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Tuscaloosa County Emergency Management
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| The Emergency Management Cycle |
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The Emergency Management Cycle is an open ended process. The four phases comprising the cycle begins and ends with mitigation, the on-going attempt to limited or prohibited the effects of a disaster.
Minimizing the Effects of Disaster Mitigation includes any activities that prevents an emergency, reduces the chance of an emergency happening or lessens the damaging effects of unavoidable emergencies. This is accomplished through some of the following organizations:
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offers Flood Insurance to property owners and businesses at risk of flood damage. This damage could be to buildings, manufactured homes and other structures insurable under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). To be eligible for flood insurance a community must first be a participant in the NFIP and the property owner must make application to purchase the insurance through a private carrier. Currently, Tuscaloosa County and the Cities of Tuscaloosa and Northport are participants in the NFIP and their residents are eligible to purchase flood insurance.
The Tuscaloosa County Hazards Mitigation Committee was established to coordinate the development and implementation of a strategic mitigation plan and to coordinate pre and post disaster mitigation activities/opportunities at the county level. Its membership is comprised of volunteers from local governing bodies, engineering, planning, and public works, and transportation, inspection and health departments. The committee meets at least bi-monthly. Contact the Tuscaloosa County EMA for meeting dates, times and locations.
This organization is fully described elsewhere on this website. It is required by the Federal Government. Membership is made up of representatives from government, business, industry and the media.
Planning How to Respond In Case of a Disaster. Preparedness includes a variety of measures aimed at insuring the community is prepared to react to any hazard that threatens the county. Preparedness involves some of the following activities:
Tuscaloosa County and its political entities have adopted the official Emergency Operations Plan (EOP). This document, which is disseminated to all responder organizations, agencies and departments, defines policies and responsibilities concerning how to prepare for, respond to and recovery from the effects of a disaster or major emergency. Individual organizations, agencies and departments maintain their own Standard Operating Guidelines/Procedures to govern their response to an incident.
Working in concert with the various first responder agencies and departments within the jurisdiction, TusCoEMA actively seeks funding for annual tabletop, functional and full-scale exercises. The agency's planning department assists in designing and implementing the scenario for severe weather, hazardous material and counter-terrorism exercises. An evaluation is conducted at the conclusion of the exercise to highlight accomplishments and needed improvement in the response.
A variety of training opportunities are made available to volunteer and paid first responder organizations across the county annually. These classes are conducted in person and via distance learning. This includes a yearly training conference sponsored by the LEPCTC. (See Training Schedule elsewhere on this site for further details).
TusCoEMA staff members make numerous speaking appearances at civic clubs, schools and on broadcast media to inform the public on how to protect themselves from the various hazards that threaten Tuscaloosa County. Awareness weeks are conducted annually prior to severe weather season and winter to alert the populace to the threats they may face from extreme weather conditions.
Efforts to Minimize the Hazards Created by an Emergency. Response is action taken immediately before, during and just after a disaster or major emergency. The goal of the responder is to save lives, minimize property damage and enhance the beginning of recovery from the incident. Recovery is accomplished through some of the following methods:
The public may receive notice of impending danger through several avenues in Tuscaloosa County. Among them are - NOAA Weather Radio receiver, Emergency Alert System (EAS) activation over local broadcast media, cable television pre-emption and public safety channel, Outdoor Tornado Warning Sirens, vehicular mounted sirens and public address systems and the internet. The warning systems are activated from the Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
In rare circumstances citizens may need to be evacuated from the homes or work places. In Tuscaloosa County evacuations are typically most associated with hazardous materials incidents or flooding. When hurricanes strike the Alabama, Mississippi or Florida Gulf Coasts, Tuscaloosa County often becomes the destination for coastal evacuees.
The West Alabama Chapter of the American Red Cross is chartered by the U.S. Congress to work at the behest of EMA to provide local sheltering. Red Cross and EMA identify and contract for shelter sites throughout the county. Once a request for shelter activation is made by the EMA Director, Red Cross volunteers open the needed facility and staff it until it is no longer needed. Any time a shelter is open the EOC elevates its activation to a 24/7 level.
Once an incident occurs, dispatchers immediately send Fire/Rescue, Law Enforcement Officers and Medical Personnel to the scene. Through routine training and exercises, these responders are prepared for their duties.
The main duty of EMA is to serve as a resource coordinator in times of crisis. The EOC maintains an up-to-date resource database listing a variety of equipment and personnel available to respond to a disaster.
Returning the Community to Normal. Recovery is the activity that returns infrastructural systems to minimum operating standards and guides long-term efforts designed to return life to normal or improved levels after a disaster. This is a very daunting phase of Emergency Management because it requires personal and community motivation. It is achieved through the following ways:
Red Cross and volunteer personnel work with EMA to provide a quick, windshield type assessment in attempt to get an initial understanding of the scope of damage. A more detailed and in-depth door-to-door assessment is made in the days just after the event.
Storms can other type disasters can leave a great deal of debris behind. If the debris is a threat to life or safety, public works personnel may remove it from private property otherwise it is up to the property owner to get the debris removed from their property and taken to a public right-of-way. Depending on the size of the incident, local government will contract to have the debris removed.
If the incident involves a hazardous material, local government will provide facilities to decontaminate citizens, equipment and property that are a threat to public health and safety.
If the incident is large enough to result in a Federal Disaster Declaration, agencies, organizations and departments on the state and federal level will man a Disaster Assistance Center (DAC) for a limited time during the recovery process. After calling a toll free telephone number to register and receive a FEMA Number, victims will be able to go to the DAC to apply for loans and grants to assist in their recovery.
Disasters can have a profound effect on the mental health of victims and responders alike. In the days after a disaster, counseling is made available for those affected by the incident.
Recovery from a major disaster may take many weeks and months. A committee of social service and religious organizations known as Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD) maintains a list of those needing extended help. This committee meets on a regular basis until all victims have been serviced. NOTE: The services and operations mentioned above are not intended to be a complete list of all Emergency Management Cycle activities. |
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