WHAT IS THE CITY’S ROLE DURING AN EMERGENCY?
In a typical year the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) pays about $2 billion to help people and local governments recover from disasters. That cost, and the corresponding unquantifiable costs in human suffering, can be significantly reduced if every community, no matter how small, has in place a plan or process for responding to these potential disasters.
The Disaster Preparedness Division of the Fire Department develops emergency procedures, activities, and disaster operation plans to be implemented in the event of a natural or man made emergency. It is also responsible for instituting measures that mitigate the impact of disasters, and manage emergency response and recovery activities during and after an emergency or disaster.
In an emergency or disaster the City’s Emergency Operations Center is activated. The mission of the Encinitas Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is to respond to catastrophic events by providing centralized management of the City’s emergency response personnel, resources, facilities, and mutual aid assistance given the city. The EOC Director will direct the strategic allocation and deployment of its resources and coordinate emergency response information, planning and operational priorities. When managing a disaster or emergency, staff within the EOC are involved in five major functions: Management (or Command), Operations, Planning, Logistics, and Finance. In a nutshell, management sets the City’s mission during a disaster; Operations carries out the mission; Planning plans and documents the mission; Logistics supports the mission; and Finance pays for the mission. These functions come together to form the basis of the City’s emergency response organization.
HOW CAN I PREPARE FOR A DISASTER?
FEMA offers information on how individuals and families can prepare for disasters. To learn more about how you can prepare for any of the disasters mentioned above, click here to visit FEMA's website. The preparedness brochures found below can be conveniently downloaded from this site and printed. Additional preparedness information and classes are available to residents upon request. Please send us an email by clicking here or call 633-2815 if you would like further information or would like to schedule a class or presentation for your group.
Click to visit the California Office of Emergency Services
Click to visit the Red Cross