WebEOC assists with regionwide emergency response

Emergency Management Coordinators (EMCs) and other public safety officials used CAPCOG’s digital regional planning coordination tool, WebEOC, to share critical information about responding to Winter Storm Uri in February helping to keep residents warm and to track storm related issues.

WebEOC allowed public safety officials to share spot weather reports and response information with local decision makers across the region, so they could better coordinate response efforts. For example, within WebEOC, EMCs tracked the use of warming centers across several jurisdictions. This allowed them to see the number of warming centers, their locations, and their capacity. The information assisted jurisdictions in directing residents to facilities with the most available space. Jurisdictions also shared request for specialty equipment to coordinate their use.

While most WebEOC information was used by public safety officials only, CAPCOG has integrated the tool into WarnCentralTexas.org allowing for officials to share pertinent public information with residents through the website. Several jurisdictions activated this capability allowing for longer, more detailed messages to be shared publicly than what is traditionally shared through a text message or phone call emergency alert. Because the tool can support multiple operations, public safety and public health officials also continued to track COVID-19 related operations during Winter Storm Uri. This included communicating when and where vaccination and testing sites were closing and when they reopened.

Get more information about WebEOC.