The Nebraska Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) is part of the Military
Department. The State’s Adjutant General, Brigadier General Judd Lyons, serves as the Director of the Agency as well as the Commanding
Officer of the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard. The three
units comprise the Military Department.
The Agency is located in a bunker built in the 1960’s during the
height of the Cold War. It was intended to serve as Nebraska’s government
headquarters if nuclear confrontation was likely.
The Agency headquarters now serves as the nerve center for emergency management.
NEMA is a small agency with less than 32 full-time and part-time employees.
Day-to-day operations are managed by Al Berndt, Assistant Director.
Emergency management in the United States has been divided into four
phases – preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation. Even with
the emphasis on terrorism since the attack on New York and Washington,
D.C., emergency management's role hasn't changed a great deal.
Nebraska must still deal with a host of hazards, both natural and
man-made.
During the preparedness phase, NEMA monitors the situation across the
state. This is accomplished by utilizing a Duty Officer System; State,
National Weather Service and North American Warning And Alert System (NAWAS);
local emergency management organizations, police and fire departments
across the state and the general public.
A member of NEMA serves as the Duty Officer (DO) on a rotational basis.
A back-up DO and a supervisor support the DO and all three carry pagers
and cell phones, which can be activated 24 hours a day.
The DO can be paged for a host of incidents in addition to severe weather
such as tornadoes, floods and blizzards. A terrorist attack, while no
doubt devastating, would be handled in the same manner as a tornado strike
or flood.
During the Preparedness Phase, the Agency coordinates the state Radiological
Emergency Preparedness Program (REP), which develops emergency plans for
the two nuclear power plants – Cooper and Ft. Calhoun Nuclear Stations.
The Agency also monitors low-level and high-level radiological material
shipments, which traverse the state by highway and railway. Any abnormality
can trigger a page of the DO and alert the rest of Nebraska government.
NEMA conducts an extensive training program for emergency managers and
first responders, such as police, fire and emergency medical personnel. The
training classes cover a wide range of topics, including counter terrorism,
hazardous materials, radiological emergency, public information and incident
management. The classes, schedules and other information can be obtained
at the Training icon on our home page.
An important part of preparedness is the development of state and local
emergency operations plans, which NEMA coordinates. The Agency has also
developed an emergency operations exercise program that assists local
jurisdictions in exercising their emergency plans.
Each year, once in the spring and again in the fall, the Agency conducts
public awareness campaigns. The Severe Weather Awareness Campaign tests
the state’s emergency systems in advance of the spring thunderstorm
season and the Winter Weather Awareness Campaign does the same before
winter. Both are sponsored by NEMA and the NWS.
In the event of an emergency anywhere in the state, the local jurisdictions
are responsible for first response to the emergency. If local resources
are inadequate to deal with the situation, the local political leader
declares an emergency and requests state assistance.
Normally, the Agency would be aware of the developing situation and would
have alerted the Governor’s Office and other state agencies. The
Agency could have also activated the state’s Emergency Operations
Center (EOC) located in the Agency headquarters, situated in the underground
bunker. The EOC becomes the center for any state response. Depending
upon the nature of the emergency, state teams can be dispatched to the
disaster area.
If deemed necessary the Federal Emergency Management Agency’ s (FEMA)
Region VII office, which is located in Kansas City, can be alerted. They,
in turn, can notify FEMA National in Washington, D.C.
Upon the advice of the Agency Director, the Governor can proclaim a state
emergency and sign a declaration. This declaration formalizes the state
response and places all the state’s resources at the disposal of
the Adjutant General. This can involve the National Guard, State Patrol,
Department of Roads, Game and Parks Commission, Department on Aging, Health
and Human Resources or any other agency that can be of assistance.
The formal declaration process also allows the Adjutant General to use
money in the Governor’s Emergency Fund to pay for the disaster costs.
This fund, which was created and is maintained by the Legislature, usually
is kept at around $1 million.
If the Governor determines state resources are not sufficient to deal
with the emergency, a federal disaster declaration can be requested. The
issuance of a Presidential Disaster Declaration means all the resources
of the federal government can be brought to bear on the emergency.
Under a Presidential Disaster Declaration, NEMA and FEMA jointly coordinate
state and federal activities in a Disaster Field Office. The two disburse
recovery funds for two types of federal disasters. A Presidential Disaster
Declaration can be for public assistance, individual assistance or both.
Public Assistance (PA) is used to help local and state governments recover
their disaster expenses. PA is used to pay for roads, bridges, public
buildings and other facilities damaged in the disaster and to pay for
costs such as the National Guard, police, fire and public works employee
salaries and other costs. Normally, the Federal Government pays 75 percent
of all eligible public costs. Traditionally, the state and local governments
equally split the remaining 25 percent.
Individual Assistance (IA) is provided to the survivors of the disaster.
IA can come in the form of low interest loans both to families and businesses,
or individual family grants up to $15,000 to pay for losses to families or
businesses that are not eligible for loans.
Following a federally-declared disaster, the state receives funding assistance
for hazard mitigation. This can amount to substantial sums of money, because
15 percent of the total federal share of the disaster is earmarked for
mitigation. Hazard mitigation is designed to lessen or mitigate the impacts
of future disasters.
For example, hazard mitigation for flooding might mean the buyout of
flood-prone structures in the disaster area, or it might involve raising
structures above the 100-year flood level. In the case of tornadoes, mitigation
might involve better warning systems or structural improvements. The state
and federal governments must agree to whatever mitigation projects that
are designed.
Under state law, all local jurisdictions are responsible for initial
response to a disaster. State law also mandates that each local government
shall participate in a full-time emergency management program. Some have
opted to participate in regional organizations.
These local emergency management jurisdictions are responsible to the
city, county or both. The state agency has no supervisory role over local
jurisdictions.
For a map of emergency management jurisdictions in the state of Nebraska, Click Here.
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