Fairfax County Office of Emergency Management (OEM) is dedicated to ensuring community readiness for all types of hazards. To support residents in understanding emergency operations before, during, and after any disaster, Fairfax County OEM and its partners maintain comprehensive emergency plans. These crucial resources are readily available to the public, acting as your essential Emergency Response Guide.
Understanding Fairfax County’s Hazards
Fairfax County faces a diverse range of potential hazards, spanning natural events, human-caused incidents, and everyday emergencies. These threats can jeopardize resident safety, cause significant property damage, and disrupt the local economy. While hazards themselves cannot be eliminated, their potential impacts can be significantly reduced through proactive planning and preparedness.
It’s important to recognize that hazards can occur in isolation or as cascading events. For instance, a hurricane might lead to flooding, power outages, and medical emergencies simultaneously. Similarly, a thunderstorm could produce lightning, resulting in structural fires.
The hazards most relevant to Fairfax County have been identified through the Northern Virginia Hazard Mitigation Plan and other reliable sources. These are the hazards with the highest probability of causing severe impacts on lives and property. Analysis is based on historical hazard data, forecasting, and probabilistic modeling, ensuring a robust understanding of local risks.
Your Emergency Response Guide: Categories of Hazards
To simplify understanding and planning, hazards are grouped by common characteristics in our emergency plans. These categories are not ranked in order of importance, as any hazard can pose a significant threat. Your emergency response guide covers the following key categories:
Natural Hazards: Prepare for events such as thunderstorms, hurricanes and tropical storms, flooding, winter weather and extreme cold, extreme heat, tornadoes, earthquakes, and pandemic influenza and infectious diseases.
Human-Caused Hazards: Understand and plan for risks including cyber attacks, civil disorder, acts of violence and terrorism, HAZMAT incidents, chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear events, and dam failures.
“Everyday” Emergencies: Be ready to respond to common emergencies like structural fires, power outages and blackouts, and medical emergencies.
For detailed information and specific guidance on each of these hazards, please visit the OEM website here to access the full emergency plans. Being informed and prepared is the best way to protect yourself, your family, and your community.
