The El Paso office of the National Weather Service brings local emergency response teams together
The El Paso National Weather Service office held the second ever Integrated Warning Team Workshop at the El Paso Emergency Management headquarters in Northeast El Paso.
The purpose of the workshop was to make sure that all local authorities that deal with emergency response situations were on the same page when it comes to dangerous weather in the Borderland.
“We call this our integrated warning team, my main driver behind this is to get all of our partners involved in the warning process together in one place at the same time,” says Jason Laney, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service.
Representatives from the El Paso Fire Department, City infrastructure, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and many more came together to discuss dangerous weather preparedness and response. The National Weather Service acts as a catalyst for emergency response crews.
“We issue the official warnings, the warning products. Things like that, not just the regular forecast, but something you need to take action on,” says John Fausett, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service.
Since the inaugural Integrated Warning Team Workshop, the El Paso Emergency Management office has notice vast improvements in communication.
“Definitely as of this last year we’ve really standardized a lot of our methods on how we communicate information,” says Jorge Rodriguez, the Emergency Management Coordinator for the city of El Paso.
It is important to note that these improved means of communication mean nothing unless the public follows the advice in the warnings given by the National Weather Service, Emergency Management, or any other official government agency.
Here are a list of agencies to follow for emergency information.
NWS El Paso Twitter: @NWSElPaso
El Paso Office of Emergency Management Twitter: @ElPasoOEM
El Paso Police Department Twitter: @EPPOLICE
TxDOT El Paso Twitter: @txdotelp
NMDOT Twitter: @NMDOT
