The Office of Emergency Services (OES) coordinates multi-agency and volunteer responses to emergencies, events, and disasters within Jackson County.
Although the OES coordinates emergency responses, it takes the combined efforts of city, county and state departments, and a myriad of volunteer organizations, to effectively manage such events. It brings key agencies together in facilitating response to bad weather, search and rescue, fire protection, hazardous materials, debris removal and much more.
The Office of Emergency Management can also activate Jackson County landlines and cellphones to pass on critical information to endangered residents and area visitors.
Preparedness includes planning, resource management and training
Response takes place during or immediately following an event
Recovery occurs right after an event and can last for days and up to months depending on the severity of the emergency
Mitigation is anything done to lessen the effects of a hazard, such as raising a house
Natural hazards
Natural hazards are those occurring in nature, and there is nothing that can be done to prevent them. For our area, these include:
Hurricanes
Severe Thunderstorms
Flooding
Tornadoes
Wildfires
Technical and Man-Made Hazards
Technical and man-made hazards are those which involve a human process or component. In our area, local industries make materials that could be hazardous in the form of:
