Oct. 30, 2015 — COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The Texas Division of Emergency Management has requested Texas A&M Forest Service assemble and lead an incident management team in response to heavy rainfall and potential flooding conditions in Hays County.
The short team—expected to complete their mission within a week—is assembling today and will report to the San Marcos Emergency Operations Center in Hays County.
Led by three Texas A&M Forest Service responders, incident management team members have been mobilized from the Alamo Area IMT in Bexar County and the Piney Woods IMT from Nacogdoches, Angelina and Polk counties.
The team will comprise the planning section of the overall response. The planning section handles collecting, evaluating and disseminating tactical information pertaining to the incident. They maintain information on the current and forecasted situation, and the status of resources assigned to the incident. The team will also prepare and document the Incident Action Plan and incident maps.
Since 2006, at the request of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, Texas A&M Forest Service has helped stand up and mobilize IMTs during all-hazard state emergencies, such as weather events and flooding. Executive Order RP-57 required the development of “eight regional response teams to support multi-jurisdictional operations during catastrophic events.”
IMT responders from all walks of life and professions are trained to respond to an emergency when called up by their local team. Since Texas A&M Forest Service is charged with the responsibility of mobilizing all teams in Texas, at least one agency employee is on each team.
In addition to the planning section short team in Hays County, Texas A&M Forest Service has a representative staffing the State Operations Center in support of the elevated activation level.
Watch for Texas A&M Forest Service response updates on social media at https://twitter.com/AllHazardsTFS and https://www.facebook.com/texasforestservice.
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Contact
Texas A&M Forest Service Communications
newsmedia@tfs.tamu.edu, 979-458-6614
979-458-6614