by Commissioner Cook
Saturday, August 26, 2017, 06:00
The county conference calls started on Thursday. Texas was going to be hit hard–at that time, by a category 3 storm. Preparation for response began. Wilco representatives were in Austin at the Combined Transportation and Emergency Communications Center, CTECC, working on the Central Texas regional response.
Elected officials and department heads from Wilco assemble at the Williamson County Emergency Operations Center in Georgetown.
As Harvey began crawling into Texas as a category 4 hurricane, emergency planning for Williamson County left the CTECC and convened at the Williamson County Emergency Operations Center, EOC, in Georgetown before dawn on Saturday. Emergencies are not uncommon in Texas and indeed, this gathering of Williamson County’s representatives, ranging from elected officials to multiple department leaders for response preparation, was full of veterans of the planning process and activities.
By mid-Saturday morning, it became evident that we weren’t receiving the number of evacuees as anticipated, and we weren’t going to receive the torrential rains and fierce winds earlier predicted. The team was placed on stand-by for immediate callback in case the storm changed directions. However, conference calls continued, some with only Williamson County employees and others with every response team in the county.
