Richmond emergency managers outline Hagerty-driven reforms, pledge upgrades to planning, staffing and communications

Richmond emergency management officials told the Public Safety Standing Committee that they have accepted all recommendations from an outside incident assessment and are moving to update emergency plans, expand continuity-of-operations work and broaden public alerting ahead of the height of hurricane season.

At the meeting, Stephen Willoughby, director of emergency communications, preparedness and response for the city of Richmond, and Paul Hundley, an emergency planner with the Department of Social Services assigned to the Office of Emergency Management, described steps the city will take to implement Hagerty’s findings and to improve tools such as Richmond Ready and WebEOC. Council members pressed staff about communication failures and the city’s staffing and operational readiness following the January water incident.

The committee heard an overview of preparedness work tied to the 2025 hurricane forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a review of specific implementation steps recommended by Hagerty. Willoughby said the city "has accepted all of Hagerty's recommendations, and we plan on implementing them all," and outlined a multi‑year program of updates that includes an integrated preparedness plan, a revised emergency operations plan (EOP), a resource‑management plan, a point‑of‑distribution (POD) plan, a crisis communications plan and a volunteer/donations plan.

Why it matters: Committee members said shortcomings identified in Hagerty’s assessment contributed to delayed or inconsistent communications with council and residents during the January event. Willoughby and Hundley described operational changes the office is beginning to implement and said they will post recommendations and quarterly progress updates on the city website.

Most urgent changes and timelines - The integrated preparedness planning effort will begin in the next 30–45 days, Willoughby said; a full EOP revision is expected to be an 18‑month effort. Willoughby said the office is issuing interim EOP amendments to address high‑priority gaps identified by Hagerty. - The continuity‑of‑operations work will be retooled to follow FEMA standards rather than the prior, shorter templates; Hundley said the city is "just now beginning" and expressed a goal of reaching about 60% completion for prioritized agencies within a year. - The city has moved to Everbridge as the backbone of Richmond Ready and says it can now geofence alerts and send Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) when federal criteria are met. Willoughby said the city will increase Richmond Ready enrollments each quarter and is adding outreach channels (billboards, civic associations, district meetings and paper‑based enrollment options for residents without smartphones).

Operational and resource gaps discussed Committee members asked why the city’s incident response at times lacked a consistent "battle rhythm" and why the emergency operations center (EOC) remains located in a library basement rather than in a permanent, stand‑alone EOC. Willoughby confirmed the current EOC requires equipment setup and said the city has repeatedly recommended a permanent EOC for a jurisdiction of Richmond’s size.

Officials said the Office of Emergency Management has increased staffing and budget since 2024. Willoughby said the office expanded from two employees and a modest budget to five staff in the current fiscal year and that comparable cities typically staff emergency management with seven to ten people. He said a combination of general‑fund staffing and consultants has been used to accelerate plan development because the office was previously undersized.

Communications and alerting Willoughby and the communications staff described Richmond Ready as the city’s mass‑notification platform and explained differences between Richmond Ready (opt‑in) and WEA (federally governed, broadcasts to all cell phones in a geo‑fenced area). He said Richmond Ready was used to issue the May boil‑water advisory and that he has directed that future boil‑water advisories go out via WEA when that meets federal criteria. Willoughby said the city has about 8,000 Richmond Ready subscribers after recent outreach.

Councillors' concerns and requests Several committee members sharply criticized the office’s earlier communications during the January water incident and pressed for measurable deliverables and regular reporting. One committee member told staff, in strongly worded remarks recorded in the meeting, that the office had "failed us" by not notifying council and residents in a timely way. Councilmembers asked staff to return with more district‑level data (for CERT membership and outreach) and asked that officials present another update in September.

Next steps and oversight Willoughby said the city will publish the Hagerty recommendations and provide quarterly progress reports. Committee members requested regular updates, tests of updated plans, clearer metrics for CERT and continuity plans, and a return briefing in September. Willoughby also said that many proposed improvements will require commitments from department leadership and the mayor’s office to ensure operational coordination during incidents.

Ending Committee members did not adopt formal new policy at the meeting but voted to receive the presentation and requested follow‑up briefings and documents, including a district breakdown of CERT volunteers and timelines for continuity plan completion.