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Macon-Bibb County Manager Keith Moffett conducts a news conference during a mock disaster exercise at FEMA’s National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg, MD.
Credit: Liz Fabian/Macon Newsroom
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Macon-Bibb leaders prepare for disaster in days of training
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The threat of severe storms, flooding and tornadoes was already in play when more than three dozen people from Macon-Bibb County took their posts during a July training at the National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
As part of four days of training, they sat in designated sections pertaining to their role in an Emergency Operations Center as the mock disaster unfolded with multiple catastrophes packed into a four-hour session.
Macon-Bibb EMA Director Spencer Hawkins prefaced the exercise as crucial in light of the uncertainty over FEMA’s future and federal funding.
“If the disaster hits, and what has been the case for 40-plus years, regardless of the political party in the administration, is not true anymore — and we don’t know, (FEMA’s current operation) may go back and everything’s fine, and FEMA is operating the way it has for the last 40 years, but it may not — and with us steadily marching towards the peak of hurricane season, we can’t take that chance,” Hawkins said.
Experts in public safety, healthcare, law enforcement, utility operations, transportation, public information, and government agencies were chosen for FEMA’s Integrated Emergency Management Course that tailors an exercise specifically designed for Macon-Bibb.
Phonetic hints on the white board helped the federal instructors correctly pronounce street names such as Pio Nono, “Pie Nona,” and Houston as “House Ton.”
Macon-Bibb’s delegation took online training courses in the months before the trip, and spent three days in the classroom brushing up on best practices in disaster management before the functional exercise put that knowledge to the test.
Hawkins said the realistic scenarios presented, such as an EF-1 tornado tracking 9.1 miles with wind speeds of 90 mph, tanker trucks crashing with hazardous material spills and students trapped in a school roof collapse are incidents that require a multi-agency response with one goal.
“I want all of us to understand that we are one team, working together before, during and after disasters, and that we can, even though we all have different organizations, different logos on our shirts, that we can come together to make sure that we are protecting and responding to the citizens of Macon Bibb County,” Hawkins said at the start of the week’s training.
The trip originally was scheduled for March, but due to ongoing Congressional budget negotiations was postponed until July.
The new date prevented a Muscogee (Creek) Nation delegation from attending because it conflicted with their annual ceremonies.
Tracie Revis, the Macon-based director of advocacy of the Ocmulgee National Park & Preserve Initiative participated in the training. She briefed attendees on cultural sensitivities and concerns if tribal artifacts were unearthed in a major flood of the Ocmulgee River.
Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park Superintendent Carla Beasley also traveled to Maryland to be better prepared for catastrophes on federal and tribal lands, especially with the expected increase in visitors if Congress approves the pending national park status.
With the ongoing reconciliation between Macon-Bibb and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, members of the Oklahoma Emergency Management Agency also were invited to present on the topic of coordinating disaster recovery with the tribe, but they were diverted to assist with flood disaster recovery in New Mexico.
Instead, representatives of Georgia’s Emergency Management Agency, or GEMA, briefed the class on Georgia’s state disaster organization and its role in assisting local communities.
Hawkins said Macon-Bibb’s relationship with GEMA is more critical than ever in light of expected changes in FEMA’s organization, and noted that the state agency receives 80% of its funding through federal grants.
Jonathan Jones, GEMA’s Emergency Management Field Coordinator, participated in the training along with his colleague, Mandy Juarez, a GEMA Operations Exercise Specialist who has Macon-Bibb in her territory of about two dozen counties.
Every community handles crises differently, which makes this nearly weeklong training essential to effectively mitigating disasters, Jones said.
“If we don’t have a relationship with the counties and the local EMAs, we have no job. That’s the biggest part of our role,” Jones told the group. “If we don’t have that relationship built before (hurricane) Helene happens, we’re already operating weeks and months behind. We have to have those relationships up front before something even happens.”
Relationship-building was a key part of the Sunday to Friday trip where participants bonded on planes and buses, and dined together in the cafeteria.
“There’s an adage in emergency management that says, ‘never exchange business cards when the weather is bad,’” Hawkins said. “That’s what we’re doing here. We are making sure that we are prepared ahead of time, that we’re walking through what works, what doesn’t, and how to fix it.”
During training, Georgia Power’s Storm Center Operations Manager Eric McIntyre was keeping a close eye on a real-life tropical disturbance threatening the gulf coast of Louisiana and Mississippi.
The days spent in Maryland helped him build new working relationships.
“This was really a great week, just collaborating, getting to know more people and understanding, really, the challenges that Macon faces,” McIntyre said. “You’re always ready to prepare for the worst and hope it never comes. But in all aspects we want to be prepared.”
Hawkins noted that Macon-Bibb’s first Integrated Emergency Management Course in 2015 helped the county weather Hurricane Irma in 2017.
Macon-Bibb EMA Special Projects Officer Sophie Rosen encouraged the attendees to visit the local Emergency Operations Center and familiarize themselves with the Web EOC software they use to input essential data during disasters.
“No matter how well this went, I do think our work is not done,” Rosen said at the end of the exercise. “And the second thing I’ll say is making sure you get your people trained. In the scenario, you might not be the one to go into the operations center. You might not be the liaison, but making sure that your people know what they should be doing.”
Hawkins also stressed that the team should continue to ponder ways to enhance disaster response and identify ways to work better together.
“What was working well, what wasn’t from a policy perspective or an overall strategic agency support operation,” he said. “I want you to continue to have these conversations.”
— Civic Journalism Senior Fellow Liz Fabian covers Macon-Bibb County government news for The Macon Newsroom and can be reached at fabian_lj@mercer.edu or 478-301-2976. This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with The Macon Newsroom.
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