This is the time of year when many people make a point to keep an eye on the storm – or as in this year’s case – storms.
While monitoring potential cataclysmic events is just another part of most people’s lives, for the leadership and staff at the City’s Emergency Operations Center, it’s a full-time job.
Located on North Julia Street in a former Federal Reserve Bank building, the EOC is a self-contained nerve center devoted to the management of emergencies of all types.
When activated, more than 100 people representing City government and departments, public safety, local health care providers and the military are assembled in the center to monitor situations, deploy services and maintain communication between service providers and citizens.
Making all that come together seamlessly requires year-round planning and preparation, said Marty Senterfitt, the City’s chief of Emergency Preparedness.
“We’re here to make sure the entire county is safe and healthy and our plans are always up to date,” he said.
Senterfitt said the emergency preparedness initiative has evolved over the years. It began in the 1960s, the beginning of the “Cold War,” as civil defense and a way to help the public deal with a potential nuclear attack.
The building that houses the EOC was a fallout shelter in those days, which explains the generator and artesian well in the basement. Signs directing people to the shelter are still on the wall in the area below street level.
In the late 1970s, civil defense evolved into preparing for natural disasters and their aftermath. Sept. 11, 2001, changed the game again, returning civil defense and homeland security to the system.
“It’s important for people to understand that if something catastrophic happens in Jacksonville, there is a plan to work through the problem. We know what to do no matter what happens. Jacksonville will not be caught off-guard,” said Senterfitt.
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