3 Must-Know Initiatives By Kane’s Office of Emergency Management
Kane County Officer of Emergency Management Director Don Bryant made a report to the Public Health Committee Tuesday morning that includes three items of interest to the general public: Thursday’s Severe Weather Workshop, disaster planning cooperation with the Illinois Food Bank and the Illinois FirstNet initiative.
You can find the agendas and report information by visiting the Kane County home page, clicking on the committee meeting you’re interested in, then clicking on the PDF link for the most-recent meeting, which looks like this: AG PKT – 14 May Health.pdf
Here’s Don’s report:
Severe Weather Workshop Thursday
As we have seen, severe weather season has arrived with a number of recent tornado outbreaks. As the jetstream continues to retreat north, it will only be a matter of time before the risk of tornadoes returns to Kane County.
As we continue to prepare for the 2014 severe weather season the Kane County Office of Emergency Management will be conducting its second severe weather public workshop, at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 22, at Elgin Community College’s Seigle Auditorium.
The purpose of the workshop is to enhance public awareness to the threat severe weather poses to the community and to share information on how to identify weather conditions that could spawn a tornado.
“We do one or two of these community workshops every year at different locations throughout the county,” Bryant said Tuesday. “This one on Thursday will be geared more toward tornado spotters and those wishing to have more information on how severe storms develop. Normally we have about 100 to 150 people attend these events each year.”
Partnering With Illinois Food Bank When Disaster Strikes Home
This month, OEM staff met with representatives from the Northern Illinois Food Bank. The food bank is exploring ways they can be of assistance following a disaster and forming the relationships required to become an effective partner during a disaster response and subsequent recovery.
Illinois FirstNet Initiative
Finally, the quarterly meeting of the Kane County municipal emergency management coordinators will be held on May 22. The main topic of conversation will be the Illinois FirstNet initiative.
On Feb. 22, 2012, President Obama signed into law the “Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012,” which included provisions to fund and govern a Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network. The nationwide FirstNet network will be an interoperable public safety communications network linking law enforcement, emergency management, fire, public works, and EMS. Although the network may eventually be used for other purposes, public safety considerations in design, operation, and governance will be kept paramount from the outset.
Read More
