Emergency Preparedness
in Big Canoe
Develop an Emergency Plan
Your safety is a top priority of the POA staff, but residents and visitors should also make emergency plans for your family.
Ready.Gov
FEMA | Federal Emergency Management Agency
Review FEMA's Ready.gov website to develop your family's personal emergency plan. While all the steps on Ready.gov may not apply to living in Big Canoe, there are best practices to prepare for your safety in weather or other disasters, including evacuations, on this site.
READY.GOV
FEMA
FEMA | Federal Emergency Management Agency
FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) mission is to support the citizens and first responders to promote that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.
FEMA.GOVFEMA's First Recommendation
This is the most critical step for receiving notifications from the county, which will take the lead role in notifying Big Canoe Property Owners of impending disaster events, as well as evacuation orders and instructions if needed. Reminder: Big Canoe Public Safety is a support organization for the County's leadership in an evacuation event. In an emergency event, Big Canoe Communications will be re-distributing the county's messaging using all our available communication channels. Still, the primary communication will come from the county EMA via their alert systems.
PICKENS COUNTY CODE RED
You are able to sign up for ๐๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ by taking a moment to fill out the information at the link below. Doing so will ensure that you are notified by your local emergency response team in the event of emergency situations or critical community alerts in Pickens County. Enrollment is completely free and is an easy way to instantly receive community notifications via phone call, text message, and/or email.
SIGN UP
DAWSON COUNTY SMART 911
In an effort to provide more reliable and effective communications with citizens, Dawson County has implemented Smart911 as our emergency notification provider. Smart911โข is a system designed to make phone calls to specific people or areas in the event of an emergency or for sharing important information regarding you or your property.
SIGN UPUnderstand Big Canoe's evacuation routes and the use of emergency access points.
Big Canoe's Main Gate and North Gate entrances with paved two-lane roads will be the first choice in any county-ordered evacuation. As a further precaution, FEMA's best practices include familiarizing yourself with your closest alternative evacuation routes. We encourage you to learn the location of the two closest Big Canoe Emergency Access Points to your home by locating
them on the Big Canoe Map. Please locate them, but do not drive onto these routes as they are one-lane emergency-only routes with no turnarounds. The main purpose of these access points is for Emergency Access, and their secondary role, only when directed by County EMA, is evacuation.
Please also keep in mind that at no time should a Big Canoe Property Owner self-select evacuation routes.
The County EMA will provide instructions to property owners and POA staff during evacuations. Please do not drive onto these routes in non-emergency situations, as they are one-lane emergency-only routes with no turnarounds.