Community Emergency Response – The Columbia County 911 Department provides a variety of emergency response services, including acting as the official National Weather Service warning system. Staff monitors severe weather outbreaks and disseminates severe weather bulletins via radio, text notifications and social media. The 911 Department is responsible for activating the county-wide Emergency Alert System if a serious situation that requires mass notification occurs, and maintains the Emergency Communication Radio Network. Residents can enroll in Columbia County’s NY-Alert System to receive emergency information directly via phone call, email, text message or fax.

Comprehensive Emergency Management– A Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP) is a written manual with elements that address all emergencies that may occur in a given municipality. The Town of Hillsdale has conducted emergency management planning and has an emergency operations center and a designated storm shelter designed to withstand high winds.

Columbia County Hazard Mitigation Plan – A Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) is intended to anticipate and plan for natural hazards that put people and property at risk. Completed at the county level, the HMP is a multi-jurisdictional plan that includes all of the towns, villages and cities in a county.  The HMP is updated every five years as required by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and is a requirement to achieve eligibility for federal disaster assistance. The Columbia County HMP was updated in 2018.