Brownsville Emergency Operations Plan

Brownsville Emergency Operations Plan
Brownsville Texas is located in approximately 30 miles from the Gulf of Mexico and it is vulnerable to a major hurricane like Hurricane Katrina that devastated much of Louisiana in 2005. During Hurricane Katrina many of the things when wrong because emergency leaders were because, emergency managers were not prepared for the after mass of the hurricane. It is important for a city to have a structured Emergency Operations Plan in place in the event of a major hurricane. This will help make emergency operations run smooth and emergency managers make important decisions.
Hurricanes are measured in Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. This gives the hurricane a rating of 1 to 5 based on its sustained
Texas Army National Guard
I. American Red Cross
J. Local Hospitals
K. Private Businesses
These agencies are considered first responders and will play a very important role in the EOP. Each of these agencies will have specific mission and will provide assistance to the community as it is needed. The assistance can be anything from helping people evacuate from their home to assisting in the city evacuation route. Each agency will have a representative at the Unified Command Center. This means that all operations and assignments will be given to the first responders from the Unified Command Center.
A. Brownsville Police Department
The Brownsville Police Department will maintain a command post at the Brownsville Police Department. Their representative will coordinate any and all operations through the Unified Command Center. The Brownsville Police Department will also assist in closing street or roads that are considered dangerous or that might possibly flood. They will also maintain public order and ensure that the public stays away from areas that are considered dangerous. They will also enforce any curfews that are order by emergency managers.
B. Cameron County Sherriff’s
In the event of a hurricane or any major disaster American Red Cross will be in charge of establishing shelters around the city of Brownsville. They will also register and keep track of the number of people at a shelter at any given time. They will also be in charge of distributing food, cloth and personal items to the people that need them.
They will assist emergency managers set up food distribution locations throughout the city for emergency responders. They will provide assistance to people that been separated from their family members. This will help reunite families that have been separated during rescue or evacuation operations.
J. Local Hospitals
Brownsville has two main hospitals that will need to be kept informed of the statue of the hurricane. In the event of a category 4 hurricane the hospitals will shut down and will only take in emergency patients. This would be patients that need immediate medical attention or that have life threating injuries that need to be attended too. The two hospitals in the city of Brownsville are:
• Valley Regional Medical Center is located at 100A E. Alton Gloor Bvd, Brownsville, Texas.
• Valley Baptist Medical Center Brownsville is located at 1040 West Jefferson Brownsville,