History
The Stanton County Emergency Management Agency started in January of 1989 as The Local Department of Civil Defense for Stanton County. At the time, Civil Defense was responsible for the planning and alerting of the public for natural or man-made disasters. On July 19th, 1996, the State of Nebraska passed the Emergency Management Act, and shortly after, Nebraska Counties changed their name from Civil Defense to Emergency Management. The Emergency Management Act helped define the roles and policies of Emergency Management Agencies across the State of Nebraska. Those roles and responsibilities have drastically changed and continue to change as natural and man-made disasters increase.
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, changed the face of homeland security and emergency management and drove major statute and policy changes to reorganize the federal government. In 2002, President W. Bush signed the Homeland Security Act, leading to the creation of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS was created on March 1, 2003, and united FEMA and 21 other organizations. In August 2005, the historic Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Mississippi, causing large-scale devastation along the Gulf Coast, displacing families to all 50 states and resulting in billions in losses to infrastructure and the economy. Congress passed the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006, which established FEMA as a distinct agency within DHS, defined FEMA’s primary mission, and designated the FEMA Administrator as the principal advisor to the President, the Homeland Security Council, and the Secretary of Homeland Security for all matters relating to emergency management in the United States. Federal capabilities were tested once again in 2012 when Hurricane Sandy affected the entire East Coast. The storm’s effects were extensive, leaving millions without power, destroying hundreds of thousands of homes, and causing billions in damages. Subsequently, Congress passed the Sandy Recovery Improvement Act of 2013 to streamline the recovery of public infrastructure and to allow Federally recognized tribes to directly request a Presidential declaration. In 2017, the nation faced a historic Atlantic hurricane season and extreme wildfire disasters. The unprecedented and rapid succession of disasters transformed emergency management and focused efforts to build a culture of preparedness, ready the nation for catastrophic disasters, and reduce FEMA’s complexity. Congress provided the agency with expanded authorities to further these goals by enacting the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018. The legislation is a landmark law that highlights the federal government’s commitment to increasing investments in mitigation and building the capabilities of state, local, tribal, and territorial partners.
As of today, the Stanton County Emergency Management Agency works to maintain the local emergency operations plan as well as the hazard mitigation plans for Stanton County. The agency assists local, state, and federal partners as well as fire departments, stakeholders, and the public in preparedness, planning, and exercising their plans to ensure that they are prepared to respond to disasters.
