Southern Local EMA Meeting Minutes
25 October 2007
Denmark Fire Department, 11 Bull Ring Rd
Scott Parker Oxford County EMA Director
Teresa Inman Oxford County EMA
Bonnie Seames Norway EM
Wayne Miller Sweden EM
Carroll Murphy Sweden Deputy EM
Frank Robey Stoneham EM
Richard Perreault Brownfield EM
Ken Richardson Denmark EM
The window for Homeland Security Grants (HLSG) is now open.
Grant guidance has been sent out and seems to be more focused toward planning,
training, and exercising this year. 2.25 million dollars are available to towns,
schools and organizations this year. Grants must be submitted to the county
by 16 November 2007 and the county submits them to the state on 30 November
2007. Public Safety Communications and Interoperability (PSCI) Grants will be
opening in 2008 giving the opportunity to improve communications throughout the
county, and are being evaluated at the county level.
WebEOC – WebEOC is a software system through the
state that allows users with access to view incident reports, status reports,
duty officer logs, and other important links. Local EMA’s and first responders
have access through the information passed out at the meeting. If there are any
problems logging on, call our office or send us an email.
Weather Websites – Weather websites given are
National Weather Service (NWS) in Gray, ME
http://www.erh.noaa.gov/gyx/
Storm Prediction Center (SPC)
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/
National Hurricane Center (NHC)
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
These agencies are officially recognized to post watches
and warnings in the United States. On the NWS page you can click on the map or
enter your zip code to go to the forecast for that town. The map also will
display different colors for watches and warnings that might be in your area.
Once you get to the page with your town there will be a pictorial 5 day forecast
as well as a written out 7 day forecast. Any watches, warnings or hazardous
conditions will have links in red above the 7 day forecast. Click on these to
read the watches and warnings in much greater detail. Information will be given
on the counties to be affected, towns affected and a detailed discussion of what
weather events to expect during the day and over the course of the next several
days.
Also from that webpage it is recommended to view the radar.
To put the radar into motion, which is most helpful to see what direction the
weather systems are moving, click on the loop button next to “composite”. On the
radar will be a color chart of Dbz’s which can basically be interpreted as the
intensity of what the radar is bouncing off from. Dbz’s in cooler colors (gray,
blue, green) represent much weaker storms and precipitation. Dbz’s in the warmer
colors (yellow, orange, red) mean much stronger and intense storms with heavier
precipitation. The radar image updates every 4 minutes or so, so if you are
looking at the radar for an extended period of time, be sure to refresh the page
periodically or click the “auto update” button.
The SPC website shows convective outlooks for the country
as well as fire weather. Their main focus is severe weather such as tornadoes,
strong thunderstorms, and microbursts. The NHC website gives information on
active tropical storms and hurricanes for both the Atlantic and Pacific regions.
Probably the most important information to read would be the forecast discussion
for each storm, as well as to look at the 3 and 5 day warning cones to see what
direction the storm is moving.
NIMS Compliance – Towns still need to be at 100% on
their Tier 1 questions of NIMSCAST in 2007 with an EOP and ordinance to be
considered compliant and eligible for federal funding. Any Corrective Actions to
reach 100% must be completed by 28 January 2008 or you will not be
eligible for grant money. As of now the county has about 80% of towns
participating in NIMS. Incident Command classes and training are important so
that we can all works as a team and be on the same page in the event of a large
incident in our area.
Local EOP’s – We have a new plan on our website that
you can fill in your own information on. Having an EOP is part of your town
being NIMS compliant. If you have completed your plan, please forward a copy to
our office so that we may keep it on file.
Other – An ICS 300 class is being offered this
January and a 400 class will probably be offered in the March/April time frame.
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Oxford County
