The government and local authorities in northern Israel are preparing to implement an emergency plan to service the region. The new plan is based on confidential databases accessible to a select few employees in the local authorities’ welfare departments.
The plan provides emergency solutions for evacuating ventilated patients, the elderly, and those bedridden who can’t stay in their homes in a scenario where Israel’s electricity grid fails, plunging the country into sustained blackouts.
In recent months, northern municipalities including Safed and Nahariya have contacted populations with special needs and disabilities within their cities while monitoring the support they receive at home and the need for their evacuation during an emergency.
Welfare and healthcare systems in northern municipalities close to the border have been instructed to prioritize rapid response, within a few hours of putting the plan into action, in order to evacuate the population.
In the first stage, ventilated patients who require electricity and can’t be cared for at home during a prolonged power outage will be taken to hotels or local clinics. A senior official in Israel’s energy sector said he doesn’t expect escalations and Hezbollah's response to necessarily require the plan to be put into action. He estimated, based on Hezbollah's statements, that the attack would primarily target military sites in the country.
However, emergency officials in various government ministries and some northern local authorities have been instructed to prepare for an urgent evacuation of disabled populations in northern communities close to the border within a short time. They were also given an update on arrangements made with transportation companies and ambulances to aid the evacuation.
The Upper Galilee Regional Council, which has eight communities close to the Lebanese border, is preparing for a rapid evacuation plan which is more extensive than seen previously. If necessary, they will activate organized emergency plans to evacuate the elderly special needs population within 30 minutes to two hours.
"We’re prepared designated evacuation sites to which we know who to evacuate, if necessary, especially those needing care and electricity," Upper Galilee Regional Council Chairman Giora Salz explained.
He added, "Some residents have already prepared for evacuation in their free time, placing pictures or games for their children in the public shelter should they be required to evacuate for long hours.