As Hurricane Sandy moves through the Bahamas on a path towards the mid-Atlantic,  Maryland counties are preparing for emergency operations and providing guidance to their residents.  Counties are working to reach out to residents with emergency preparedness information and are developing local emergency plans to address this threat.

Montgomery County’s Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security is urging residents to sign up for Alert Montgomery, its local emergency notification system for severe weather, traffic and school alerts, as reported by Bethesda Now.  They have also posted a list of  tips on preparing for a potential storm, including the following:

• Make sure vehicle gas tanks are full.
• Fill prescriptions that might be needed and stock up on any necessary medical supplies.
• Keep flashlights and battery-powered radios with extra batteries on hand, along with a basic first aid kit, emergency food and water, and a non-electric can opener.

Harford County’s emergency management officials are watching the storm, and making plans to activate their emergency operations center if needed, as reported in the Aberdeen Patch.

“We are definitely gearing up,” Linda Ploener, manager of emergency planning, said Thursday morning.  She explained that the county emergency operations center has already laid some groundwork behind the scenes in preparation for the storm.  “We’ll have a pretty good feel for how our plan of attack is going to go by tomorrow,” Ploener said.

MACo’s upcoming winter conference will focus on emergency services that counties provide to their residents during winter storms, hurricanes, and other disasters.  The conference schedule is now available and registration is open.