Title
Resolution to Analyze Ann Arbor’s Emergency Response During Severe Weather Events and Related Widespread Power Outages
Staff
Reviewed by: Milton Dohoney Jr., City Administrator
Body
Whereas, Ann Arbor has experienced several severe weather events in 2023;
Whereas, DTE’s electric grid has proven to be highly susceptible to severe weather events causing widespread, multi-day outages in Ann Arbor on at least 3 separate occasions this year alone;
Whereas, The City’s drinking water system was impacted by the most recent storm;
Whereas, Severe weather events are expected to increase in number as the result of human-driven climate change;
Whereas, the A2Zero Carbon Neutrality plan identifies enhancing the resilience of our people and our place as a core strategy for responding to climate change;
Whereas, City Council initiated a feasibility study on a municipal electric utility as well as a Sustainable Energy Utility, and believes there is value in evaluating this issue from an emergency response perspective;
RESOLVED, City Council directs the City Administrator to provide to City Council by September 30, 2023, an analysis of the City’s, and other relevant agencies’, emergency response to severe weather events that have happened thus far in 2023 that includes:
● An analysis of geographic patterns of weather-related power outages within Ann Arbor and possible causes;
● An inventory of community cooling and warming centers that have been made available;
● A description and analysis of how emergency-related communication and coordination occurs between different City departments, the City and DTE, and the City and other community organizations (e.g., Red Cross, Ann Arbor District Library);
● An analysis of what systems (e.g., water, fire response, traffic signals, etc.) have been impacted by these events and how the City and/or other community organizations have responded;
● An analysis of specific kinds of emergencies that have resulted and how the City or other community organizations have responded;
● An analysis of the role the City’s existing resilience hubs have played in these events;
● An estimate of the total emergency costs incurred by the City in response to prolonged power outages as a result of the major storm events that occurred on February 22, 2023, March 3, 2023, and July 26, 2023; and
RESOLVED, City Council directs the City Administrator to provide a set of recommended actions that would improve the City’s responsiveness, preparedness, and resilience to such events in the future.
Sponsored by: Councilmembers Akmon, Briggs, Radina and Disch