Ohio Seeks Private Partners to Improve Disaster Response

Ohio officials are hoping to expand a state program intended to boost information-sharing and disaster response through cooperation between the public and private sectors.

The Ohio Public Private Partnership, or OP3, was developed last year and now includes nearly 90 businesses, government agencies and associations. It is part of state efforts to improve disaster response after storms in summer 2012 left hundreds of thousands of people without electricity during a heat wave.

At the program’s fall conference this month, state officials told dozens of participants that planning ahead and working together can help mitigate the effects of such a crisis.

They say OP3 partnerships already have been leveraged for public benefit. One example: Participating retailers helped get extra water to Toledo during its algae-related water emergency in August.