About Us

Mitigation is any action that prevents an emergency from occurring or reduces its impact on people, property, and the environment. Mitigation efforts include adopting and enforcing building codes, land use planning, training and educating the public on the need for mitigation, and implementing structural and non-structural safety measures.

Mitigation activities may be undertaken before or after a hazard event. Pre-event mitigation activities are highly desirable since making mitigation decisions in the period immediately following a hazard event is often difficult. If implemented soon enough, mitigation activities can reduce the damage caused by the next event. Also worth noting, mitigation can break the cycle of repeated destruction resulting from hazard events.

Waukesha County's Office of Emergency Management's role during the Mitigation Phase entails: 

• Preparing & updating the County's Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP).
• Coordinating the activities of all departments within the County organization during an emergency or disaster, serving as a conduit of information, and ensuring the most efficient use of resources. 
• Establishing, equipping, and maintaining procedures for activating, operating, and deactivating the County Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
• Maintaining the County's Hazard Mitigation Plan, including the County's Hazard Assessment and potential mitigation strategies applicable to identified hazards. 
• Providing public outreach projects encouraging citizens to prepare for disasters.
• Distributing emergency preparedness information through radio and TV interviews, the County's website, newspaper articles, cable access TV channels, brochures, and presentations to community groups. 
• Encouraging businesses to develop their emergency and business continuity plans.
• Managing the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA) (hazardous materials) prevention program including identification of hazardous materials sites, assessment of vulnerability zones, encouraging facility emergency plans, warning, etc. 

Preparedness activities consist of almost any pre-emergency actions that will improve the safety or effectiveness of emergency response. Preparedness activities have the potential to save lives, lessen property damage, and increase individual and community control over the subsequent emergency response.

Waukesha County's Office of Emergency Management's role during the Preparedness Phase entails:

• Developing and maintaining emergency plans and procedures.
• Encouraging critical facilities (hospitals, schools, nursing homes, utilities) to develop and maintain response and recovery plans.
• Conducting trainings & exercises for county & municipal governments, and other partners.
• Testing warning, emergency communication, and public information systems. 
• Conducting outreach activities and public information and education.
• Promoting public awareness programs, including, but not limited to:
  • Winter Awareness
  • Heat Awareness
  • Tornado Awareness
  • Hazardous Materials Awareness
  • Flood Awareness
  • Family Preparedness
• Ensuring the County's Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is in a state of readiness.  
• Coordinating with local, state, federal, and private entities.

Response is the use of resources to address the immediate and short-term effects of an emergency. Emergency response efforts can minimize suffering, loss of life, and property damage, as well as maintain or hasten the restoration of essential government services. Waukesha County's Office of Emergency Management's role during the Response phase entails:

• Activating and managing the Waukesha County Emergency Operations Center (EOC). 
• Supporting municipalities during response operations, when requested. 
• Coordinating with local, state, federal, and private entities. 

Recovery activities return Waukesha County to a pre-emergency state. Examples of recovery efforts include conducting detailed damage assessments, removing debris, restoring essential services, critical facilities, and infrastructure, rebuilding homes, and providing assistance to businesses. 

The Recovery Phase begins before disasters strike. Preparedness activities such as planning, capability building, exercising, and establishing tools and metrics to evaluate progress and success; mitigation planning and actions; economic development planning, and vital partnership building all contribute to the County's resilience. Post-disaster recovery activities begin in the early stages of the response operations and may last for years. 

The Recovery Phase is best described as a sequence of interdependent and often concurrent activities that progressively advance a community toward a successful recovery. Recovery follows a phased approach including three general phases of: 

• Short-term recovery (days-weeks) - After initial emergency actions slow down, the focus turns to stabilizing the situation, which involves managing immediate impacts to set the stage for recovery. Different aspects of a community may recover at different speeds, so it's normal for response, stabilization, and recovery efforts to happen all at once. These efforts ensure that things can start returning to normal as soon as possible.
• Intermediate recovery (weeks-months) - Activities involve returning individuals and families, critical infrastructure, and essential government or commercial services back to a functional, if not pre-disaster state. Those temporary actions and activities provide a bridge to permanent measures.
• Long-term recovery (months-years) - Following the intermediate recovery phase, long-term recovery involves fully rebuilding and revitalizing damaged areas. This includes reconstructing or relocating community elements like homes, businesses, and natural areas, aligning with a long-term recovery plan. The goal is for the affected community to become self-sufficient, sustainable, and resilient. Depending on the disaster's severity and resource availability, these activities can take months or even years to complete.

Waukesha County's Office of Emergency Management's role during the Recovery Phase entails: 

• Facilitating business continuity for county departments.
• Assisting county and municipal governments with Presidential Disaster Declarations. 
• Coordinating with local, state, federal, and private entities.