Worth County Iowa Emergency Management

08/28/2026

Worth County Emergency Management is looking for community partners to help review a brand-new Health and Social Services Recovery Support Function.

This plan addresses what happens after the immediate emergency begins to stabilize but essential community services haven't fully recovered. Its purpose is to help Worth County and its partners restore health, behavioral health, human services, education, and community-support systems; protect continuity of care; reconnect people with essential services; and identify and coordinate unmet needs.

We're especially looking for participation from:

Healthcare, emergency medical, pharmacy, long-term care, assisted-living, home health, hospice, and other care providers; behavioral health and substance-use service providers; human-service organizations; aging and disability services; childcare and family-support organizations; food and nutrition programs; schools and educational organizations; youth-serving organizations; community-service organizations; municipal and county government; voluntary and faith-based organizations; private-sector service providers; and organizations serving people with access and functional needs. You don't need previous disaster-recovery experience to participate. In fact, we particularly want reviewers who can tell us how their services actually operate every day, what they depend upon, what could interrupt them, and what would be needed to restore them after a disaster.

If you or your organization would like to participate in reviewing this new plan, contact Worth County Emergency Management at [email protected] for additional information.

We would much rather discover a gap around a conference table than during a disaster.

08/28/2026

Worth County Emergency Management is developing a new Housing Recovery Support Function (RSF) as part of the recovery section of the Worth County Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan, and we're looking for partners to help review it.

This isn't an emergency-shelter plan. It addresses the much longer road from displacement toward safe, accessible, affordable, and sustainable housing after a disaster. That distinction is central to the Housing RSF's mission.

We are especially interested in participation from city and county government; housing and community-development organizations; regional planners; landlords and property managers; real-estate professionals; builders and contractors; building and zoning officials; utilities; insurance professionals; banks, credit unions, mortgage lenders and servicers; nonprofit and faith-based organizations; human-service organizations; organizations serving older adults, people with disabilities and other access and functional needs; volunteer organizations; and others with experience in housing, construction, finance, planning, recovery, or community development.

We're also interested in perspectives we haven't thought of yet. Disaster recovery has a habit of creating partnerships that didn't exist before the disaster.

The plan intentionally assigns many recovery roles at activation according to the organizations, capabilities, capacity and people actually available, rather than assuming today's organizational structure will still exist when the next disaster occurs.

If you or your organization would like to help review the draft Housing RSF, contact Worth County Emergency Management at [email protected] for more information.

The best time to meet our future recovery partners is before we need them.

08/28/2026

Worth County Emergency Management is seeking healthcare and community partners to review our newly revised Emergency Support Function 8 (ESF-8): Public Health and Medical Services.

ESF-8 provides the county-level coordination framework for public health, medical, behavioral health, environmental health, and mortuary needs during emergencies and disasters. The draft is specifically intended to bring together Public Health, EMS, healthcare, the Medical Examiner, behavioral health, Emergency Management, public safety, and other supporting organizations.

We would particularly like participation from public health professionals; ambulance and emergency medical services; hospitals, clinics, physicians and other healthcare providers; pharmacies; long-term care and assisted-living facilities; home health and hospice providers; behavioral health and substance-use providers; laboratories and medical suppliers; funeral homes and mortuary-service partners; law enforcement and fire services; organizations serving people with disabilities or access and functional needs; volunteer organizations; and other health or medical partners serving Worth County.

We're asking reviewers to help answer a very practical question: If a significant emergency happened tomorrow, would this plan actually help the people expected to use it coordinate the health and medical response?

If you or your organization would like to participate in the review, contact Worth County Emergency Management at [email protected] for additional information.

Your operational experience can help us make this plan useful before the day we actually need it.

08/28/2026

ESF-6 — Mass Care, Emergency Assistance, Housing & Human Services

Worth County Emergency Management is looking for community partners to help review our newly revised Emergency Support Function 6 (ESF-6): Mass Care, Emergency Assistance, Housing and Human Services.

ESF-6 helps coordinate how Worth County would meet basic human needs during and immediately following a major emergency or disaster, including sheltering, feeding, emergency assistance, short-term housing needs, and related human services.

We are especially interested in hearing from organizations and individuals involved with public health, emergency sheltering, food and feeding services, human services, healthcare and behavioral health, law enforcement and public safety, transportation, facilities that could support disaster operations, disability and access and functional needs services, volunteer and faith-based organizations, community service organizations, and other groups that may assist people affected by a disaster. If you or your organization would like to participate in reviewing this draft, please contact Worth County Emergency Management at ema@worthcountyiowagov for additional information.

Good emergency plans aren't written for our partners. They're built with them.

08/25/2026

08/25/2026

08/25/2026

Do you know what the blue sign at a railroad crossing is for? The Emergency Notification System (ENS) sign displays a toll-free emergency number and a unique crossing identification number. If your vehicle becomes stuck on the tracks, a crossing signal is malfunctioning, debris is blocking the tracks, or another hazardous condition exists, move to a safe location and call the number on the sign. Providing the crossing number allows the railroad to quickly identify your exact location, which is especially important at rural crossings throughout Worth County, and notify approaching trains or dispatch assistance. If there is an immediate threat to life or a collision has occurred, call 9-1-1 first. Take a moment the next time you cross railroad tracks to locate the blue sign. Knowing where it is before an emergency could save valuable time and, quite possibly, a life!🚂

08/18/2026