Hurricane Season officially begins on Thursday, June 1, and the City of Deer Park wants all citizens to be prepared.
According to Mayor Jerry Mouton, the City utilizes a variety of methods and information channels to provide preparedness information to residents, from in-person meetings and classes to web resources made available through social media, and now is the time to follow them.
“The City of Deer Park works all year to make sure citizens are prepared for emergencies, and with Hurricane Season just around the corner, we want to remind everyone to stay informed and utilize the range of resources available,” Mouton said.
In-person efforts
In addition to all the content available through the City’s website and social media networks (detail below), City officials strive to communicate face-to-face with the community to assist with preparedness efforts.
For example, the City will be represented at the upcoming Hurricane Workshop and Safety Fair at the Pasadena Convention Center on Saturday, June 3 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. That day, City staff including Director of Emergency Services Robert Hemminger will be on-hand to discuss family preparedness, provide handouts and preview the City’s updated Emergency Preparedness Guide, which is currently being finalized.
Additionally, as stated in the City’s Code of Ordinances, the Mayor holds the office of emergency management director in accordance with state law, which entails the responsibilities of officially declaring emergencies, issuing orders for evacuation, etc. As part of this role, the Mayor conducts outreach throughout the community to minimize the potential negative impact of disasters, working directly with entities including civic organizations, churches and businesses.
Online resources
The City recognized Hurricane Preparedness Week during May 7-13, posting new content on the Deer Park Office of Emergency Management Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/deerparktx.oem) each day throughout the week. The content, originally distributed by the National Weather Service, provided information on developing family evacuation plans, assembling disaster supply kits and completing hurricane plans. The content is still available for review on the OEM Facebook or at https://www.weather.gov/wrn/hurricane-preparedness.
As well, the City also utilizes the Office of Emergency Management Twitter page - https://twitter.com/deerparkoem - to publicize upcoming preparedness events, such as the Texas Department of Public Safety, Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) “Hurricane Charlie” exercise, scheduled for the first week of June.
Finally, Deer Park’s Office of Emergency Management makes a range of information sources available on its City web page, www.readydp.com, including the CodeRED® system. Area residents who sign up for CodeRED notifications will receive critical and time-sensitive communications such as severe weather warnings, evacuation notices, shelter-in-place notices, and missing child alerts, in addition to community announcements.
“It only takes a matter of minutes to register for CodeRED notifications and warnings, and you may register your land-line, cell phone, work numbers, text and email addresses,” Hemminger said. “We encourage all residents to take the time now – before Hurricane Season – to make sure they are signed up for these very important messages.”
For more information on any of the channels above, or to volunteer an outlet for preparedness information from the City of Deer Park, contact Hemminger at rhemminger@deerparktx.org.
