Posted: 15-MAY-14

The City of Sugar Land and the Texas State Guard will hold a full-scale hurricane exercise May 30 through June 1.

Areas of focus will include mass sheltering, evacuation and hazmat response. Exercise participants will work through scenarios that focus on the following objectives:

Resource Coordination: determine strengths and weaknesses in the current plan governing on-scene command and control, emergency operations center operations and coordination of response resources.

Access Control: review plans for area perimeter control, staging and incident command post security.

Sheltering and Housing of Pets: ensure the safety of people and animals.

Hazmat Response: Identify and contain chemical release and ensure the safety of surrounding communities.

The Texas State Guard will provide the necessary manpower to create a realistic shelter operation at Wheeler Fieldhouse in Mercer Stadium, 16403 Lexington Blvd. Partners supporting the exercise include Fort Bend ISD, City of Stafford Emergency Management, Fort Bend County Red Cross and Brazos River Authority.

The exercise will result in a large presence of military personnel and equipment, as well as radio traffic simulating a disaster response.

The purpose of the exercise is to provide participants with an opportunity to evaluate current response concepts, plans and capabilities. The exercise will focus on local emergency responder command and control coordination, critical decisions, notifications and integration of state and federal assets necessary to save lives and protect public health and safety.

http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/fort_bend/news/city-of-sugar-land-and-state-guard-conducting-hurricane-exercise/article_5bcfbd88-e460-538d-a0f7-9e6c26586a13.html