Sedgwick County emergency staff brief Wichita council on EOC roles, recovery planning

Sedgwick County emergency management officials on Tuesday briefed Wichita city leaders on how the county and city would activate and staff the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), who would make decisions during a crisis and how long-term recovery would be organized.

Julie Stimpson, Sedgwick County Emergency Management director, and Brian Ellis, operations manager, led a tabletop scenario focused on recovery rather than first-response tactics. Stimpson recounted the 04/29/2022 tornado and said local donors raised more than $900,000 to help residents and businesses recover — an outcome she used to underscore how high federal-assistance thresholds can force communities to rely on local resources. "I like to call recovery as the forgotten phase of disasters," Stimpson said, urging elected officials to prepare for weeks or months of recovery work.

Ellis described what a full…