Emergency Management

Hazard mitigation is action meant to reduce or cut long-term risk to people and property from natural hazards. Natural hazards include:

• Floods
• Storms
• High winds
• Wildfires
• Earthquakes

Community mitigation efforts help to cut damages to buildings and infrastructure. Including:

• Water supplies
• Sewers
• Utility transmission lines
• Natural, cultural and historic resources

Hennepin County All-Jurisdiction Hazard Mitigation Plan

The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act requires us to update the plan every five years. This keeps us eligible for pre-disaster and post-disaster mitigation grant programs. Community involvement and feedback are vital to the success of the plan.

The county activates sirens at the recommendation of the National Weather Service. Such as when there is a tornado warning or reports of sustained straight-line winds of more than 70 mph.

Sirens are activated for awareness and testing:

• 1 p.m. on the 1st Wednesday of each month.
• Every April for Minnesota Severe Weather Awareness Week and the statewide tornado drill day.

Hennepin County siren coverage map (PDF, 1 MB)

For your safety

Outdoor warning sirens alert those outside to dangerous weather. It's difficult to hear them from inside your home or business.

When the sirens sound:

• Seek shelter in a building away from windows or lie in a low area away from cars. Cover your head with your arms. Don't go under an overpass.
• Tune to local weather information on radio, television or online.
• Continue to shelter until the news on the radio, television or online say the threat has passed.

We don't issue an “all-clear” tone from the outdoor sirens. 

Make a plan

You and your family can create an emergency plan with little effort. An emergency plan can be vital because you may not be together when a disaster strikes. 
Your emergency plan should consider how your family will react based on the situation. All members of your household should know what to do in an emergency. Your plan should include how to:

• Get to a safe place
• Meet up together
• Stay connected to family
• Keep informed before, during and after the emergency

Be weather-aware

Check daily weather forecasts and plan. Know your location at all times. Know when you've crossed a city border or a county line so you'll know when you've moved from one weather warning area to another. Understand weather alerts. Know the difference between:

• Advisory (severe weather is possible in a few days)
• Watch (conditions are right for severe weather), and
• Warning (take cover now)

A good tool is a NOAA weather radio. You can buy them at a store or online.

Make a disaster supply kit

Get your emergency kit ready today. That way you're ready to go at a moment's notice.

Basic household items you may need in the event of an emergency: 

Food and water

• Water - 1 gallon per person per day for at least three days
• Food - at least a 3-day supply of non-perishable food
• Can opener - if kit contains canned food

Communication and tools

• NOAA weather radio with tone alert and extra batteries
• Whistle to signal for help 
• Mobile phone with chargers
• Local maps
• Flashlight and extra batteries
• Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities

Protection and cleaning supplies

• Plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place
• Dust mask - to help filter contaminated air
• First aid kit
• Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation

Documents

• A copy of your family emergency plan
• Copies of family documents such as birth certificates and passports

When emergency hits

Turn on your NOAA Weather Radio and/or a television for information. Follow instructions when advised to evacuate or shelter-in-place. If informed to shelter-in-place stay inside and close all windows and doors. Also, activate your emergency plan and locate your emergency kit.

Resources

• Plan for your risks
• Plan to protect yourself and your family
• Be ready in any location
• Family emergency plan (PDF)
• Family emergency communication plan wallet cards (PDF)

Pipelines

Transmission pipelines carry large volumes of crude oil or petroleum. They can also carry product at the bulk supply level.

Hennepin County has 104 miles of gas transmission pipelines. As well as 31 miles of liquid transmission pipelines. There are also hundreds of miles of service and gas distribution main lines. These lines bring gas to homes and businesses. 

This concentration of pipelines puts Hennepin County at a greater risk for pipeline incidents than much of the rest of Minnesota. 

In the past 11 years, there have been 8 significant incidents involving pipelines in Hennepin County. There were 4 injuries from the incidents. 

Aviation

Hennepin County is at a high risk of significant aviation incidents. This is due to the number of plane operations. Another factor is the higher risk flight modes of approach and departure in the vicinity of the three airports:

• Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP)
• Flying Cloud Airport (FCM) 
• Crystal Airport (MIC)

Energy hazards

Nuclear

The Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant is 13 miles northwest of Hennepin County borders. 31 miles to the southeast is the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant. The county is also in the Ingestion Pathway Zone extending 50 miles from both plants.

Hydropower

Hennepin County has three hydropower facilities:

• St. Anthony Falls - 12-megawatt generator
• Lock and Dam No.1 - 14.4-megawatt generator
• Lower St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam - 8.9-megawatt generator

Security threats are incidents or actions that threaten public safety and security. They are adversarial or have a criminal element. Specific attack methods include:

• Sabotage and cyber attacks
• The use of firearms and explosives
• Unconventional attacks using chemical, biological, radiological and even nuclear weapons

Minnesota and Hennepin County have had past incidents that were tied to both international and domestic terrorism organizations or provided support to the aims of these groups.

Like any major U.S. metropolitan area, the Twin Cities ha s a general risk of security threats or attacks. Lead by the FBI, law enforcement and security agencies at all levels are responsible to define, detect and defend against security threats.

Landslides

Landslides include any downslope fall or slide of rocks or soils. Heavy rains or the removal of plant cover can trigger landslides. Hennepin County is vulnerable to rock falls, along the Mississippi River gorge from Minneapolis south to Fort Snelling. 

Risks of landslides in Hennepin County are low. The steep north wall of the Minnesota River Valley in Eden Prairie and Bloomington has the highest risk in Hennepin County.

Learn more about landslides within Hennepin County.

Sinkholes

Sinkholes form when acidic water moves downward from the surface. Or in land underlaid by carbonate rock that is dissolving as ground water moves through it. Cavities develop in the rock and expand through this process. When the cavity is close to the surface, a collapse may occur. 

Contamination of groundwater may also happen from sinkholes. The toxic compounds on the surface reach bedrock through the same water routes.

Areas where depth to bedrock is 50 feet or less are at the highest risk. There are some sinkhole conditions in Hennepin County. They exist in a band from near Crystal southward to the area of the International Airport. The risk of sinkholes developing in Hennepin County is low. There are more active sinkhole areas in southeastern Minnesota.

Earthquake

An earthquake is the sudden release of energy from the Earth’s crust. That release results in seismic waves that can be destructive. Most earthquakes happen in active regions of the Earth where huge plates contact each other. 

Hennepin County has a much lower risk of earthquakes than most of the rest of the United States. We are far from any active region and are in a stable area.

Yet, earthquakes have struck Minnesota and could do so in the future. The closest earthquake epicenters in Hennepin County were in 1981 in Cottage Grove (3.6 Richter scale) and in 1860 in New Prague (estimated 4.7 Richter scale). 

Awareness and monitoring resources

• Hennepin West Mesonet
• National Weather Service Twin Cities

Preparation and readiness resources

• Be ready Minnesota
• Ready.gov
• Federal Emergency Management Agency