History of Kaufman County Emergency Managment
The Office of Emergency Management was established in 1989 pursuant to the Texas Government Code Section 418 and the Texas Administrative Code Title 37 Part 1 Chapter 7. The first Emergency Management Coordinator, Don Lindsey Sr. was appointed by County Judge Maxine Darst that same year. Don served as the County’s Emergency Management Coordinator, as well as Fire Marshal, until 1999 when Kathy Morris assumed the position of Emergency Management Coordinator in addition to her duties as Public Works Director upon Don’s retirement. Kathy served as Emergency Management Coordinator until October 2010 when Steve Howie took over the job as the third and current EMC. Upon Steve’s appointment the department became a standalone department in the county and has grown over the years since.
The original Emergency Management Plan was all of five pages long and has evolved into today’s Plan which is some 2311 pages in length. It encompasses many types of disasters that were not even thought of when the department began, such as terrorism, cyber-attacks, Pandemics, and mass fatalities to name a few. The original Basic level plan has also evolved and is now a Texas Division of Emergency Management approved Advanced level plan.
The Office itself has grown from being a part time position in another department receiving attention only when a disaster occurred to a full-time office with three full time employees and three part-time employees. The office itself has been recognized regionally as one of knowledge, dedication, and integrity as well as one that is always ready to help its neighbors when they get struck by disasters or are overwhelmed.
The department in 2010 had one 13-year-old Ford Explorer and has grown to a fleet of three vehicles, three cargo trailers, and a dynamic message board trailer. We have one EOC Support Unit trailer (mobile EOC), one Public Works Emergency Response Team trailer (traffic control devices), and the dynamic message board unit. Kaufman County OEM also has other equipment to handle various emergencies ranging from communications and internet outages to radiological emergencies.