Hawaii County Emergency Operations Plan

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Disasters,both man-made and natural,have inflicted significant loss of property and resulted in deaths and injury in the County of Hawai'i in the past, and with our continuing growth and development, can be expected to pose even greater threats to the safety and welfare of our people in the future. In the State of Hawai'i,preparedness planning is the responsibility of both government and individuals alike. Hawai'i County is continually reassessing its internal capabilities in an attempt to become more responsive to its citizens' emergency management needs and to simplify and integrate response plans without sacrificing program integrity. The most effective way to do this is to focus increases emphasis on developing the common and unique capabilities required to perform specific functions across the full spectrum of hazards,rather than focusing on the requirements of specific hazards. The approach the County is taking to accomplish this is through application of the National Incident Management System(NIMS), and supported by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The goal of this system is to develop and maintain a credible emergency management capability by integrating activities along functional lines and to the fullest extent possible, across all hazards. Accordingly,this County of Hawai'i Emergency Operations Plan,2011,has been developed and distributed by the Hawai'i County Civil Defense Agency. Its purpose is to provide County departments and agencies, with the basis for their internal disaster preparedness programs, addressing disaster mitigation,preparedness,response and recovery. This plan is an all hazards plan and is designed to give guidance to emergency managers in their efforts to minimize the impact of disasters, as well as to cope with every possible type of hazard—natural, technological, and intentional. This County plan identifies the governmental agencies and private organizations involved in emergency management, establishes relationships, fixes responsibility and accountability, and sets forth actions to be taken in conformance with the policies and programs set forth in the State of Hawai'i Catastrophic All-Hazards Concept Plan. All County departments and agencies are responsible for developing and maintaining supporting disaster response plans, standard operating guidelines (SOG), and/or checklists in consonance with this plan. State district and branch offices have a dual responsibility. Their disaster response efforts will be as outlined by their parent department and agencies, as well as in consonance with this plan. Legal authority for the actions required by this Plan is contained in the Hawai'i Revised Statutes, Chapters 121 through 130,the Charter of the County of Hawai'i, and other State and County Directives as delineated in the Base portion of this Plan.