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Goochland board adopts updated Emergency Operations Plan with expanded communication and damage-assessment tools
Summary
The board unanimously adopted the countys 2025 Emergency Operations Plan after Emergency Management Coordinator Robin Hillman described updates including lessons from recent storms, integration of a mass-notification system, clarified public information roles, and a state-required damage-assessment tool.
Emergency Management Coordinator Robin Hillman presented Goochland Countys updated Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) and the Board of Supervisors adopted the 2025 edition during the March 4 meeting.
Hillman said the EOP is required to be adopted every four years and is maintained as a living document. "The key drivers that went into changing our EOP this year included adding additional capabilities that we have since the last time that we adopted it, looking at real events and the lessons that we learned, particularly Hurricane Debbie, Hurricane Helena, and the winter storm that we just experienced with the public water issue," she said.
Major changes Hillman described include clarifying public information officer roles and joint information center procedures, documenting use of a mass-notification tool used by the county for years (CodeRED), incorporating a state-required damage-assessment tool for FEMA reporting, updating FEMA flood maps and county data, and validating procedures through recent exercises (shelter, family reunification, and a regional radiological exercise).
Hillman said the next steps after board approval are to collect required signatures and publish the adopted documents on the countys emergency-management website for public access.
The board moved and adopted the resolution to approve the plan; members commended staff for work on exercises and for deploying personnel to assist other jurisdictions after recent hurricanes.
Next steps: Hillman will obtain the signatures needed for publication, post the EOP and related annexes online, and continue regular training and annual maintenance of the plan.
