TEST Texas Emergency Management Advisory Committee

The Drought Preparedness Council (DPC) conducts their quarterly meetings in conjunction with TEMAC. The DPC is a legislatively mandated council focusing on issues as assigned by the Texas Legislature.

I. Drought Preparedness Council (DPC): DPC was authorized and established by the 76th legislature(HB 2660) in 1999, subsequent to the establishment of the Drought Monitoring and Response Committee (75th legislature, SB 1). The Chief of TDEM is the State Drought Manager. The State Drought Manager is responsible for managing and coordinating the drought response component of the State Water Plan.

2021-2022 Drought Preparedness Council Biennial Report

The Executive Committee directs the TEMAC work groups and liaises with other stakeholder groups to act as the sounding board for ideas and recommendations brought to TDEM’s executive leadership. The executive committee consists of a chair, vice-chair, and additional members appointed by the TDEM Chief who hold specific knowledge and experience aligned with emergency management.

Members

• Eric Epley, Southwest Texas Regional Adsivory Council
• Monica Martinez, Texas A&M University
• Tim Ocnaschek, Beaumont Police Department
• Bob Royall, Harris County (retired)
• Ricardo Saldana, Hidalgo County Office of Emergency Management
• Mark Sloan, Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management
• Sarah Somers, Grayson County Office of Emergency Management
• Jeffrey J. Wittig, Oak Hill Fire Department
• Tessa Wrobleski, City of Galveston
• Jason Carriere, Irving Police Department
• Jacob Clifton, Skellytown Fire Department
• Wendy McCoy, Texas State University
• Jerry Bullard, Reeves County

At the discretion of the Executive Committee, established TEMAC Work Groups address charges from the TDEM Chief and issues from local emergency managers and relevant stakeholders. These broad areas represent ways the state and local jurisdictions can work together to improve the way we prepare for, respond to, recover from, and mitigate against threats to Texas. Work Groups include:

Emergency Management Mission Assessment (EMMA) focuses on the development of tools, policies, and processes that could be used to standardize emergency management across the state. Specifically for Public Warning, Sheltering, Evacuation, and Points of Distribution (PODs).

National Incident Management Systems (NIMs)/Incident Command Systems (ICS) in Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) focuses on its use in Texas and improvements on prefilling of positions and pre-rostered Incident Management Teams.

Cyber Security Impacts focuses on how the state and local jurisdictions can collaborate to address cyber threats and incidents.

State of Texas Emergency Assistance Registry (STEAR) collaborates on best practices from the local perspective and identifies areas of improvement for users of the free registry.

Recovery Work Groups continue to partner with stakeholders on the long term recovery repository website and promotion of the Texas Community (TCR) Management System.

Local, Tribal, State and Federal emergency management stakeholders are invited to attend each quarterly meeting and participate in the conversation.

In-person meetings include extra seating. Virtual meeting access codes are sent to those who subscribe to TEMAC meeting announcements, sign up below!

TEMAC aligns the quarterly meetings with other councils and conferences. These events may require separate registration and cost to attend.