Williamson County Emergency Teams Praised For Hurricane Harvey Response

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TX — Williamson County Commissioners Court members recently recognized the efforts of emergency workers during Hurricane Harvey.

Locally, more than 50 emergency personnel were deployed, stood ready to be deployed or assigned to help with the response. Williamson County employees from EMS, Emergency Communications, Emergency Management, Mobile Outreach Team (MOT), Haz-Mat, Wireless Communications, the Williamson County and Cities Health District and the Sheriff’s Office all assisted in the response, officials said.

Among the rescue work conducted locally, officials said, included:

• One EMS Ambulance Strike Team was deployed to Houston for ten days. EMS also sent employees to Austin to work as shelter managers and to San Antonio and Beaumont to work as staging managers.
• Teams comprised of members from EMS, the Mobile Outreach Team (MOT) and the Williamson County and Cities Health District conducted medical and functional needs assessments for people staying in evacuation shelters in Austin.
• Emergency Communications sent employees to work Communication Support in Rockport and Ingleside. Calls for assistance grew from a few hundred a day to up to 1,000 calls a day.
• Employees from Emergency Management and Emergency Communications assisted in Rockport and Jasper County.
• The Hazardous Materials Division coordinated Texas Interstate Fire Mutual Aid System (TIFMAS) requests for response.

Emergency Services Senior Director John Sneed praised those who were packed and ready to go, but also employees who stayed to meet local needs and backfill for those who were deployed.

“We are grateful we were able to send people to the coast to help our fellow Texans, although that increases the workload here. All of our staff stood up and readily pitched in when needed. I commend them for their efforts,” stated Sneed.

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