June marks National Safety Month — and the start of hurricane season. That combination makes it the ideal time for municipal clerks to review, update, and practice their community’s emergency plan.
You may not have “emergency manager” in your job title. But when disaster strikes, you are often the person everyone turns to. This post covers the three pillars of strong emergency preparedness: safety awareness, accessible communications, and backup plans when the internet goes down.
The National Safety Council (NSC) has designated June as National Safety Month since 1996. This year marks its 30th anniversary. Each week focuses on a different theme:
- Week 1 (June 1–6): Moving Safety Forward — Build a proactive safety culture with training, engagement, and forward-thinking tools.
- Week 2 (June 7–13): Staying Safe on the Roads — Practical guidance for drivers, pedestrians, and municipal fleets.
- Week 3 (June 14–20): Promoting Holistic Worker Health — Support the mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing of your team.
- Week 4 (June 21–30): Preventing Slips, Trips, and Falls — Reduce common hazards in the workplace and the community.
The NSC focuses on workplace and roadway safety. For emergency response and community preparedness, your go-to resources are FEMA and Ready.gov.
Why Emergency Planning Is Part of a Clerk’s Responsibility
Your role goes far beyond paperwork. When an emergency hits, you are a critical link in your community’s response chain. You disseminate information, maintain records, and often coordinate between departments and the public.
The question is not if your community will face an emergency. It is when. And the clerks who make the biggest difference are the ones who planned ahead.
Ask yourself:
- When did you last review your emergency plan?
- Are staff contact lists current?
- Are procedures written in plain language that anyone can follow?
- Does your plan account for residents with disabilities?
- What happens if the internet goes down?
If any of those questions gave you pause, keep reading.
Make Your Emergency Plan a Living Document
Too many emergency plans sit on a shelf until disaster forces someone to open them. A real plan is a living document. It needs regular review, updates, and practice.
Review the Plan Every Year (at least)
Set an annual reminder — June is a natural time, with hurricane season starting and Safety Month underway. Update contact lists, procedures, and resources. Changes in staff, population, and infrastructure can make an outdated plan more dangerous than no plan at all.
Run Drills, Even Simple Ones
A tabletop exercise — where your team talks through a scenario together — takes only an hour and reveals gaps you would never spot on paper. Do it at least once a year.
Cross-Train Your Staff
Emergencies do not care about job descriptions. Make sure more than one person can access vital records, operate key systems, and follow response procedures. If you are the only one who knows where things are, that is a risk to your community.
Build Relationships Before You Need Them
Get to know your local fire, police, and public health contacts now — not during a crisis. Those relationships are priceless when time is short.
Plan for ADA-Accessible Emergency Communications
Accessible emergency communications are not optional. Under ADA Title II, state and local governments must ensure that their services — including emergency alerts and public information — are accessible to people with disabilities. Meeting WCAG 2.1 AA standards is the current federal benchmark for digital content.
Accessible communication is also simply good practice. About one in four adults in the United States has some form of disability. Your emergency messaging will only be effective if it reaches everyone.
Use Multiple Communication Channels
No single channel reaches every resident. A strong communications plan layers several methods:
- Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA): Cell broadcast messages sent directly to mobile phones in a targeted area — no app or sign-up required. These work even when cellular networks are congested for calls and texts.
- Emergency Alert System (EAS): Delivers alerts via AM, FM, satellite radio, and broadcast or cable TV.
- NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards: A 24/7 nationwide radio network that broadcasts weather and non-weather emergencies. Some models include visual alerts and vibration features for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
- IPAWS (Integrated Public Alert and Warning System): FEMA’s national alerting platform lets authorized local officials send one message through all of the above channels simultaneously. If your municipality is not yet enrolled, look into it.
- Opt-in local alerts: Text or email notification systems allow residents to subscribe and choose their preferred devices and alert types.
- Outdoor sirens and digital signage: Useful for reaching people who are not near screens or phones.
Write for Plain Language
Use short sentences. Use common words. Avoid jargon. Aim for a reading level that works for all adults — including those with cognitive disabilities, limited English proficiency, or low literacy. Plain language is not just an accessibility best practice. It is also better writing.
Include ASL and Language Access
ASL interpretation matters for members of your community who are deaf. If your municipality issues video communications or holds press briefings, include an ASL interpreter. For communities with significant non-English-speaking populations, have translation resources identified in advance. The FCC and FEMA joint guidance also recommends preparing materials in multiple formats: large print, audio, and digital text.
Where to find a certified ASL interpreter
Start with the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) — the national certifying body for ASL interpreters. Their member search tool is searchable by city and state and filterable by certification type and specialty.
Then check your state’s deaf services agency, which often maintains its own verified list for government use and may even coordinate interpreter services for local governments directly.
Where to find spoken-language translators and interpreters
There is no single national directory for spoken-language interpreters equivalent to RID. Use this two-step approach instead:
Step 1: Find out what languages your community speaks. The U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) provides language-spoken-at-home data down to the county level for most municipalities — and it is free. This data tells you which languages to plan for and is the starting point the DOJ recommends for Title VI compliance.
Step 2: Build your interpreter network before you need it. Check with your state’s court system or social services agency, which often maintain certified interpreter contractor lists available to local government. Also reach out to local school districts, libraries, hospitals, and immigrant services organizations — they frequently have established interpreter relationships and can share referrals. The National Association of State Agencies of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (NASADHH) can connect you to your state agency, many of which coordinate broader language access services as well.
Note: This is also a legal obligation. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and Executive Order 13166 require municipalities that receive federal funding to provide meaningful access to residents with limited English proficiency. Documenting your language access plan is part of compliance.
Do not wait until an emergency.
Identify, vet, and establish a relationship with interpreters now. Know your backup if your primary interpreter is unavailable.
Design Digital Content to Be Accessible
For any emergency information posted online:
- Use proper heading structure (H1, H2, H3) so screen readers can navigate.
- Write descriptive alt text for every image.
- Do not rely on color alone to convey meaning.
- Ensure sufficient color contrast.
- Make all links descriptive (not “click here”).
- Caption any video content.
These standards align with WCAG 2.1 AA, the benchmark referenced in DOJ’s ADA Title II rule.
Plan for Internet Failure
The internet is easy to take for granted — until a storm, cyberattack, or infrastructure failure takes it offline. Internet outages are one of the most common and disruptive parts of any major emergency. Your plan must account for it.
Know Which Communications Still Work Without the Internet
When the internet goes down, these channels can still function:
- WEA (Wireless Emergency Alerts): These use cell broadcast technology, not the internet or standard cell network traffic. They reach phones even when calling and texting are congested or unavailable.
- NOAA Weather Radio: Battery-powered NOAA radios require no internet or cell service. Encourage residents — especially those with disabilities — to keep one at home.
- Traditional AM/FM radio and broadcast TV: Old media becomes essential in a disaster. Know your local stations and confirm they participate in EAS.
- Landline phones: Traditional copper-line service may work during power outages; VoIP-based landlines will not without battery backup.
- In-person communication: Designated physical locations — such as community centers or fire stations — can serve as information hubs when digital systems fail.
Prepare Offline Versions of Your Key Resources
Keep printed copies of your emergency plan, contact lists, and resident notification templates. Store them in a place that does not require a computer to access. Back up digital records to encrypted external drives as well as cloud storage.
Have a Backup Mass-Notification Strategy
If your primary mass-notification system requires internet access, identify a backup. This could be a phone tree, radio communication, or a pre-arranged protocol with a neighboring municipality, county or state emergency management office.
Consider Satellite Communication
For critical communications during extended outages, satellite phones and devices provide connectivity that operates independently of local infrastructure. This is worth exploring, especially for communities in disaster-prone areas.
Build a Culture of Preparedness
Emergency preparedness is not a box to check once a year. The most resilient communities treat it as an ongoing practice. A few ways to embed it into your work:
- Bring up emergency planning at staff meetings, even briefly.
- Include emergency preparedness topics in onboarding for new staff.
- Share Safety Month resources with your team and elected officials during June.
- Encourage residents to sign up for local opt-in alerts.
- Make your emergency contact information visible on your website — and make sure that page meets ADA standards.
Take Action This June
Pull out your emergency plan and read it with fresh eyes. Note what needs updating. Schedule a drill. Check your communications channels — and make sure all of them are accessible, even when the internet is not.
Preparedness is not just a box to check. It is peace of mind for you and your whole community.