SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — The Springfield-Greene County Office of Emergency Management will be facilitating a Disaster Recovery Exercise.

Aubrey Johnson, a training and exercise specialist for the Springfield-Greene OEM, tells me that with severe weather ramping up, this training exercise is crucial to helping the community stay disaster ready.

“Bollinger, Missouri, actually had a MARC going where the Red Cross went down there and started this process and they are going to bring some of them lessons learned back here,” said Johnson.

A “MARC“ is a multi-agency resource center and a hub for community residents to access disaster-related relief services and information after a disaster.

Services include personal recovery plans, help with navigating paperwork for assistance, and how to get services for specific needs.

Johnson said disasters can happen at any given moment and says MARCs have been set up statewide to help the people who have been affected.

He tells me with recent flooding and storms hitting our area, this exercise is a great way to help community organizations know what to do in the wake of disasters and help the community rebound.

Johnson said this isn’t something that is exercised often.

“Everybody does the standard — tornado drill, active shooters — things like that,” Johnson said. “In this instance, we are exercising something that is fundamental to recovery but not something that ever gets the mainstream look.

“I think it’s a two-fold improvement for us. We get to exercise putting this together and be ready for the event but we help our neighbors understand what it’s like to go through an event like this.”

The exercise will be held at the Praise Assembly Church, 3535 N. Glenstone Ave. in Springfield.