For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
DISASTER. A human-made, natural, or war-caused disaster.
DISASTER EMERGENCY. Those conditions which may, by investigation made, be found, actually or likely, to:
(1) Affect seriously the safety, health, or welfare of a substantial number of citizens of this town or preclude the operation or use of essential public services and facilities;
(2) Be of such magnitude or severity as to necessitate seeking state or county supplementation of local efforts or resources exerted or utilized in alleviating the danger, damage, suffering, or hardship faced; and
(3) Have been caused by forces beyond the control of humans, by reason of civil disorder, riot, or disturbance, or by factors not foreseen and not known to exist when appropriation bills were enacted.
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT. The judicious planning, assignment, and coordination of all available resources in an integrated program of prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery for emergencies of any kind, whether from attack, or human-made or natural sources.
EMERGENCY SERVICES. The preparation for and the carrying out of functions, other than functions for which military forces are primarily responsible, to prevent, minimize, and provide emergency repair of injury and damage resulting from disaster, together with all other activities necessary or incidental to the preparation for and carrying out of those functions. The functions include, without limitation, firefighting services, police services, medical and health services, rescue, engineering, disaster warning services, communications, radiological, shelter, chemical, and other special weapons defense, evacuation of persons from stricken areas, emergency welfare services, emergency transportation, emergency resources management, existing or properly assigned functions of plant protection, temporary restoration of public utility services, and other functions related to civilian protection.
HUMAN-MADE DISASTER. Any industrial, nuclear, or transportation accident, explosion, conflagration, power failure, natural resource shortage, or other condition, except enemy action, resulting from human-made causes, such as oil spills and other injurious environmental contamination, which threatens or causes substantial damage to property, human suffering, hardship, or loss of life.
LOCAL EMERGENCY. The condition declared by the President of the Town Council when in his or her judgment the threat or actual occurrence of a disaster is or threatens to be of sufficient severity and magnitude to warrant coordinated local government action to prevent or alleviate the damage, loss, hardship, or suffering threatened or caused thereby. A LOCAL EMERGENCY cannot be declared where the emergency arises solely out of resource shortage as such an emergency may only be declared under the act of the governor.
NATURAL DISASTER. Any hurricane, tornado, storm, flood, high water, wind-driven water, tidal wave, earthquake, landslide, mudslide, snowstorm, drought, fire, explosion, or other catastrophe that results in substantial damage to property, hardship, suffering, or possible loss of life.
WAR-CAUSED DISASTER. Any condition following an attack upon the United States resulting in substantial damage to property or injury to persons in the United States caused by use of bombs, missiles, shellfire, nuclear, radiological, chemical, or biological means, other weapons, overt paramilitary actions, or other conditions such as sabotage.
(Prior Code, § 33-A.02) (Ord. 92-3-1, passed 3-24-1992)