Back Up Agenda Item 13_Joint Inclusion Committee_Expansion of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Outreach — original pdf

Backup

BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION Joint Inclusion Committee Recommendation Number: (20250326-010): Expansion of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Outreach WHEREAS, there is increased awareness and anxiety about the potential risk of wildfires in Austin1 2; and WHEREAS, according to FEMA National Risk Index3, the natural hazard risk for Travis County is relatively high4; and WHEREAS, four years after the deadly blackout in the Austin area due downed power lines and the power grids’ reliability remains in question5 and outages continue6 7; and WHEREAS, while power outages impact the entire population, studies confirm that children, non-English speakers, racial/ethnic minorities, and older adults are at greater risk during power outages than the general population8; and WHEREAS, most Austinites are not aware of the potential risks of different types of natural disasters in their geographic area, such as wildfires, flood, ground water contamination, and wind damage, etc.; and WHEREAS, the City of Austin Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management already has an extensive plan involving City, County, and Police, Fire, and Sherrif departments9; and NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Joint Inclusion Committee encourages the Austin City Council to expand the groups included in the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Team to include the following: 1 As wildfire anxiety grows, Austin plans to designate half the city as at risk of fire damage - Austin MonitorAustin Monitor 2 First Warning: Extreme wildfire risk on Tuesday | KXAN Austin 3 National Risk Index | FEMA.gov 4 Community Report - Travis County, Texas | National Risk Index 5 Four years after deadly blackout, doubts remain over reliability of Texas’ power grid : NPR 6 Power outages slam Central Texas due to high winds 7 Ice storm, wild weather reveals vulnerability of Austin's power grid - CSMonitor.com 8 Understanding the social impacts of power outages in North America: a systematic review - IOPscience 9 basic_plan_update_10-24.pdf Page 1 of 2 • • Inclusion of a broad spectrum of grass roots community organizations in the notification and reporting of incidents as they are best positioned to reach out to their respective demographics, Inclusion employers in the notifications of emergencies and additional of as many people are likely to be in touch with their employers during these events. Contacting employers could be coordinated with the Secretary of State who has records of organizations doing business in the area. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Joint Inclusion Committee encourages the Austin City Council to conduct a broad outreach campaign, in language, to encourage people to sign up for Warn Central Texas alerts. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Joint Inclusion Committee encourages the Austin City Council to create a public notice website that itemizes the different types of threats (e.g., wildfires, flood, ground water contamination, wind damage, etc.,) by geographic area, subdividing the City’s ten council districts to target different risk areas, and provides a ranking for the different types of threats. Date of Approval: _____________________________ Record of the vote: (Unanimous on a 7-0 vote, 4-3 vote with names of those voting no listed) Attest: _____________________________________________ (Staff or board member can sign) Page 2 of 2