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The Emergency Operations Center
(EOC)
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Click on any of the
following links to find out more information about our Emergency
Operations Center or to get more detailed information regarding many
emergency situations that could occur in our area.
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About the Emergency Operations Center
The City of Hollywood
maintains an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to manage large-scale
emergencies and disasters affecting the city. The EOC is under
the command and authority of City Manager Cameron Benson, and EOC
operations are controlled by the Chief of Police Chadwick E. Wagner. The
EOC is activated in the event of a major city-wide incident, such as a
hurricane, terrorist attack, flood, pandemic, or any other large-scale
incident that requires the direct and immediate cooperation of all
city departments along with outside resources.
Planning and Response
The City of Hollywood
has always put a significant priority on the preparation for large
scale emergencies. This was evident in 2005 when Hurricane Wilma
made a direct impact on Broward County and all of South
Florida's resources were stretched to the limit.
The City of
Hollywood, through comprehensive planning and cooperation, was able to
handle the emergency response to Wilma with such efficiency that
Hollywood was praised by numerous government agencies, news agencies,
and most importantly the citizens of Hollywood and the surrounding
areas.
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Because of the efficiency of the Hollywood response, FEMA
(the Federal Emergency Management Association) and several other governmental and private agencies choose Hollywood
for their distribution of services. The result was that residents
from across South Florida were able to obtain emergency food, ice,
water, roof tarps, and financial assistance with relative ease.
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During the days immediately after the hurricane, the Oakwood Plaza
distribution site for emergency food,
water, and ice was able to distribute supplies so quickly, that each vehicle
was stocked in an average time of 10 seconds. This distribution site serviced literally hundreds of
thousands of individuals in the days and weeks after the storm.
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The Millennium Mall
at US 441 & Hollywood Blvd. was also used in the weeks after Hurricane Wilma to allow citizens to
apply for and obtain emergency food debit cards. This site also
serviced thousands of South Florida residents who were in need of
assistance.
The Hollywood Police
Department, Fire Rescue & Beach Safety Department, Public Utilities
Department & Public Works Department were on alert before, during and
after Hurricane Wilma and the Police Department never stopped
responding to emergencies, even during the storm. All of these
city departments had city employees on the road within an hour of the
storm-force winds subsiding. Public Works' crews were
immediately in the field clearing debris from major roadways, Public
Utilities' crews were immediately working on restoring drinkable water
to residents (the City of Hollywood was the first city in the area
to lift their boil water alert), and Fire Rescue & Beach Safety
personnel were immediately responding to emergencies and assisting
Public Works with debris removal. Hollywood Police Officers were
mobilized and there were Police Officers manning major intersections
during high-traffic times, Officers directing and assisting the FEMA
emergency food/water/ice point of distribution, Officers checking on
the residents of assisted living facilities, Officers checking all of
the City's mobile home parks, and numerous Officers patrolling the
City for high
visibility.
Hollywood's Chain of Authority
Although the response
to any emergency or disaster is a cooperative effort of all city
departments along with outside agencies, the City of Hollywood
Emergency Operations Center and our response to an incident follows a
basic command structure and is governed by Hollywood City Ordinances
and Florida State Statutes.
The declaration of a State of
Emergency is governed by City Ordinance Title III, Chapter 40.
This ordinance is
available online:
TITLE III: ADMINISTRATION - CHAPTER 40: EMERGENCIES.
ALL City of Hollywood ordinances are
also available online at:
Hollywood Municipal Ordinances.
The head of all emergency operations
within the City of Hollywood is City Manager Cameron Benson. Mr.
Benson has assigned Hollywood Chief of Police Chadwick E. Wagner as the
director of the EOC during activations, and Assistant Police Chief
Chad Wagner is tasked with the management of the Emergency Operations
Center during activations and EOC preparedness when the EOC is not
activated.
In addition, many
City Departments, including the Police Department, maintain their own
Departmental EOC that activates during a City-wide EOC activation. These
Departmental EOCs allow each Department Director to properly manage their
Departmental resources during an incident. This also results in
the City EOC getting accurate and updated information regarding each
Department from a single source; enabling the City Manger to maintain
superior direction and control of all City and outside resources.
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