The university has received $368,000 in emergency planning grants from the state and federal governments, and some of that money will pay for two trailers full of sheltering supplies to serve at least 600 people.
AMHERST – In December 2008, a massive ice storm left thousands in the state without power for days, sending many to seek shelter.
But if a storm with that kind of power hits this winter, the University of Massachusetts might be able to help.
UMass has received $368,000 in emergency planning grants from the state and federal governments, and some of that money will pay for two trailers full of sheltering supplies to serve at least 600 people, said Brian K. Olsen, the university’s emergency preparedness and business continuity planning manager.
The trailers will contain folding cots, pillows and blankets and can be rolled out and set up within minutes, he said.
The university could set them up at the Mullins Center or Boyden Gym or deliver them to other shelters, he said. Olsen applied for the grants.
“We’ve never had the sheltering resources,” he said
Besides the $50,000 in state funding to purchase the trailers, the university received two grants to help plan and mitigate for disaster – both natural and man-made, such as chemical spills.
The university received a three-year, $143,000 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to do a pre-disaster mitigation plan, as well as $175,000 that was included in the federal budget by U.S. Rep. John W. Olver.
The first grant allows the university to plan for natural disasters like floods or hurricanes and allows each building on campus to be evaluated for how it might weather those disasters.
“It will allow the campus to develop an overall hazard mitigation plan that also takes into account our surrounding communities,” he said. “This is really helping the university partner with the communities, hazards don’t stop at the borders.”
“We have done risk assessments, but not to this scale,” Olsen said.
He also said that if more need is found, the university would seek more grants. “There is a pretty decent amount of money for emergency management,” he said.
The second grant allows the campus to look at more specific kinds of emergencies, such as a chemical release from one of its labs or a steam line disruption or threats to the information technology structure on the campus, Olsen said.
The trailers should arrive on campus in time for the start of the new school year, he said.