If you need to speak to someone, please call (904)549-0900,option #1.
Please be safe this weekend!
-Sabrina Robertson
County Manager's Office
Welcome to beautiful Nassau County, located in the northeast corner of Florida along the Atlantic Ocean and Interstate 95. We are proud to serve as the Eastern Gateway to the Sunshine State. From our historic island, sandy beaches, and championship golf courses to our scenic rivers, green pastures, and majestic timberlands, we truly offer something for everyone.
Due to inclement weather, County offices will be closed on Friday, September 2nd. Please visit Emergency Management's website at http://www.nassaucountyfl.com/index.aspx?NID=370 for current updates on Tropical Storm Hermine and to sign up for emergency alerts. You can also follow Emergency Management on FaceBook at www.facebook.com/NassauEM.
If you need to speak to someone, please call (904)549-0900,option #1. Please be safe this weekend! -Sabrina Robertson County Manager's Office
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Attached is the latest update from Nassau County Emergency Management regarding Tropical Depression Number 9. For continuous, up-to-date information, please follow Nassau County Emergency Management's FaceBook Page https://www.facebook.com/NassauEM/. You may also contact Emergency Management directly at (904) 548-0900. -Sabrina Robertson County Manager's Office With Tropical Storm Colin on the horizon, we wanted to take this opportunity to remind you to sign up for weather alerts through the County's Emergency Alert System. This system is designed to notify you of dangerous weather conditions and it's free! Visit Emergency Management's website and click-on "Citizen Alerts" to register. You will asked to choose a user name and password and to indicate how you would like to be alerted (i.e. phone call, text, e-mail), as well as the type of alerts you wish to receive (flood, wind, marine, fire conditions, etc.) Once you have registered, you can edit your profile to specify a "quiet time" if you wish to silence alerts while you sleep. Please note that notifications about life-threatening conditions which require immediate action, such as an active tornado, will still be received.
As a precaution, residents should have emergency kits ready to take with them during an evacuation, or to sustain them after a disaster until public services resume. Have at least an extra week’s worth of necessary medications available at all times – talk with your doctor or pharmacist about your “emergency kit medications”. Insure that you have at least one gallon of drinking water per person per day and several days supply of non-perishable foods. A large duffle bag or plastic tub with a lid makes a great storage place for an emergency food supply. Make digital (scan to CD or thumb-drive) or paper copies of important photos and documents/records (e.g. account numbers, insurance policies, registrations, insurance numbers, contact numbers and medication lists) and put them in a water-tight plastic bag (like a large Ziploc® Freezer Bag). Have a bottle of plain bleach to disinfect surfaces and water. Last but not least, download the attached Citizen's Disaster Preparedness Guide for a myriad of important information such as emergency phone numbers, shelter registration for those with special needs, and a check-list for preparing your emergency evacuation kit. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact Nassau County Emergency Management at (904)548-0900. -Sabrina Robertson County Manager's Office Next week, the County will host a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to celebrate the completion of the 911 Call Center. The new call center consists of a 5,000 square foot addition to the existing Emergency Operations Center where emergency management personnel actively evaluate and update strategies related to a variety of emergency situations including but not limited to: how to respond to natural and man-made disasters; how to evacuate the county quickly and efficiently; where to establish emergency shelters during inclement weather; and how to handle dangerous situations such as bomb-threats and disease outbreaks.
The 911 dispatch employees currently work in the dilapidated Sheriff's Administration Building on SR200/A1A in a 2,000 square foot room with no windows and leaky roof. The tiny, outdated room lacks space for employees to complete important paperwork, has no place to hold training, no break room, and no room for growth. 911 Dispatch employees are specially trained to answer and dispatch 9-1-1 calls received in Nassau County, including those related to Fire & Rescue. County Officials saw the need for a modern facility that is both safe and functional and felt that the citizens would be best served if 911 Dispatch and other emergency personnel were located in one facility where they could utilize one unified dispatch system. The County sought bids for construction of the facility and ACON Construction was awarded the bid on July 28, 2014. The project is now complete and 911 Dispatch personnel are ready to move in. Please join us in celebrating this milestone on Wednesday, May 18, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. The 911 Call Center is located at 77150 Citizen's Circle in Yulee, FL. -Sabrina Robertson County Manager's Office Do1Thing in August: Get Involved!
Make your community stronger by getting trained and getting involved. Connect with an isolated individual in your neighborhood or champion a neighborhood organization. Isolated individuals are more vulnerable during and after a disaster; they are less likely to ask for help or follow emergency instructions. Establish contact now, before disaster strikes. Then make it your mission to check on that person when an emergency arises. Help them prepare for a tropical storm, pick up some extra supplies for them, make sure they have a safe place to weather the storm, and contact them after the event to see if they need help. Promote emergency preparedness in your community. Scout troops, service clubs, residential associations, communities of faith — almost any organization you belong to can become a partner in emergency preparedness. Follow Emergency Management’s postings on social media (look for NassauEM on Facebook, Twitter, and GooglePlus) and “share” or “re-tweet” official emergency messages so more people will be reached with accurate information when time to take action is critical. Become an active volunteer! There are many places to volunteer locally (CERT, Citizen Corps, Neighborhood Watch, etc.) Emergency Management, police, and fire departments often use volunteers to help with special projects, events, and community programs. If you have a few hours a month and think you would like to help at the Nassau County Emergency Operations Center, contact [email protected] or call 548-0900 and ask for the Emergency Management Volunteer Coordinator. We have lots of ways you can get involved before and after a disaster. Next month is National Preparedness Month – the theme is “Don’t Wait. Communicate! Make your emergency plan today.” Now is the time to be sure you can communicate during emergencies. Have up-to-date contact information for those you may need to get in touch with during or after a disaster. Establish alternate methods of communication in case traditional means are not available. Making a family emergency communication plan is a great way to prepare for disasters, but testing your plan is even better! Make certain everyone is familiar with how to respond. It’s one of the 10 Ways to Participate in America’s PrepareAthon! In addition to the overall theme, each week in September will address a hazard preparedness topic: Flood, Wildfire, Hurricane, and Long-Term Power Outage. Individuals, families, organizations, and businesses are encouraged to use America’s PrepareAthon! materials, available at www.ready.gov/prepare Nassau County’s Local Mitigation Strategy Task Force is seeking public input! If you or someone you know has an idea for a project that would decrease vulnerability or reduce damage/losses a natural hazard (i.e. flooding, wind damage, etc.). Simply fill out the LMS Project Proposal Form and send it to [email protected]. All projects will be scored by members of the Task Force and ranked accordingly so that when funding becomes available we will have a list of priority projects ready to go. If you have questions or wish to become a member of the LMS Task Force, please contact the Emergency Operations Center at 904-548-0931 for more information.
-Martha Wagaman, EM Coordinator/Sr. Planner Nassau County Emergency Management Where will you seek shelter to “ride out a storm” or if a tornado warning is issued? Do you know what to do when Emergency Management announces an evacuation of Zones A, B, C, D, E, or F? In which Evacuation Zone is your home, workplace, or child’s school located? Find out now with the map on the Nassau County Emergency Management Website (www.nassaufl-em.com) or use the Property Appraiser’s Website to enter specific addresses, view the map, and get a customized report for your location.
Storm surge inundation can put much of Nassau County under water (especially the island!) interrupt utility service and close roads for extended periods, not only to the public but emergency and repair vehicles as well. If you have nowhere to go when told to evacuate, Nassau County has wind-rated buildings outside of flood zones that will be opened as short-term public shelters. See where your closest general population, pet-friendly, and special needs shelter is located at www.nassaufl-em.com. If you or a loved one intend to use a public shelter and require daily medical assistance, you must register in advance so that shelter managers can prepare for your stay. Go to www.nassaufl-em.com/peoplewithneeds.asp to complete and submit your registration form before hurricane season begins June 1st. Florida residents should have emergency kits ready to take with them during an evacuation, or to sustain them after a disaster until public services resume. Have at least an extra week’s worth of necessary medications available at all times – talk with your doctor or pharmacist about your “emergency kit medications”. Make digital (scan to CD or thumb-drive) or paper copies of important photos and documents/records (e.g. account numbers, insurance policies, registrations, insurance numbers, contact numbers and medication lists) and put them in a water-tight plastic bag (like a large Ziploc® Freezer Bag). Have a bottle of plain bleach to disinfect surfaces and water. An emergency food and water supply doesn’t have to sit on a shelf waiting for disaster to strike (although it can); it can be part of the food you use every day. The key to a good preparedness plan is to buy things ahead of time. Keep a gallon jug filled with drinking water for each person in your household. Plan to keep a few days’ supply of food on hand at all times: replace items before they run out and buy staple items when they are on sale. A large duffle bag or plastic tub with a lid makes a great storage place for an emergency food supply. Make sure your family, including pets, will have what they need when disaster strikes. The Nassau County Citizen’s Alert System can warn you of dangerous weather conditions in time to take action before a storm or tornado strikes, and it’s free! Go to www.nassaufl-em.com and click on the Citizen Alerts link to get registered; just choose a username and password, enter your physical address and a couple of ways to reach you (i.e. phone, text, e-mail), then choose which alerts you want to receive. Once you save that information you can edit your profile to specify a “quiet time” for the alerts so messages that can wait until morning don’t disturb your sleep. Notifications about life-threatening conditions requiring immediate action, such as an active tornado in the area, will still be received. Alerting preferences can be changed by the registered user at any time; call Nassau County Emergency Management at 548-0900 if you have difficulties. Do One Thing toward emergency preparedness this month – sign up for free Nassau County Emergency Alert Notifications today! More emergency preparedness information can be found at www.floridadisaster.org -Martha L. Wagaman, Senior Planner Nassau County Emergency Management Public Information & Warning is a key capability for Emergency Management during a disaster. That includes gathering and analyzing information, as well as disseminating facts and providing timely notifications and alerts.
On Tuesday, March 4th, Nassau County Emergency Management hosted an All-County Crisis Communications Seminar. The event was well attended by emergency response leadership, private partners, and stakeholders interested in ways to utilize the county’s Joint Information System to coordinate and release information during an emergency. Several real-world scenarios that garnered national media attention were presented and discussed, many of which could easily happen in Nassau County. The question asked of everyone in attendance was, “if this tragedy happened in your facility or impacted your agency, how would you handle the media interest?” Former Channel 12 News Director, Dave Richardson, explained how reporters are assigned and news stories are selected for air, changes to the information/news cycle and the impact of “citizen journalists”, as well as the needs of the traditional news media. EM Director Billy Estep shared experiences and reminded everyone that attention surrounding an incident can quickly escalate; that local capacity to manage an extended barrage of inquiries from reporters, as well as monitor electronic media and quell rumors is limited; and effectively managing public information while trying to conduct normal operations is nearly impossible. It is critical that Nassau County agencies and stakeholders collaborate to develop a cadre of personnel able to accomplish the behind-the-scenes tasks necessary to support a successful spokesperson. To that end, Nassau County Emergency Management is hosting a series of free courses designed to increase the number of trained persons who will be able to operate the county’s Joint Information Center in an emergency. The first of these events will be held March 26-27 at the Emergency Operations Center and all interested individuals may attend. -Martha Wagaman Emergency Management Planning, Information Sharing, Mitigation, and Community Education are primary roles of Emergency Management during non-disaster days, and can help our residents save money!
As part of the 2015 update to the county’s Local Mitigation Strategy, officials and stakeholders are identifying local hazards and ways to keep their impact at a minimum. Planning for the inevitable and taking action before the hazard strikes makes our community safer and more resilient; mitigation projects can even mean long-term cost-savings for residents. Nassau County Emergency Management is using the 2015 Local Mitigation Strategy (LMS) planning process to document flooding issues throughout the county, suggest improvements, and support the county’s application for inclusion in the National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS). The NFIP was created in 1968 to help property owners protect themselves financially since standard homeowners’ insurance doesn't cover flood damage from tropical storms, hurricanes, or even heavy rains. In order to qualify for flood insurance, the home or business must be in a community that has joined the program and agreed to enforce sound floodplain management standards. Homes in mapped “high-risk” flood areas have at least a 25% chance of flooding, but anyone can be financially vulnerable to floods. In fact, a third of all flood damage claims are made by residents outside of high-risk areas. Flood insurance program rates are set nationally based on age of the structure, building materials, and level of risk. Communities that voluntarily agree to adopt and enforce stricter ordinances to reduce flood risk can enroll in the CRS and earn insurance premium discounts for their residents. In Nassau County only the City of Fernandina Beach currently participates in the CRS flood mitigation program. However, the County is working diligently on obtaining the necessary requirements to become part of the program. FEMA has scheduled a Community Assessment Visit for April 2015 to meet with County Officials and to help the County obtain that goal. Community Rating System “credit point” activities fall into four categories (Public Information, Mapping and Regulation, Flood Damage Reduction, and Flood Preparedness) and include collecting data and developing new maps, preserving open space, regulating development, improving drainage, protecting flood-prone buildings, and implementing public awareness and education programs. Based on total credit points earned, communities are assigned a CRS classification from nine (500-999 points) to one (>4500 points) which determines the premium discount, from 5% up to 45%, that will be applied to each flood insurance policy in the jurisdiction. Get involved! You can learn more about hazard mitigation and influence local preparedness and damage reduction activities while improving Nassau County’s CRS classification. Make plans to attend the 2015 LMS & CRS Kick-Off at the Nassau County EOC on March 10th. Program experts will be on hand to explain the mitigation process and ways you can contribute to our five-year strategy to create safer and more resilient homes and neighborhoods. - Martha L. Wagaman, NCEM Senior Planner Nassau County Emergency Management Mitigation is an effective way to reduce the adverse impacts of a hazard and improve the community’s disaster resilience. To kick off 2015, Nassau County Emergency Management (NCEM) is leading a Local Mitigation Strategy (LMS) Task Force to draft a five-year plan endorsing cost-effective projects that will reduce overall risk in the community, as well as the need for emergency public assistance in the event of a disaster. The LMS Task Force is made up of subject-matter experts from county and municipal government, public works agencies, public safety and first response agencies, transportation, roads and bridges departments, environmental specialists and corporate stakeholders. These individuals are beginning the process by reviewing NCEM’s new Threat & Hazard Incidence Risk Analysis (THIRA) which classifies each threat by both likelihood of occurrence and damage potential in Nassau County.
The LMS Task Force then identifies and ranks projects needed to lessen our vulnerabilities within the next five years. NCEM encourages public-private partnerships to execute these activities and facilitates applications for funding support as grant opportunities become available. Improved drainage systems and retention ponds to reduce recurrent neighborhood flooding, remodeling or construction to harden structures to withstand high winds, and whole-building generators to increase emergency shelter capacity are all potential projects with broad public benefits, but only those reviewed and approved by the Task Force can be considered for funding and implementation. The LMS Task Force is striving to make improvements critical to Nassau County’s disaster resilience. The actions taken beforehand to minimize damage caused by natural and man-made threats will provide a huge return on investment through lives saved, injuries prevented, reduced costs for structure repairs, and faster return to “business as usual” for everyone post-disaster. Many of the mitigation initiatives can also improve Nassau County’s scoring in the Community Rating System (CRS), which recognizes floodplain management activities that exceed national requirements, and would result in reduced flood insurance premiums for local homeowners. NCEM and the LMS Task Force are working for all residents of Nassau County before, during, and after emergencies. Volunteer to get involved in emergency preparedness – follow us on Twitter @NassauEM, Google+ Nassau EM, and Facebook www.facebook.com/NassauEM. -Martha Wagaman Emergency Management |
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