Nueces County emergency manager asks for one specialist, warns of continuity gaps during hurricane season

Melissa, the county’s emergency management coordinator, told the commissioners the office has two staff and is responsible for all-hazards planning, hazard-mitigation plans, exercises and a large long-term recovery workload from Hurricane Harvey. She asked the court to add one emergency-management specialist and to consider aligning her salary with comparable risk-management positions.

"We are a post disaster jurisdiction," Melissa said, describing the continuing demands produced by Harvey and other incidents. She said the office’s responsibilities include environmental coordination, exercises, training and maintaining plans that must be approved by the state to secure emergency-management grant funding. Melissa contrasted Nueces’ current staffing with Galveston County’s larger office to justify the request.

Commissioners asked about continuity during Melissa’s upcoming leave; she said her due date is August 16 and described plans to request a state Incident Management Team if needed and to mentor her deputy before and during leave. Melissa agreed to prepare an after-action report from the recent full‑scale exercise for the court’s July meeting and to follow up with a more detailed staffing plan.