Gloucester County was recently awarded $145,000 in federal funding for community emergency preparedness. 

This is part of more than $4.8 million of grant funds awarded to multiple local government agencies to enhance emergency preparedness throughout Virginia. The funds, administered by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, are from the fiscal year 2014 State Homeland Security Grant program.

In Gloucester, $100,000 will go toward regional shelter planning, training and exercises. The remaining $45,000 will go toward enhancing evacuation preparedness, targeting multicultural groups.

Gloucester’s emergency services coordinator Creig Moore said that the county hopes to have some of its CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) volunteers trained to handle long-term sheltering needs, and to communicate the emergency and sheltering plans to those who may speak other languages.

With long-term sheltering in place, Moore said the county’s public schools could ope...