Dallas County Urges Individuals to Bolster Emergency Preparedness


Dallas County is partnering with state and federal agencies to ramp up an all-hazards, “whole of the community” emergency preparedness campaign, reaching out to residents in order to ensure each person in the county is prepared for a disaster.

“We want to get out the message and information to everyone about how they can be prepared for emergency situations,” said District Judge Clay Jenkins at a news conference. “We encourage everyone to get to know their emergency managers in their cities and to know what department handles emergency management in their city, so that you can contact them with any questions of ideas you may have.”

To continue the campaign, the county will put on a “Prepare Fair” in Plano, Texas, on April 9 to get more information out to residents. Other counties that have put on Prepare Fairs have invited government public response, educational and NGO entities to set up booths explaining how they can help the public prepare for and respond to emergency events. Dallas County will also run PSAs in both English and Spanish.
Tony Russell, Region 6 FEMA Administrator
Tony Russell, Region 6 administrator for FEMA, speaks about Dallas County's initiative.

The effort to get out more information is focused on reaching “the whole of the community” – that is, each individual in Dallas County. “It’s important to reach people across the county, no matter if you live downtown or at the edge of the county,” said Elba Garcia, the county commissioner for the 4th District. “In a case of an emergency, we all need to know what to do. It doesn’t matter if you’re a senior, or a youth, or if you have a disability, or speak another language.”

The idea is that when each individual prepares him or herself, it adds up to an entire county of prepared people. Realistically, though, not everyone is going to prepare themselves, so Texas officials also urged people to ensure their families and neighbors are prepared, too. 

“We all can leverage each other toward being more prepared for a disasters and emergencies,” said Tony Russell, Region 6 FEMA administrator. “It means also that we start with the individual first. The individual is the cornerstone of preparedness, and then it goes from the individual, then it goes to the family, then extends on to the neighborhood, then the town, then the city, the county and the state, all the way to the federal government.”

The preparations officials urged included making a kit with emergency supplies, creating a plan for what a person and his or her family would do in the event of an emergency and agreeing on a method of communicating during a disaster. “There are many things we can do that we think about every day that will make us more prepared for the next disaster, whether it’s a flood, tornado, hurricane or a wildfire, natural disasters will continue to occur around us,” Kidd said.

The state of Texas leads the nation in disasters, and the Dallas County area is particularly vulnerable to hurricanes, floods and tornadoes. In September 2010, an F-2 tornado spawned by Tropical Depression Hermine touched down in Dallas’ industrial area, just northeast of downtown, slamming a tractor-trailer into a paint warehouse. The state is also home to many industrial processing plants, chemical plants, and oil and natural gas wells, which also pose the risk of causing a disaster.


About the Author

Laura Williams is content development editor for Security Products magazine.

Featured

  • 12 Commercial Crime Sites to Do Your Research

    12 Commercial Crime Sites to Do Your Research

    Understanding crime statistics in your industry and area is crucial for making important decisions about your security budget. With so much information out there, how can you know which statistics to trust? Read Now

  • Boosting Safety and Efficiency

    Boosting Safety and Efficiency

    In alignment with the state of Mississippi’s mission of “Empowering Mississippi citizens to stay connected and engaged with their government,” Salient's CompleteView VMS is being installed throughout more than 150 state boards, commissions and agencies in order to ensure safety for thousands of constituents who access state services daily. Read Now

  • Live From GSX: Post-Show Review

    Live From GSX: Post-Show Review

    This year’s Live From GSX program was a rousing success! Again, we’d like to thank our partners, and IPVideo, for working with us and letting us broadcast their solutions to the industry. You can follow our Live From GSX 2023 page to keep up with post-show developments and announcements. And if you’re interested in working with us in 2024, please don’t hesitate to ask about our Live From programs for ISC West in March or next year’s GSX. Read Now

    • Industry Events
    • GSX
  • People Say the Funniest Things

    People Say the Funniest Things

    By all accounts, GSX version 2023 was completely successful. Apparently, there were plenty of mix-ups with the airlines and getting aircraft from the East Coast into Big D. I am all ears when I am in a gathering of people. You never know when a nugget of information might flip out. Read Now

    • Industry Events
    • GSX

Featured Cybersecurity

Webinars

New Products

  • XS4 Original+

    XS4 Original+

    The SALTO XS4 Original+ design is based on the same proven housing and mechanical mechanisms of the XS4 Original. The XS4 Original+, however, is embedded with SALTO’s BLUEnet real-time functionality and SVN-Flex capability that enables SALTO stand-alone smart XS4 Original+ locks to update user credentials directly at the door. Compatible with the array of SALTO platform solutions including SALTO Space data-on-card, SALTO KS Keys as a Service cloud-based access solution, and SALTO’s JustIn Mobile technology for digital keys. The XS4 Original+ also includes RFID Mifare DESFire, Bluetooth LE and NFC technology functionality. 3

  • EasyGate SPT and SPD

    EasyGate SPT SPD

    Security solutions do not have to be ordinary, let alone unattractive. Having renewed their best-selling speed gates, Cominfo has once again demonstrated their Art of Security philosophy in practice — and confirmed their position as an industry-leading manufacturers of premium speed gates and turnstiles. 3

  • A8V MIND

    A8V MIND

    Hexagon’s Geosystems presents a portable version of its Accur8vision detection system. A rugged all-in-one solution, the A8V MIND (Mobile Intrusion Detection) is designed to provide flexible protection of critical outdoor infrastructure and objects. Hexagon’s Accur8vision is a volumetric detection system that employs LiDAR technology to safeguard entire areas. Whenever it detects movement in a specified zone, it automatically differentiates a threat from a nonthreat, and immediately notifies security staff if necessary. Person detection is carried out within a radius of 80 meters from this device. Connected remotely via a portable computer device, it enables remote surveillance and does not depend on security staff patrolling the area. 3