Our Mission:

The McIntosh County Office of Emergency Management is dedicated to protecting and serving the citizens of McIntosh County and the surrounding communities.

This is accomplished by;

1. Maintaining a strong severe weather program, which includes;

a. A large well trained force of weather spotters.

b. An effective weather warning system within the county.

c. An ongoing weather awareness education program for citizens of the community.

2. Providing continuing education for Volunteers and Emergency Management personnel.

3. Providing safety information about disasters to the communities and businesses.

4. Support all other emergency service agencies, within McIntosh County and the surrounding communities.

5. Control and maintain a emergency communications system, for all emergency services.

The McIntosh County Emergency Operations Center ( EOC) is activated during any and all emergencies within the County. We activate the EOC as soon as a severe weather statement is received which effects the citizens of the County. Severe weather statements are passed along to all agencies in the county as soon as they are received. We maintain watch over the weather until there is no further threat the any community in the County. We work on only one analog radio frequency, it is, 153.905, 153.905 being the primary frequency used by the local spotters. Soon we will have another Ham Frequency.

We also have a system provided, at no cost the public or the County, by the University of Oklahoma at Norman, called the OK-First Program. This system allows us to receive the Nexrad Radar images from the National Weather Service. It allows us to track a severe storm and place spotters in the best location to spot tornadoes which may form. The system also provides us with a large amount of information other than severe weather, daily weather updates, weather trends, river forecasts, access the Oklahoma Mesonet system used for daily weather monitoring, and access the Oklahoma Fire Danger Model and map. This system was developed by Dr. Kenneth Crawford and his staff at the Oklahoma Climatological Survey, at the University of Oklahoma.

All of the Storm Spotters of McIntosh County are trained by the National Weather Service, Tulsa, formally on an annual basis and informally by the EOC staff on a regular schedule. The National Weather Service, Tulsa is a valued partner and provides McIntosh County with priceless information about severe weather though out the year, the support is provided with the cooperation of, Ed Calanese , Severe Weather Coordinator, Tulsa NWS, and the Tulsa NWS Supervising Meteorologist Steven Piltz. Without their help our weather spotting program would be sadly lacking.

Throughout the year the Emergency Management staff conducts a number of classes throughout the County. These include weather awareness, hazardous chemical awareness, radio procedures, fire extinguisher use, and disaster preparedness.

Many articles on safety are published throughout the year thanks to our in the local newspapers. Additionally, we maintain a close relationship with the local radio station, KFOX 102.5 FM, who is a vital link in our warning system. Remember, when severe weather threatens, stay tuned to your local radio station for the most up-to-the-minute live weather information.

The McIntosh County office of Emergency Management is now accredited for the Tulsa National Weather Service office, Storm Ready Project. Also we have recently become a Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador.

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