Emergency Management

REGIONAL EVACUATION STUDY

As part of a statewide initiative by the Florida Division of Emergency Management to coordinate up-to-date regional evacuation information across Florida, the Florida Regional Planning Councils will be preparing Regional Evacuation Studies. The Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council will research, analyze and compile data to generate a report containing a demographic and land use analysis, a hazards analysis, a behavioral analysis, a critical facilities inventory, a shelter analysis, a regional evacuation transportation networks analysis, and a vulnerability analysis specific to the Treasure Coast region. This Regional Evacuation Study will produce important, thorough and relevant information for emergency management decision-making.

For additional information, please contact Terry Hess of Council staff.

 

Hurricane Preparedness Day and Open House
at the
Indian River County Emergency Operations Center

4225 43rd Avenue
Vero Beach, Florida
(772) 567-2154

Saturday, May 31, 2008
10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Click here for brochure

 

Ms. Etta LoPresti recently received a 2006 Thomas Yatabe Award of Outstanding Achievement by the State Emergency Response Commission (SERC), Department of Community Affairs, Division of Emergency Management. She accepted the award at the January 5, 2007 SERC meeting from Mr. Craig Fugate, acting Chairman of the SERC and Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management.


The award was presented to Ms. LoPresti in recognition of her service to the District 10 Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC), Indian River County and the regional community in the awareness and participation in Florida's hazardous materials planning program. Ms. LoPresti's hard work has ensured that many agencies of the four county region (Indian River, Martin, Palm Beach and St. Lucie) have received effective and efficient representation from the District 10 LEPC. This award recognizes that her leadership and participation with the LEPC and its subcommittees has helped make Florida's hazardous materials planning program one of the best in the State of Florida.


Ms. LoPresti has been a participant in the District 10 LEPC as a representative of Indian River County Emergency Management since January 1994. She has been dedicated to the planning and support of the LEPC mission of preparedness and response to chemical releases. She has participated in three Biennial Exercises and is a member of the LEPC Planning Sub-Committee. In 2006, Ms. LoPresti helped to update the Regional Hazardous Materials Response Plan and provided meaningful input toward the design of the upcoming 2007 hazardous materials release exercise.

 

 

Pictured above from left to right: John King, Director of Emergency Services, Indian River County; Etta LoPresti; Craig Fugat, Director of Florida Division of Emergency Management; and Deputy Chief Chris Bushman, St. Lucie County Fire District and District 10 LEPC Chairman.

 

On Thursday, February 15, 2007, at the District 10 LEPC meeting, Certificates of Appreciation were given to District 10 LEPC Members John O’Malley, Chair of the Public Outreach and Marketing Subcommittee; Barry Stewart, Florida Department of Environmental Protection; and Lisa Wilson-Davis, Program Policy Coordinator for the City of Boca Raton.

 

Pre-Disaster Mitigation = Sustainability

To many Treasure Coast residents, the term emergency preparedness is most often associated with hurricanes and those community or personal precautions utilized to lessen the immediate effects of such events. However, this association is only partially correct. As recently witnessed here in Florida and many other parts of the nation, our population has become so large and society so dependent upon technology that any major disaster, either natural or man-made, imparts extensive recovery and redevelopment costs. Furthermore, these immediate costs do not reflect long-term social, economic, or ecological impacts. Such events do not recognize any political boundaries; the Region is just as susceptible to experiencing a disaster as anywhere else in the nation.

Council emergency preparedness programs have been developed to dovetail closely with those of local emergency management and response agencies and address the concept of modern comprehensive emergency preparedness and how its application (or lack thereof) will affect the immediate and long-term future of the Treasure Coast Region. Council staff has consistently developed strategies and policies that serve as tools for local emergency management professionals when planning disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation actions.

TCRPC's small business disaster preparedness website. Learn ways to help your business prepare and plan to survive a disaster. Learn what you can do prior to, during, and after a disaster to help sustain your business.

Hazardous Materials Information Available to the Public

   
The District 10 Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) maintains public records showing the types and amounts of certain hazardous materials that are stored at facilities throughout the Treasure Coast Region. These records are maintained in compliance with the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA) also known as SARA Title III. The public records consist of forms naming the hazardous materials present at given sites, the hazards the substances pose if released, amounts stored, and methods of storage.

Emergency Preparedness Links