A staff memo to City Manager Doug Krieger outlined gaps in Naperville’s emergency response learned after an EF3 tornado hit the city in June 2021 and ways to ensure they are not repeated during future disasters.
For weeks after, the city — in conjunction with mutual aid from nearby municipalities — worked to assess damage and clean up debris. At the time, the city didn’t feel any gaps in its immediate response, LaCloche said.But in the months that followed, questions over how the community was coping loomed. In December 2021, the city held an open house and conducted a survey of residents to get a better understanding of where needs were.
Take the third response challenge listed in staff’s memo Thursday: “Unclear Emergency Operations Center roles, procedures, technology.” LaCloche said with this item, the city will be working to define a chain of command within its emergency response teams so that, in the case of disaster, who’s in charge during what circumstances is already decided.In a similar streamlining effort, the city is developing a new online tracking system for building permits and inspections.
After the 2021 tornado, LaCloche said the city “wasn’t prepared” to facilitate the kind of philanthropy community-minded neighbors were seeking.