Goodrich-Village resident Grace Ranger is at her best anticipating the worst.
But after 13 years of tornados, explosions, floods and blizzards, the director of Genesee County Emergency Management is ready to retire at the end of March.
And while she anticipates filling the days ahead with visits with her grandchildren instead of working to declare a federal emergency, it is not without sadness that Ranger bids farewell to this chapter of her life.
‘I feel good providing this service to the community,? says Ranger. ‘I’m going to miss that the most, providing the service for the community and doing the best job that I can to serve anybody in the community.?
For those who work in emergency management, responsibility is five-fold. Planning for, educating the public about, gathering resources to respond to and recovering from an emergency are what EM workers are all about.
In her early days with the agency, as an assistant to the director, Ranger says her responsibilities involved informing others of the very real dangers any of us may encounter on an otherwise average day. Dangers she had to deal with shortly after becoming director of GCEM.
‘We had an F3 tornado that touched down in 1997? a month after I became director,? says Ranger.
Ranger also found herself dealing with the aftermath of an explosion at the Clara Barton Terrace Convalescent Home in Flint on Nov. 10, 1999 where five people were killed.
She also recalls a propane tank explosion in the late 1990s, when 7,500 people had to be evacuated from the area for about 36 hours.
Then there were the three floods that occurred during her tenure’one a federally declared emergency. And, oh yeah, that blizzard in 2000.
‘We shut down the entire county and got a federal declaration for the county as well,? says Ranger of the snowstorm.
For Ranger, a disaster of such magnitude guarantees one thing? paperwork.
‘There’s paperwork involved,? Ranger laughs.
The bureaucracy of emergency management follows a chain of command Ranger has become familiar with during her years on the job.
As director of emergency management, Ranger makes a recommendation to the board chair of the Genesee County Board of Commissioners, who then submits a formal request for a state declaration of emergency, which goes to the governor.
In order for an emergency to be declared on a federal level, the governor must then work through FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) to get the declaration from the president.
Ranger says her department saw changes after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Things ‘changed tremendously because we then incorporated into our office the ‘homeland security? as well as the ’emergency management,?? says Ranger. ‘It just added the homeland security issue into the planning.?
Mostly, says Ranger, the attacks brought with them a new sense of reality to what was previously a less emphasized part of emergency planning.
‘We’ve always planned for what they called ‘enemy attack,? but they didn’t stress it because there really wasn’t a threat like that before,? says Ranger.
Now threats of a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or explosive nature are so ingrained to those in the profession they are referred to as CBRNE (pronounced ‘see-burn?).
Though Ranger is by profession trained to think in terms of worst case scenarios, she says she does not spend her nights lying awake in a state of panic over life’s many possible dangers.
‘I feel good that I know that there is a plan to help us? myself and my family and the others in this community? I feel better being prepared,? says Ranger. ‘I’m that type of a person.?
Ranger plans to retire on March 30. And though she says she will miss the people involved with the work, she does not sound hesitant to pass the torch.
‘I just want people to know that this job will continue,? says Ranger, ‘and will be in good hands. It’s been a pleasure to serve the people of Genesee County. I will miss everyone. It’s been a wonderful experience serving as a director here.?