CLICK TO LISTEN TO PRESS CONFERENCE WITH MIKE KASPER, MACKINAC COUNTY
A mass evacuation exercise was held on Mackinac Island Thursday with local, state, and federal agencies all involved. The goal was to plan ahead for what could be done if the island’s port became unusable, or if there were an emergency on Mackinac Island that required a quick evacuation of thousands of people.
Mackinac County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kasper says they’ve been trying to get this set up since 2015. He says that one of the main features of the exercise saw the 1437th Bridging Company of the Michigan National Guard literally build a temporary port to help with the evacuation. While it was designed to evacuate thousands of people, yesterday’s exercises, and another scheduled for today, use only two dozen people playing the part of evacuees.
There will be another exercise held on Friday.
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