CRAWFORDVILLE, Fla. (WTXL) — Wakulla County is one step closer to having a brand new emergency communication center right in time for hurricane season.
- This building will replace the old center in a 20-person conference room of the sheriff's office.
- It'll help emergency teams get information out to neighbors faster.
- Watch the video below to see the new building.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The building you see behind me will be the home of the new emergency operations center for Wakulla County. I'm Serena Davanzo, your Crawfordville neighborhood reporter.
With this expansion, emergency response teams say they'll be able to get information out to neighbors even quicker. This 8.400 sq ft building will replace the 20-person conference room in the sheriff's office.
Jennifer Nagy with the sheriff's office said that this was much needed as the county outgrew the current one. This will allow for all coordinating agencies to be in the same room when working on emergencies like hurricanes. Meaning a more streamlined way to get emergency information to neighbors.
"So when things go wrong, right, what we do from our standpoint, and one of our biggest goals is just putting the information out there. It's how they can be prepared as citizens," explained Jennifer Nagy, the Emergency Management Director for Wakulla County.
"But what they look to us for is, when evacuations are ordered, where are they going? Are their shelters open? Are our roads clear? So even after a normal, really bad thunderstorm, right? We can have tons of trees down and limbs down across our county. Those are the kind of things that get coordinated from an emergency operations center."
County officials say this was funded by $7.25 million dollars in grant funding and state appropriations. Wakulla County leaders are hoping to have it ready and operational this coming summer, right in time for hurricane season.
In Crawfordville, Serena Davanzo ABC 27.
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