Emergency Management Department

MISSION

Ensure that DeSoto County is Prepared to Respond to emergencies, Recovery from them and Mitigate their impact.

MOTTO

"Better Today than Yesterday Better Tomorrow than Today."

WHO WE ARE

Safeguarding the life and property of its citizens is an innate responsibility of the governing body of each political subdivision of this state. According to law, each county must establish and maintain an emergency management agency within the scope of Chapter 252 of the Florida Statues. In 1976 DeSoto County established an agency for this purpose and today we are known as DeSoto County Emergency Management.

The Staff of Emergency Management is responsible for developing and coordinating programs that protect the public's health and safety from large scale natural and technological hazards. We serve the entire DeSoto County area and coordinate with respective municipal, state and federal agencies.
During an actual or threatening large-scale emergency, our Emergency Operations Center (EOC) will be activated. The EOC serves as a focal point in facilitating the coordination of emergency response agencies, emergency relief organizations, county departments, municipalities, media and other essential entities.

What we do

•  Monitor weather conditions
•  Develop emergency response plans and guidelines
•  Provide mutual aid assistance to surrounding areas
•  Comply with State and Federal emergency management requirements and standards
•  Annual review of Residential Health Care Facilities Emergency Plans
•  Determine local resources and public shelter space
•  Local Mitigation

We serve you by providing

•  Information on natural and technological Hazards that may affect you, your home or business
•  Advice on how to protect yourself, your family and your home or business
•  Technical assistance in development of emergency plans for public agencies & private sector
•  Guest speaker at your group/organization meeting
•  A tour of the DeSoto County EOC for your group or organization
•  Information on how you can support your community in an emergency/disaster
•  Information on emergency preparedness training opportunities
•  Information on emergency volunteer opportunities

Additional Department Pages

• DeSoto County Evacuation Routes
• Links of Interest
• Local Mitigation Strategy
• Real Time Weather Station- DeSoto EOC
• Shelters
• Special Needs
• Staff
• Water Levels