MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) has been demobilized, as it is no longer needed while recovery and emergency repairs from the recent winter storms continue.
The EOC was active for 40 days and was the heart of emergency operations during the storms, coordinating emergency and community response with partner agencies at the local, state and federal level, as well as cities, law enforcement and nonprofit organizations.
Last year’s weather emergency began on Dec. 26, and the Center was activated shortly after.
During the most severe impacts of the storms, the EOC had more than 200 people working on disaster response at its physical location at the Department of Emergency Management office in Salinas, as well as hundreds of people in the field helping with shelter operations, evacuations, flood fighting, road surveillance, cleanup and other critical tasks.
“A huge thank you to the dozens of workers, volunteers and partner agencies who worked around the clock to safeguard our communities,” the County stated in a news release Feb. 15.
The County’s Department of Emergency Management will give an update on the work of the EOC to the Board of Supervisors on March 7, and the community is invited to listen and participate.
“Our winter weather is not over, and the County of Monterey remains prepared and ready to remobilize emergency efforts should another crisis arise,” the County said.
For residents impacted by this crisis, help is still available.
The FEMA Disaster Recovery Center is open at 1441 Schilling Place in Salinas. The Department of Emergency Management’s Virtual Local Assistance Center, which offers extensive information and sources for recovery and eligibility for economic assistance, is always open at www.co.monterey.ca.us/winterstormsVirtualLAC.
