Emergency Preparedness

The Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) is responsible for the planning, coordination, and implementation of all emergency management and homeland security related activities for the City of Leander. The Mission of the HSEM is to lessen the loss of life and reduce injuries and property damage during natural or man-made incidents through mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery in accordance with the City of Leander's emergency operations plan.

The HSEM also coordinates the activities for the city's Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The EOC, when activated is a central location where representatives of local government and private sector agencies convene during disaster situations to make decisions, set priorities and coordinate resources for response and recovery. All city OEM activities are focused around the four primary phases of emergency management; Mitigation, Preparedness, Response and Recovery.

• Prevention: Actions taken to avoid an incident or to intervene to stop an incident from occurring in the effort to protect lives and property.
• Preparedness: Activities such as planning, training, public education and outreach to create awareness of potential dangers and increase readiness in our community.
• Response: Use of available resources to meet the needs of the community when disaster strikes. Depending on the severity of the disaster, this can include local, county, State and Federal resources, to include fire and EMS services, public works, and law enforcement.
• Recovery: The long range support of restoring the community to pre-disaster conditions. This phase includes damage assessments to public and private property, as well as social services to assist citizens. The length of the recovery phase depends on the magnitude of the disaster.