Jefferson County EMA credits IT/GIS staff for interactive storm-shelter map and incident dashboard

Jefferson County’s Emergency Management Agency (EMA) publicly recognized IT and GIS staff for creating an interactive storm-shelter map for the county website and an incident dashboard the agency repurposed from the World Police & Fire Games. EMA Director Jim Coker told the commission that the interactive map shows locations of community storm shelters and indicates whether they are open, a feature intended to improve public access during severe-weather events. April (IT/GIS analyst) and Ed Jones were singled out for the dashboard, which tracked roughly 34 venues and more than 60 events in real time during the games; the EMA plans to convert that dashboard into an ongoing tool for damage reports, road closures and other incident tracking. Coker said EMA has eight staff and depends on partnerships across county departments. He also told the commission the dashboard has drawn attention from other counties and will be used by Perth, Australia, for their 2027 games. Commissioners thanked the staff; the presentation was framed as recognition rather than a request for specific budget action.