Emergency officials ready in case they’re needed

Johnny Cavazos sleeps with a pen and note pad next to his bed.

He sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night remembering that he needs to ask somebody for an emergency contact telephone number and wants to jot it down so he doesn’t forget.

As emergency management coordinator for Cameron County, Cavazos must ensure the county is ready for any catastrophic event, including hurricanes.

“I think about this 24 hours a day,” said Cavazos, who was appointed to the position earlier this year by Cameron County Judge Carlos H. Cascos. “I think about making sure that no one from this county dies, and I will take that personally if someone in this county dies because they didn’t heed our warnings or we were unable to get to them.”

Three days into the 2007 hurricane season, Cavazos continues to review the county’s evacuation plans should the area need to be evacuated. The evacuation call would be made by Cascos, and it is Cavazos’ job that he provides the judge with accurate and up-to-date information in order for the judge to make the decision that would affect thousands of residents.

“If he evacuates too early or not soon enough then there is consequences. It is my job to provide him the best information ... so he can make the right decision because all eyes are going to be on him,” Cavazos said.

As soon as a storm appears to be entering the Gulf of Mexico, the county’s Emergency Operations Center goes into action. The center, located in the exhibit room at the historic Dancy Building, will serve as a temporary home for some 40 representatives of state, federal and county law enforcement officials, as well as key county employees.

It will also be the home of immediate family members of key county officials who will be staying at the EOC around the clock to wait out the storm.

And though the county’s EOC will be located a few blocks away from the city of Brownsville’s command center, the two will remain in communication via two-way radios, telephones and wireless phones.

Cavazos knows that getting people to evacuate won’t be easy. There are many people he has talked to who have said if they survived the wrath of Hurricane Beulah in 1967, they can survive any storm.

Hurricane Beulah struck Brownsville in September 1967, killing 13 and causing $150 millions in damage.

What people don’t realize, Cavazos said is that today’s storms are more powerful and dangerous.

“I’m not here to scare people. ... My job is not to cause panic,” he said. “My job is to let you know what the consequences are” if the warnings are not heeded.

The same goes for Jeff Johnston, who has served as emergency management coordinator for the city of Brownsville since 2001.

Johnston had applied and was then appointed to the position by former Brownsville Police Chief Ben Reyna.

In past years, the police chief had served as the city’s emergency management coordinator, but because of the city’s growth and increased duties, the emergency management coordinator position was created.

Johnston applied for the job because he wanted a position where he would not be sitting doing nothing.

“I was looking forward to being active,” said Johntson, who has an extensive background in emergency management.

Like Cavazos, Johnston keeps watch over the gulf during hurricane season and in close contact with officials at the National Weather Service in Brownsville.

“I know most of the forecasters on a first-name basis,” Johnston said.

During hurricane season, Johnston talks to state officials on a weekly basis, and when there is something in the gulf, he talks to them several times during the day.

When the storm is two to three days out, the city’s emergency management center is set up inside the police department.

Johnston, who is married and has five children, said as soon as he knows a storm is approaching, he sends his wife and children packing.

They head to Central Texas, where they stay with relatives. With his family out of harm’s way, Johnston only has to worry about the city’s 165,000-plus residents and how to ensure they are safe.

In fact, the family’s hurricane supply kit is ready at the beginning of hurricane season, so all they have to do is put it in the car.

If there’s a possibility that a hurricane can strike the city, Mayor Eddie Treviño Jr. and City Manager Charlie Cabler are the first individuals Johnston notifies.

It is information that Treviño relied on twice in 2005 when he asked residents to voluntarily leave the city after it was thought that hurricanes Emily and Rita would have direct impacts on the city in July and September of 2005.

Treviño said asking residents to leave their homes is not an easy decision to make and that many residents don’t leave because they don’t have the means to.

“Many people are not in the position to leave for a few days. ... Economically, it’s a concern for them,” Treviño said.

Because of hard lessons learned from hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, Johnston believes some residents may decide to leave on their own before the mayor ordering an evacuation.

About 1,100 people were killed during Hurricane Katrina and about 100 in Hurricane Rita.

More than 3.7 million Texans evacuated during Hurricane Rita. About 90 percent of residents in southeast Louisiana were evacuated during Hurricane Katrina.

“Hurricane Katrina was a storm that caught our attention and showed they are a real threat,” he said. “People realized that a hurricane can change your life forever.”