Both FEMA and state emergency management agencies require communities to examine the risks they face, from such incidents as technological emergencies involving radiological or hazardous materials releases or major aircraft crashes, and natural disasters such as floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes. After completing these hazards analysis studies, each community is expected to prepare response plans for the expected hazards. Response plans identify authority levels and responsibilities, determine resource needs and access, and identify mutual-aid protocols. Incorporating responses to potential bombings can also be accomplished in these plans. Once the plan is written, it must be exercised and updated annually.
Exercises work out relationships and problems before an incident occurs.
Updating the Response Plan Communities change over time. Businesses come and go. Neighborhoods and highway systems change as well. A community's response plan must be routinely updated to ensure it contains current information.