EMERGENCY AGENCIES REVIEW MAY FLOOD RESPONSE
A public safety management meeting was held Wednesday evening at Brenham’s Firemen’s Training Center to discuss the response to the devastating flooding on May 26th and 27th. About 70 people attended the meeting including representatives from Brenham Police and Fire, EMS, DPS, the Sheriff’s Office, Dispatch, Blinn College, BISD, Scott and White Hospital, Faith Mission, volunteer fire departments, public utilities, and numerous elected officials. Information about the storm and the emergency response was shared then the attendees gave their input on how that response could be improved.
22 inches of rain fell on Brenham through the evening of May 26th. Washington County dispatch received 974 calls for service. 56 high water rescue missions were conducted saving a total of 51 people. 3000 city of Brenham and 4000 Bluebonnet Electric customers were without power and 6 emergency shelters were set up to house people trapped by the storm.
The Emergency Operations Center was put into service at the Brenham Fire Department to help coordinate the response. One of the most difficult problems they faced was getting people and assets to where they were needed when so many roads were blocked by high water. They were also hampered by the fact that several of their communications towers were struck by lightning and taken out of service.
Some of the ideas that were suggested included training police and volunteer fire department personnel in swift water rescues, staging personnel and assets in different parts of the county before roads become blocked, and allowing the volunteer fire departments to close roads in their districts. Improving communications with the general public was also cited as a priority. Social media is being looked at as way to reach out to inform people. Emergency Management Coordinator Bryan Ruemke encouraged county resident to also sign up to receive emergency messages through the county’s Citizen Alert system. You can sign up to receive emergency messages via your home phone, cell phone or email and they can either be text or voice. To sign up, go to: Citizen Alert
