Town of Canton, CT CERT Team

10/17/2026

Findings of a recent study on Emergency Management Organizational Structures, Staffing and Capacity was published by the National Preparedness Analytics Center of the Argonne National Laboratory (a specialized research and analytical unit within the Decision and Infrastructure Sciences Division which is part of the US Department of Energy and developed in partnership with FEMA). Below is a picture of the Executive Summary of this report.

Additional details and some very interesting statistics / graphs on Emergency Management practices can be viewed in the full report which can be accessed at this link:

https://www.anl.gov/sites/www/files/2026-10/EM%20Study%20Findings%20Report%20-%20October%202026.pdf

10/16/2026

A member Canton CERT Team recently completed FEMA L-0962 (“All Hazards Planning Section Chief”), a course (4-day, 25 hrs. of classroom instruction) sponsored by the Connecticut Division Emergency Management & Homeland Security and presented by Elevated Training and Consulting. The class was very fortunate to have instructors who are experienced FDNY Incident Management Team members who, in addition to teaching the course curriculum, were able to offer some very valuable “tips” from personal experience (a shout-out to Rich, Keith and Tony)!

This Planning Section Chief (PSC) course is designed for persons joining a regional or state Incident Management Team (IMT) used for complex incidents (these involve multi-jurisdictional or multidisciplinary efforts of multiple agencies or jurisdictions with widespread damaged to property, the economy and environment and often span multiple operational periods and exhibit complex communication and incident management issues).

The course reviewed the “Planning P” process and the various Planning Section units (Resources, Situation, Documentation, Demobilization) roles in each of the meetings and briefs that take place during the “Initial Response” phase and the ongoing “Planning Cycle” that take place over the incident operational periods.

However, there were some possible cross-over lessons for our local town CERT team:

First, our team is reviewing our existing SOPs to ensure that our CERT Team is supplying all of the information that the Planning Section needs to complete the various ICS forms and create informational graphics needed by Incident Command.

Second, the Canton CERT Team has (as one of its missions) an EOC administrative support role. While this role includes WebEOC data entry support, there is a potential for CERT to assist the EOC in other areas as well (especially when an incident is widespread and not localized, and the EOC takes on a more tactical role instead of an on-site Incident Command Post).

Like many smaller municipalities, the Canton EOC has a “departmental structure” rather than a formal ICS-type organizational structure. There is potentially an opportunity for CERT members with advanced training to provide support which might otherwise be completed by a Planning Section (and which is necessary in order to process FEMA Public Assistance submissions via the State of CT).

Such additional EOC support might include:
• Assisting in documenting Incident Objectives (ICS-202),
• Completing Organizational and Individual Assignment Lists (ICS-203, ICS-204),
• Completing the Radio Communications Plan (ICS-205),
• Assisting in completion of the Medical Plan for responders (ICS-206),
• Compiling data necessary to complete the Incident Status Summary (ICS-209), and
• Collecting and posting all Activity Logs of responding agencies (ICS-214).

We are in the process of evaluating these issues within our local CERT Team Leadership group.

10/12/2026

CT DOT is offering several classes over the coming months for Traffic Incident Management (T.I.M.) training - the next one staring on Oct 21st.

There are other dates scheduled, including: 11/21/26, 12/16/26, 2/24/27, 3/27/27, 4/14/27, 5/8/27 and 5/18/27. Registration for any of the courses can be made on the link below.

https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=-nyLEd2juUiwJjH_abtzi_kVZSklHg1LizF2ZaeOw5lUNEpOVk44T1kyMzZFNjJUQ1VRRVpHUUFESy4u&fbclid=IwY2xjawLjmqRleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFNOTgwb1RTZXRNajREVEZPAR4oadH9eawTo5WKtjcLCTosOxnHoWgfiF582uPi2ztOf-JTR7n0ZrsS0aww9A_aem_p32W9g2dXIoVWXcZdvELiA

10/10/2026

Canton CERT Team members – there is an upcoming training seminar being offered on Oct 21st entitled “Weathering the Storm” and presented at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT.

Note that there is a $125 registration fee involved, but this training is eligible for “Advanced CERT Training” Category B grant funding, according to DEMHS. So if you are interested in attending, contact the CERT Lead (Kevin) to be sure that a Category B grant will be available to cover the cost.

Pre-registration is required and can be done as per the QR code in the picture below.

10/10/2026

A Strong (G3) Geomagnetic Storm is expected - watch for aurora activity. Also, likely impacts to HF radio propagation.

SWPC has issued a G3 (Strong) or greater geomagnetic storm warning valid until 10/2359 UTC. The solar wind environment became strongly enhanced following the arrival of a CME from 08 Oct at around 10/1434 UTC. The geomagnetic field reached G3 levels beginning at 10/1758 UTC and is expected to persist at or near G3 levels through 10/2359 UTC.

10/08/2026

Canton CERT Team members – there is an upcoming webinar training offered by DEMHS on Oct 13th starting at 7:00 pm, entitled “Community Cyber Awareness and Resilience”.

Pre-registration is required and can be done on this link:
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=-nyLEd2juUiwJjH_abtziz_FO6KAuFpDjqmD1UEj-nxUQUhHRVdBUTNXUVVOWU1TTlc5SzQzRU5ITS4u&route=shorturl

09/29/2026

Reminder - Canton CERT Team’s next training session will be on Oct 13th at the Canton Community Center, multi-purpose room - starting at 6:30pm.

This training will include a review of the After-Action Report and Improvement Plan (AAR/IP) from our shelter drill held in late June. We will review what happens “behind the scenes” during the exercise analysis and evaluation process after completion of the exercise. This analysis and evaluation process takes into account the exercise participant’s observations during the “hotwash” discussion as well as the notes taken by the exercise evaluators.

Like the exercise, the AAR/IP follows the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program principles and best practices. We will review the key elements of the AAR/IP:

* Executive Summary / Conclusions;
* Exercise Overview;
* Evaluation Methodology;
* Exercise Limitations;
* Analysis of Core Capabilities (including the Objective targets and Critical Tasks measured, as well as strengths and areas for improvement for each); and
* The Improvement Plan / Corrective Action Program matrix (with points of contact assigned and target completion dates).

In addition to the AAR/IP discussion, we also will go over the Canton CERT organizational structure and review the positions / opportunities that are available for the various team missions.

09/29/2026

Help Bag Hunger Day 2026!

The Canton CERT Team participated in the ShopRite “Help Bag Hunger Day” that took place today to help raise awareness of the fight against hunger in our community.

This event is part of the Partners in Caring sponsored by ShopRite which is a community-based, hunger fighting initiative that supports more than 2,200 charities. Money raised from the program is returned directly to non-profits that fight hunger in our communities, including the Canton CT Food Bank.

The Town of Canton and Canton CERT Team wish to thank ShopRite for the opportunity to participate in this very worthwhile event!

09/27/2026

State Status for outages
As of 202609271217:
24,160 customers out across the state.
163 customers out in Canton. Largest near the center in Collinsville.

More rain expected this evening.

09/27/2026

Statewide outages as of 202609270430
25,252.
Currently Canton has 12 customers out.
The winds have picked up this morning.
Be cautious with any driving you have to do today.