Emergency Management - Town of East Lyme

In service to our community’s safety and security, East Lyme Emergency Management takes a comprehensive approach encompassing prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery from the most significant threats and hazards we face.

Our department has demonstrated strong success in securing external funding to enhance public safety capabilities. Since 2017, Emergency Management has secured over $744,000 in competitive grant awards. These funds have enabled critical improvements to our public safety infrastructure, including:

Modernization of technology and communications systems
Enhanced traffic control infrastructure
Implementation of the Everbridge Emergency Notification System
Offset of Emergency Management personnel costs

The department maintains an active pursuit of additional grant opportunities to further strengthen our essential public safety infrastructure and equipment. These improvements are vital for maintaining reliable connectivity and communications across our network of first responders and partners, including Police, Fire, EMS, our 911 Dispatch Center, and Local, Regional, and State-Wide agencies. As of February 2025, we have submitted grant applications totaling $392,734 that are currently pending approval.

Through these ongoing efforts, your Department of Emergency Management strives to provide our community with the highest level of protection and emergency preparedness possible.

Important public safety notices and storm updates are posted to the East Lyme Public Safety Facebook page. You do not have to be a Facebook member to see the East Lyme Public Safety Facebook page. These notices are also viewable on the Public Safety Notices & Storm Updates page.

Preparing our community for natural and manmade disasters by:

Connecting with Residents to Assist with Evacuations or Medical Need for Power
Sharing important public safety tips.
Notifying citizens of severe weather watches, warnings and alerts.
Informing citizens about important public health information shared by Ledge Light Health District, the CT Department of Public Health and the CDC.
Working with our Town Departments to plan for and implement mitigation measures that will strengthen our infrastructure and lessen the impacts of potential disasters that could threaten our community. Hazard Mitigation Plan.
Attending regular meetings and participating in training with Local, State and Regional Emergency Support Function Partners such as the annual:
- FEMA evaluated Millstone Nuclear Power Station exercises to prepare in the event an emergency occurs at the plant.
- State Emergency Planning and Preparedness exercises to stay informed on the latest threats and learn about the newest assets to assist our community in the event of an emergency.

Monitoring and managing large scale emergency events from start to finish that threaten the life-safety, health and well-being of our community by:

Communicating with essential emergency personnel to ensure a coordinated response during emergency events.
Coordinating shelter openings with the American Red Cross when needed.
Coordinating necessary resources and mutual aid from Local, Regional and State-wide partners when needed.
Working with utility providers (Eversource, Frontier, Comcast Xfinity, Breezeline) to ensure services are restored as quickly as possible.
Keeping our residents informed throughout the emergency events using multiple communications platforms including East Lyme’s Government/Education cable channel (Breezeline Cable Channel 191 or 2003, Comcast Xfinity channel 97 and Frontier Channel 6112), Facebook, Instagram and the Everbridge Emergency Notification System.

Plan for and implementing recovery procedures to ensure resilient recovery after a disaster including:

Coordinating field personnel to clear our roadways of snow, trees and other storm debris to ensure safe travel for our first responders, residents and visitors.
Collecting and processing Town wide storm damage information during severe weather events necessary for requesting FEMA Public Assistance Funding for declared emergency or disaster events. These funds are essential for replenishing the normal operating budget.
Performing residential and business damage assessments to collect accurate, cumulative damage totals realized by residential and business properties in East Lyme after a severe weather event. This information is essential for FEMA to determine if the damages sustained meet the threshold required to declare an emergency level or disaster level event. A declaration makes necessary public assistance funding available to assist municipalities with acquiring FEMA Individual Assistance Funding available to residents and SBA assistance available for businesses with recovery from damages.

Safety Campaigns

Ready is a National public service campaign designed to educate and empower the American people to prepare for, respond to and mitigate emergencies, including natural and man-made disasters. The goal of the campaign is to promote preparedness through public involvement.

With the help of the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) Initiative (NSI), the campaign has identified indicators of terrorism-related suspicious activity. These include, but are not limited to, unusual items or situations, eliciting information, and observation/surveillance. Some of these activities could be innocent—it’s up to law enforcement to determine whether the behavior warrants investigation.

Recognizing key indicators of human trafficking is the first step in identifying victims and can help save a life. The Blue Campaign will help you learn about common indicators to help recognize human trafficking.