Lewis Center, OH In the wake of recent natural disasters, such as the deadly 2024 tornado in Indian Lake, Ohio, the Ohio Clean Marinas Program created an interactive workshop to help marina owners and lake professionals learn how to handle disaster events.
This year’s workshop, titled “Natural Disaster Response: From Knowledge to Action” and held on Sept. 23, brought together representatives from various agencies and organizations to learn about about natural disaster readiness and response, including tornado response and flood preparedness.
At the event, attendees experienced hands-on training with natural disaster plans, fire extinguishers, boat tie-downs, and boom deployment. Over the course of more than six hours, the group discussed lessons learned from the Indian Lake tornado, emergency management and disaster planning, spill response, and the Red Cross’s Ready Rating Program.
Attending institutions included Ohio Sea Grant, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Orange Township Fire Department, Ohio Emergency Management Agency, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, American Red Cross, and Alum Creek Marina.
“All of our marinas left with a big binder of emergency scenario templates and were encouraged to use the experts in the room to make them specific to their facility.” said Tracey Coe, Ohio River Basin Program Coordinator with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Ohio Clean Marinas Program.
In addition to disaster damage mitigation techniques, the workshop stressed that skills such as equipment awareness can make a substantial difference in how marina businesses are able to react to emergency situations.
“It is so important to get in the habit of thinking about preparedness,” Coe explained. “You can ask a junior employee where the emergency fuel shutoff is, you can check your spill kit, you can make sure the kitchen staff know where the fire extinguishers are. A minute a day could be all it takes to prevent disaster or to know how to quickly recover.”
The skills taught at the workshop focused on individual actions, but each presenter stressed the importance of building community. Having a strong network to rely on is essential in the aftermath of natural disasters, Coe said. This was evident in the deadly Indian Lake tornado, which heavily damaged marinas and destroyed property weeks before the town expected a rush of visitors for the 2024 solar eclipse.
“They had three weeks to get their town ready for tourists who wanted to be in the path of totality, and they pulled it off,” Coe said of Indian Lake’s recovery. “One of the reasons that happened is because they had such a strong community. Resiliency comes from actively building that community and connection, understanding needs and resources available, and thinking through scenarios together.”
Coe hopes the workshop and the Clean Marinas program’s continued outreach will help to create more prepared communities.
“Disasters are becoming more and more prevalent, and an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. There’s no substitute for preparing,” she said.
The Ohio Clean Marinas Program is a partnership that encourages environmental stewardship principles for marinas to proactively keep Ohio’s coastal and inland waterway resources clean. For more information on the Ohio Clean Marinas Program and upcoming events, visit ohioseagrant.osu.edu/clean.
Ohio Sea Grant is supported by The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) School of Environment and Natural Resources, Ohio State University Extension, and NOAA Sea Grant, a network of 34 Sea Grant programs nation-wide dedicated to the protection and sustainable use of marine and Great Lakes resources. Stone Laboratory is Ohio State’s island campus on Lake Erie and is the research, education, and outreach facility of Ohio Sea Grant and part of CFAES School of Environment and Natural Resources.