Federal and State Agencies Prepare for Hurricane Season in Corpus Christi

 From U.S. EPA:

Federal and State Agencies Prepare for Hurricane Season in Corpus Christi

Natural Disaster Operational Workgroup conducts annual preparedness exercises

CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS (MAY 23, 2023) – This week, agencies from the federal government and the state of Texas will participate in a hurricane-preparedness exercise in and around Corpus Christi, Texas, from May 22-26. The agencies are part of the Natural Disaster Operational Workgroup (NDOW) formed to improve coordination and communication during responses to hurricanes or other large-scale emergencies.

The exercise will simulate a multi-agency response following a Category 4 hurricane impacting the Texas coast. Participants will set up three operations bases for activities including hazard evaluation, orphan container recovery, vessel assessment and recovery, oil spill assessment and recovery, water and wastewater system assessments, and air monitoring. This exercise will allow the agencies to practice unified response techniques and data sharing to help streamline joint field operations and communications during future large-scale events. Participants will also test protocols designed to assess air emissions and data sharing between agencies for environmental justice areas affected from the storm.

Residents of Corpus Christi should be aware that response officials and equipment could be visible to the public during this exercise, but their activities will be for training and preparedness purposes only.

Participating agencies include:

• U. S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 6
• U. S. Coast Guard
• U.S. Department of Homeland Security
• Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
• Texas General Land Office
• Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
• Texas Department of Public Safety
• Texas Civil Support Team
• National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration
• U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Background

The Natural Disaster Operational Workgroup (NDOW) was formed after Hurricane Ike in 2008. NDOW’s goal is to improve coordination between state and federal agencies involved in large-scale disaster response. NDOW seeks to establish an operational structure and common planning framework, including procedures, standardized data quality objectives, training and exercises for effective coordination of multi-agency response to man-made and natural disasters. In support of the National Incident Management System (NIMS), the NDOW framework engages existing state and federal resources and authorities to incorporate the full capabilities of all sectors. The NDOW intends to institutionalize and expand use of standardized procedures throughout all Gulf Coast Regional Response Team (RRT) agencies to ensure effective incident response in support of community recovery.

For more information on NDOW, please see: http://ndow.net/