiccups, but we can all learn from this to be better prepared should a real evacuation be necessary. 

The exercise will take place on the morning of Saturday, July 20 and will include participants evacuating their homes to a designated area in town. The designated area will be set up as a shelter to collect information about the evacuation.