Baltimore County release

Disaster Recovery Exercise Scheduled Thursday At Dundalk Wal-Mart

Towson, Md. (September 22, 2009) — Baltimore County emergency management officials will practice setting up a drive-through, post-relief distribution center -known as a “commodity point of distribution, or CPOD,” this Thursday, September 24, at the Wal-Mart at 2399 North Point Blvd., Dundalk.

The exercise, conducted in partnership with the Baltimore County Department of Recreation and Parks and Wal-Mart, is scheduled 9 a.m. to noon. Media should report at 10:30 a.m. Volunteers will role-play disaster stricken residents.

Recent disasters such as last week’s massive water main break on Broening Highway show the need for local governments to have a system in place for distributing basic supplies to disaster victims. Wal-Mart is the state of Maryland’s CPOD partner, providing a location, storage trailer and supplies to local emergency management agencies.