Emergency management reports three flood declarations, readies incident command and World Cup planning

Michelle Weiss, director of Saline County Emergency Management, gave the board a third‑quarter briefing covering weather‑related disasters, equipment readiness and upcoming exercises.

Weiss said the county experienced three flooding disaster events in the quarter; two of those declarations were forwarded to the state and the county is in a damage assessment process with state staff. She said a mobile incident command post is nearly complete and being evaluated for radio and dispatch integration; staff discussed potential use at large events such as the Crossroads Marathon.

Weiss told commissioners the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state have signaled that Kansas could experience multi‑week impacts from the 2026 FIFA World Cup because Kansas City is a host site. She said planning with the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) is underway and will include exercises; outreach will address lodging, public health and cultural impacts of international visitors. Weiss said the LEPC will hold a joint information center exercise in December and a medical surge exercise in February; the state will confirm host country allocations in mid‑December, which will guide more specific planning.

Weiss also described local preparedness work: an active‑shooter tabletop at Kansas Wesleyan, an active‑shooter drill at Central Kansas Mental Health, and a business‑continuity workshop. She reported quarter figures for emergency response activity: roughly 25 injury accidents, about 74 fire calls and about 105 medical calls during the quarter. Weiss also noted that Rural Fire District 1 was recently awarded a FEMA grant and that preliminary work on fire apparatus and district purchases is ongoing.

No formal commission action was required; the presentation was informational.