Show-Me State Times

The City of St. Louis Emergency Management Agency, in collaboration with several city agencies, will participate in three days of disaster response training exercises from July 15 to 17. The multi-day event allows local and military emergency responders to coordinate, deploy, and mitigate dangerous scenarios in the aftermath of a catastrophic disaster.

Facilitated by Task Force 46 (Michigan National Guard) in cooperation with the Missouri National Guard, the drills involve reconnaissance, urban search and rescue, mass casualty decontamination, and structural and infrastructure damage assessment in the vicinity of Busch Stadium and the Missouri River between Grafton and St. Charles. The exercises will be visible in downtown St. Louis; however, the public is asked not to visit the drill area.

Residents should avoid the 8th Street side of Busch Stadium as 8th Street at Clark Street will be closed to traffic during daylight hours. Motorists on Interstate 64/40 approaching Busch Stadium are also advised to exercise caution and avoid distracted driving while passing by military exercises and equipment. There will also be military vehicle traffic on Highway 55 early in the morning on July 15.

The drill scenario involves an 8.4 magnitude earthquake along the New Madrid Seismic Fault. The three-day exercise will simulate a focused response to structural damage, civilian casualties, and chemical contamination near Busch Stadium during a baseball game. Another focus area for the exercise includes Multi-Role Bridge river crossings of the Missouri River due to notionally damaged bridges.

Approximately 500 individuals, including local emergency responders, military responders, hospitals, and volunteers, will participate in the drills. The exercise will use military helicopters and vehicles, damaged vehicles and debris, and multiple staging areas near Busch Stadium.

Based out of Lansing, Michigan, Task Force 46 is a National Guard element deployed to provide command and support for military response forces assisting civilian responders in managing catastrophic chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear incidents. This marks the first time that the St. Louis area has been chosen to host these full-scale multi-domain exercises; last year’s similar exercises were conducted by Task Force 46 in Nashville.

The exercises are being coordinated with STARRS (the St. Louis Area Regional Response System), which operates within East-West Gateway Council of Governments. STARRS coordinates with emergency responders across local jurisdictions to enhance regional capabilities for preventing, protecting against, responding to, and recovering from natural disasters, terrorism incidents as well as large-scale industrial accidents and hazards.