Texana
is not the single source of water for Corpus Christi, an incident at Lake Texana
could seriously compromise the water supply for the city.
The region needs equipment to provide for response, protection of responders, evaluation, evacuation, mitigation, and long term cleanup. Personal protection, and detection equipment is also needed by responders regardless of the incident. Our medical facilities would be overwhelmed in a very short time frame, no matter what the incident, or the location.
Mutual Aid agreements are limited throughout the region, and vary in scope and language. A regional mutual aid agreement inclusive of all responders is being considered. At this time no draft exists, however, this is a priority for the region in order to carry out and provide for regional mutual aid responses. These agreements will encompass any language needed to bring in state, as well as federal, both civilian, and military into the response package.
Communications interoperability is a key. It has been impossible at times in the region, due to distance, equipment, and the incompatibility of communications equipment to talk between responding agencies.
Training is also recognized as an important part of the whole response issue in the region. The region has committed personnel to respond to incidents, however the region lacks the resources to provide for the cost of training, the ongoing upgrades in training, and the calendar time. The majority of responders are volunteer, and thus training needs to be set on nights and weekends. Responders need key training in both local and regional scale responses, as well as basic level courses to advanced. Providing for in region training would allow for confidence in responders, confidence in the public, and confidence that trained personnel would be in those positions of command and control, as well as front line responding that would insure responder safety, and public safety. A well-trained force is a safe force.
Regional exercises have not been performed in the past due to several factors. Lack of personnel, due to response units having to maintain “normal” response crews for other emergencies at local agencies have limited participation. The lack of equipment and the distance of travel across the region is a hindrance. The lack of formal structure at the regional level has also hampered planning and training in this area. The development of a regional system is seen as an avenue to correct past deficiencies in this and other areas. Again, the coordination on a regional basis with local agencies would help in facilitating this function.
One of the most important issues facing the GCRPC region may be our location between Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and Corpus Christi. These major metropolitan areas average about 100 miles from Victoria, the largest city in our region. Each of these metropolitan areas is larger than ours and may have a higher probability of terrorist attack than our region. However, our region has all the same classes of potential targets. We want to be prepared to respond to our regions needs from a direct event in our area, or
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