DIMONDALE, Mich. (WOOD) — Behind the scenes at Michigan State Police headquarters near Lansing, staff in two centers coordinate with troopers when disaster strikes.

On Tuesday, News 8 got a tour of the Michigan Intelligence Operations Center and State Emergency Operations Center, both located inside the Michigan State Police headquarters.

MIOC serves as a fusion center for the state of Michigan, according to Cpt. Liz Rich, commander of the Intelligence Operations Division. These centers came about after the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001. She said that proved that even the smallest amount of intelligence could help stop big disasters in the future.

“Our mission is to ensure that all intelligence comes to one central location and then we can disseminate actionable intelligence back to our law enforcement partners and our private sector partners,” she said.

The center is divided into three sections: cyber, intelligence and operations. Staff also coordinate with troopers in the field when amber and endangered persons alerts are active.

“We were activated for the election, emergency manager and homeland security and IOD worked hand in hand together for different events,” Rich said. “We had this entire room staffed for almost three days straight. ... All of our partners came together to ensure that our elections were safe, and we were able to mitigate any concerns.”

Across the hall is the State Emergency Operations Center, which handles the aftermath of both natural and human-caused disasters.

“This is in place to keep Michiganders across the state safe,” said Col. James F Grady II, director of MSP. “Whether there is a threat of terrorism or some type of criminal activity or natural disaster, that’s what this facility is for.”

The center activates about three times per year, according to Capt. Kevin Sweeny, commander of the Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division. Most recently, the center served as a response to the late spring ice storm that hit parts of northern Michigan.

“We had entities from multiple state departments all working together to provide response and the needs of what our local partners had,” Sweeny said. “Fuel became an issue. Generators became an issue. Oxygen tanks became an issue. Those were things that our logistics section had to procure and then find a way to get out into the field.”

The facility was built to withstand an F5 tornado and coordinate help in the wake of its path.