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San Antonio emergency management begins new three-year THIRA/Stakeholder assessment; FEMA grant alignment outlined
Summary
The city's emergency management office briefed the Public Safety Committee on the start of a new three-year Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA) and annual Stakeholder Preparedness Review (SPR), describing regional collaboration, grant ties and a schedule for submission to FEMA.
San Antonio's Office of Emergency Management told the Public Safety Committee it has started a new three-year Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA) cycle and related Stakeholder Preparedness Review (SPR), activities staff said underpin grant applications and regional preparedness planning.
Deputy Chief Brian O'Neil, the city's emergency management coordinator, described THIRA as a regional process conducted through the Alamo Area Council of Governments that identifies likely hazards, models scenarios, evaluates cascading effects on vulnerable populations and assesses response and recovery capabilities. "THIRA tells us what could happen while SPR tells us how ready we are if it does," he said.
Why it matters
O'Neil said the THIRA/SPR results inform federal grant applications such as the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) and State Homeland Security Program (SHSP), and help the city prioritize equipment, training and capability development that may be shared regionally. He cited past purchases that the regional process supported, including interoperable command vehicles and credentialing systems.
Timeline and stakeholder participation
Staff described a schedule of capability-focused workshops already held and planned: the region has workshops covering prevention, protection, mitigation, response and recovery; staff said the response workshop is scheduled for Oct. 29 and the recovery workshop for Nov. 19, and that the completed THIRA must be submitted to FEMA by Dec. 31. Participants include fire, police, EMS, emergency managers across 13 counties in the Alamo Area COG, volunteer organizations active in disasters, universities and other municipal stakeholders. O'Neil said the SPR is annual while THIRA is updated every three years.
Funding and interlocal coordination
Committee members asked whether the assessment affects mutual-aid or interlocal agreements and how grant awards translate to general-fund spending. O'Neil said THIRA/SPR supports regional mutual-aid planning and helps justify equipment purchases via federal grants; he added that if gaps are identified that require ongoing local funding, those requirements would be addressed through the city's budget process.
Ending: Staff said they will finalize THIRA and SPR inputs, submit the THIRA to FEMA by year-end and return to the committee with findings. Council members requested a follow-up presentation that lists participating stakeholders and civilian organizations included in the assessment.
