Hello Galveston County CERT Family!
September starts with some weather concerns with heavy rains forecast and possible flooding in the coastal areas, so please be weather aware!
August had no named storms which has only happened twice since storms have been receiving names. But one of those years the September month brewed some nasty storms including Carla! Please do not let down your preparations to be ready in case a storm impacts our area.
I wish to thank everyone who came out and helped or helped us prepare for the recent National CERT Association 2022 National Conference that was held in the City of Galveston between August 15th through August 20th! The Conference was a great success because of all our local CERT members coming together to make it run smoothly! If you volunteered and did not get a shirt or challenge coin, please let John Herrmann know so that he can get it to you!
CERT members and Drone Team members were very involved in the recent search for the missing 25-year-old father who drowned off the San Luis Pass on Sunday, August 21, in the late evening. We had CERT members on the Beach looking for the missing man Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. He was recovered on Sunday, August 28th, due north of Jamaica Beach in the intercoastal waterway. We thank all that came out and were involved in this operation. Every time we conduct this type of search, we learn new lessons that allow us to grow as a team and perform at a higher level for the next deployment. This was good training for our Drone Team which is developing a great reputation for helping in our county!
We start this weekend with Operation Safe and Sound on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. I hope that our presence there will prevent the need for another Search and Recovery effort! We will be offering 3 shifts per day, and we will need your participation to make the beaches safe for our visitors. Please follow this link to sign up to prevent a death or injury during the Labor Day weekend. A decision will be made on Friday, around noon, as to whether the operation will be cancelled due to weather, since bad weather will keep many visitors away from the beaches.
We have a CERT Academy that starts in September and will be held at the Bayside Regional Park and Community Center. I challenge you to find friends and family members and have them register to participate in the academy. I want at least 10 more people to take the class and graduate to become new members of Galveston County CERT! Please share this link with as many people as you can and let’s make this academy outstanding for our community! The academy starts September 16th and runs the 2 consecutive weekends.
Our Search and Rescue team will train on Saturday, September 10th, at Jack Brooks Park starting at 8 am. We will be working on our skills and a rescue scenario. I hope that members of our team that are certified as SAR Tech II operators, members who are not certified but want to see if they enjoy the activity, and members of our Drone Team will show up and work together to develop the teamwork that is necessary during a search. Please follow this link to register to participate on September 10th at Jack Brooks Park!
We will have the last CERT Academy at the City Hall offices of Jamaica Beach in October. The academy starts on Friday, October 7th, and runs for 2 consecutive weekends. We need to get people on the west end of the island involved in our efforts and this is where that begins! Please share this link with those on the island and ask them to sign-up and become part of the best CERT team in the State!
Please keep checking our website for information and opportunities to help! Please let John know if you are not receiving the Blackboard Connect emergency messages so that we can investigate and get this corrected. Email John at John.Herrmann@co.galveston.tx.us
Our Meeting in September is at the OEM and will be on September 7th. The meeting in October is on the 5th, and both meetings are at the Galveston County Office of Emergency Management (OEM).
Be prepared and teach others how to be prepared so that they can help themselves and their neighbors!