Emergency!

We only have three sessions left in the City Works Academy - and I'm ready to start all over again. I have learned so much - and have so much more to understand. I know that city government is complicated, but until I became a member of City Works, I think I was much like most citizens - if the garbage pick up in my neighborhood works and the street is in good shape, I do not consider goes into making our city work. Now I know differently. I know that there are many city employees who are well-trained and committed to doing their best to make Austin a great place to live.

The session we attended this past Tuesday was an excellent case in point. We were invited to the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. This facility is essentially at the corner of Old Manor Road and East 51st Street - tucked away behind a large security gate. The building itself is less than five years old and contains the latest technologies. The people who work at the facility are responsible for all the management of all man-made and natural disasters. The 9-1-1 operators are based in this building along with other staff members when needed to be available (Fire, Police, EMS, Cap Metro, LCRA, Watershed Protection, TxDot and more). Staff members  at the Emergency Operations Center monitor weather reports, traffic conditions, and any other sources of information which could help the city in case of an emergency. GIS (Geographical Information Systems) play a large part in the Emergency Operations Center's ability to predict weather situations.

The center has developed software  that takes weather-related real time data and is able to feed this data into localized maps for on the ground conditions. Did you know that the city has a predictive floodplain database? An Emergency  Notification System (so you can be automatically notified if there is a real emergency in your area)? If you do not have a land line, you can call 3-1-1 and they will tell you how to register your cell phone (only for this purpose). I was amazed to learn that the city has many rain gauges that transmit water data wirelessly so the EOC can find out "ground truth" to supplement radar information. Over 100 wireless rain gauges are maintained throughout the city of Austin. Take a look the next time you are near a major Austin stream. Many streams subject to sudden flooding have gate arms to prevent cars from drowning in swift waters. The city, in conjunction with communities surrounding Austin has implemented a two-way radio system that allows police, fire, and EMS to communicate seamlessly in case of an emergency. This system has more that 14,000 radios. (Remember that part of the disaster on 9/11 was based on the fact that in NYC radio, fire, and EMS all had different radios and frequencies).

So the next time you see the city jump into action when there is a big natural or man-made emergency, realize that there is a sophisticated communications center with a highly trained staff ready to jump into action.