Johnston County Emergency Operations Basic Plan

10 BASIC PLAN P urpose This plan predetermines actions that should be taken by government agencies , private sector and nongovernmental organizations of Johnston County to reduce the effects on people , property and the environment during an event requiring EO C activation and establish capabilities to respond effectively to the actual occurrence of a disaster Situation Ge ography and Economic s Johnston County is located in the East Central region of North Carolina , contiguous to Wayne County on the east sid e , to Sampson and Harnett Counties on the south side , to Wake County on the west side , and to Nash and Wilson Counties on the north side The economy is largely dependent upon agriculture however industry is playing a larger role in the western part of th e County The current population of the County is estimated to be 163 , 428 Johnston County has a total area of 796 square miles Transportation and Roads Interstate 95 traverses Johnston County from North to South It intersects with Interstate 40 in the southern end of the County near Benson US 70 , US 70 Business , US 70 flyover , US 70 - A , US 301 , US 701 , NC 50 , NC 42 , NC 39 , NC 96 , NC 222 , NC 231 and NC 242 are the major traffic routes for citizens , tourists and commercial traffic Some of these major traffic routes have been identified as hurricane evacuation routes for coastal counties Public roadways within Johnston County are almost exclusively owned and maintained by the NC Department of Transportation , Division of Highways There are stil l a number of unpaved public roads throughout the County , but most secondary roads are paved Several bridges provide key access to portions of the County ; the Neuse River bridge crossing over I - 95 , US 70 and US 301 There are two bridges located on I - 95 and US 301 that cross the Little River North Carolina Railroad and CSX Railways both travel through Johnston County and they intersect within the Town of Selma's city limits The Johnston County Airport serves the County , and is large enough to handl e light commercial aircraft The nearest commercial airline service is at Raleigh - Durham Airport , a distance of approximately 40 miles PageHazards The County is exposed to many hazards , all of which have the potential to disrupt the community , cause dam age , and create casualties Potential hazards natural , technological and national security for the County are - Aircraft crashes civilian military - Civil disorder Riot Vandalism - Drought - Earth quake - Extreme heat - Floods - Forest or wildland fire - Foreign Animal Diseases FAD - Hazardous materials - Hurricanes - Landfill fire - Large structure fire , fire storm - Mass casualty incidents - National security emergency - Power failure - Railroad accidents - Terrorism - Severe bridge damage - Severe cold weather - Severe thunderstorms - Tornadoes - Transportation incidents - Fixed facility incidents - Unidentified spills or dumping - Winter storm As sumptions It is necessary for the county to plan for and be prepared to carry out disaster response and short - term recovery operations , utilizing local resources The emergency operations plan is designed to reduce or prevent the loss of lives and damage to property The occurrence of one or more of the emergency disaster events listed above could impact Johnston County severely , and include several of the following possibilities - Loss of electric service - Loss of water distribution and stora ge system - Loss of part or all of waste treatment systems - Severance of road highway network - Necessity for mass care and feeding operationsPage- Need for debris clearance - Multiple injuries - Drastic increase in media attention - Damage to the communications network - D amage to telephone network - Severe economic impact - Increased number of vectors insects - Need for official public information and rumor control - Need for State or Federal assistance - Re - entry of the public into damaged evacuated areas - Damage to vital records - Need for damage assessment - Need for auxiliary power - Solicited Unsolicited goods - Contamination of private wells - Exhaustion of local resources - Lack of depth of staffing - Loss of facilities vital to maintaining essential services - Environmental impact on wildli fe , natural resources destruction - Need for management of reconstruction - Need for coordination of staged resources - Damage to historical sites - Isolation of populations - Presidential Disaster Declaration , etc The occurrence of one or more events could result in a catastrophic disaster situation , which could overwhelm local and state resources It is necessary for the County and municipalities to plan for and to carry out coordinated disaster response and short - term recovery operations utilizing local resourc es ; however , it is likely that outside assistance would be necessary in most major disaster situations affecting the County Emergency and disaster occurrences could result in disruption of government functions This necessitates that all levels of local government and departments develop and maintain standard operating guidelines to ensure continuity of government and retention of vital records Ref Continuity of Operations Plan These procedures will address depth of staffing , line of succession , m ode of operation , and policies and methods for retaining vital records Most natural disasters will leave at least some part s of the county isolated and on its own for a period of time Families should be encouraged to train and prepare for these events Officials of the c ounty and municipalities are aware of the threat of a major emergency or disaster and will fulfill identified responsibilities as needed to the extent possible PageConcept of Operations Preparedness activities , programs , and systems are those that exist prior to an emergency and are used to support and enhance response to an emergency or disaster Planning , training , and exercising are among the activities conducted under this phase As required by General Statute 166A - 2 , it is th e res ponsibility of c ounty government to prevent , prepare for , respond to and recover from natural , technological or man - made disasters Facilities vital to the operation of county and local government have been identified These facilities will receive prior ity for restoration of service Planning and training are necessary and integral parts of emergency and disaster preparation and must be prerequisite to effective emergency operations Coordination with adjoining jurisdictions is essential when events oc cur that impact beyond County or jurisdictional borders It is the responsibility of the elected officials to ensure that all legal documents of both a public and private nature be protected and preserved in accordance with existing laws , statutes , and or dinances Response activities and programs are designed to address the immediate effects of the onset of an emergency or disaster , help to reduce casualties and damage , and to speed recovery Response activities include direction and control , warni ng , evacuation , mass care , and other similar operations In significant emergencies disasters , direction and control will be managed by the EOC Coordination Group following policies set forth by the Policy Administration Group Emergency Operating Center s EOC will be staffed and operated as the situation dictates When activated , operations are supported by ranking representatives from a number of local government , private sector and volunteer organizations to provide information , data and recommendatio ns to the Policy Administration Group When an emergency situation develops , the senior elected official or the designee of the jurisdiction as defined in GS 14 - 2881 may declare a State of Emergency to exist within the jurisdiction or a part thereof and begin implementing emergency procedures The County Manager and County Emergency Operations Center Manager will coordinate County resources The Mayor or his designee will coordinate and control the resources of the municipality PagePage pageNumber5Johnston County's Pubic Information Officer will utilize all available media outlets for the dissemination of emergency information to the public Should local government resources prove to be inadequate during emergency operations requests for assistance will be made to o ther jurisdictions , higher levels of government , and or other agencies in accordance with existing mutual - ai d agreements Requests for State and Federal resources will be made through the Johnston County Emergency Operation Center to the NC Division of Emergency Management Under the National Response Plan , departments and agencies h ave been assigned primary and support agency responsibilities for various Emergency Support Functions These Emergency Support Functions will work in concert with State Agen cies to provide the needed resource s Under the provisions of the Robert T Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act , a Federal Coordinating Officer will be appointed as the President's representative to coordinate overall delivery of Feder al assistance Federal departments and agencies have been assigned missions to provide assistance directly to the State , under the overall direction of the Federal Coordinating Officer Recovery activities involve restoring systems and infrastructure to n ormal Short - term recovery actions are taken to assess damage and return vital life support systems back to normal ; long - term recovery actions may continue for many years Mitigation activities are those designed to either prevent the occurrence of an e mergency or minimize the potentially adverse effects thereof Following any major emergency disaster event , a critique will be held to evaluate the jurisdiction's response to the event A critique will include the following issues related specifically to recovery - Mitigation of potential problems through use of Hazard Mitigation Grants - Plan and procedures revision based on lessons learned - Unmet needs status - Resource Management and Management of Donated Goods - Management of Volunteer Services - Interagency Coo peration - Damage Survey Report process and documentation - Training needed - Restoration of infrastructure and Business recovery Plan Development and Maintenance Each agency of local government is responsible for the development of standard operating guidelin es SOGs in the support of this plan The County Manager mandates the development and annual review of this plan by all officials involved and will coordinate necessary revision efforts through the EmergencyPagePage pageNumber6Management Co ordinator That shall include cor rective action reports and actions taken in support of the plan following any event requiring implementation of the plan This plan shall be exercised annually in lieu of actual response to real emergency events Authorization and Authorities Actions ta ken during emergency disaster events require that legal guidelines are followed to assure protection of the general public and to maintain law and order in the County Municipality Decisions implemented during times of disaster will sometimes have a negat ive economic impact on the County Municipality or portions thereof Verbal and written mutual aid agreements exist between some agencies within Johnston County and its municipalities Johnston County is a signatory to the North Carolina Statewide Mutual Aid Agreement Some actions taken during emergency events will be unpopular with the general public Actions implemented will be based on the safety and welfare of the overall population , but may be unpopular with specific groups Selected references ar e on file in the County Emergency Management Office These include - GS 166 - A Emergency Management Act - Johnston County Emergency Ordinance - Proclamation of a State of Emergency including description of Imposition of Prohibitions and Restrictions - Termin ation of a State of Emergency - Statewide Mutual Aid Agreement Complete information pertaining to Authorizations and Authorities will be maintained in a reference book , accessible for reference during times of emergency This reference will include - NC Emer gency Management Act , GS 166 - A - Robert T Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act , Public Law 93 - 288 , as amended by Public Law 100 - 707 the Stafford Act - Johnston County Emergency Management Ordinance - Proclamation of a State of Emergency - Mutual Aid Agreements for Fire and Rescue - Mutual Aid Agreements with Municipalities - Agreements with American Red Cross - Agreements with County School System - North Carolina Oil Spill Act - Emergency Planning and Community Right - to - Know Act SARA Title III PagePage pageNumber7- OSH A 1910120 - FAA Authority FAR to close airspace over disaster area - Model Ordinance concerning Price Gouging - Civil Defense Act of 1950 , Public Law 81 - 920 NC Governor's Executive Order 73 - Local Emergency Planning Committee Bylaws - Statewide Mutual Aid Agree mentPage