County leaders look at adapting to ever- changing disaster risks

As both a county judge-executive and the executive director of the Kentucky Association of Counties, Jim Henderson has seen natural disasters change in size and frequency, but the importance of strong and competent local leadership remains consistently important. 

“How a county official responds or handles one of these situations can be career-making or ending,” he said Jan. 8 during a forum on county disaster management at NACo’s Washington, D.C. office. “If you don’t handle it well, it can be the end of your time in public service. Or, you do it really well, that could overcome all the things you didn’t do so well.”

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NACo Intergovernmental Disaster Reform Task Force

Henderson is a member of the NACo Intergovernmental Disaster Reform Task Force, a group of county officials and staff aiming to strengthen disaster mitigation, response and recovery capabilities. The forum was held as a kickoff for the annual meeting of state association presidents and directors in Washington. 

“There’s a very significant federal component to that, that needs to change, and if it doesn’t, what’s happening on the ground is going to get more and more challenging year by year,” said Graham Knauss, executive director of the California State Association of Counties. “The current system of county, state, federal is not equipped to do that in the way that we need it to be as we look ahead.”

Recognizing that some of their members might not have the resources to do much preparation on their own, the Kentucky Association of Counties employs an emergency management liaison to help assist counties with emergency planning and state and federal relations.

“The primary focus of this person is not to replace the local emergency management director or the work they do, but to help teach, coach or assist county officials,” Henderson said. “An emergency management director may not think about it, but their role is leadership development, communications, part public relations and it’s still evolving. I do think there are things that county associations can do to help better get county officials better equipped, better prepared.” It’s crucial, he added, that an association focus on supporting and supplementing local emergency management officials and that state associations serve as a resource for their members. 

Hawaii County, Hawaii Councilmember Heather Kimball , president of the Hawaii Association of Counties, said that her county reinforces its communications capabilities with non-internet based redundant systems, including radio, television and ham radio and emphasizes decentralized resources. 

“We are supporting community associations, door-to-door networks,” she said, then pivoting to community-based resilience hubs. “They have food resources, they have ham radios, we’re making sure they all have a Starlink [satellite Internet service] they can connect to and generators,” she noted. “We’ve placed these strategically around the island, we’ve supported them fiscally as the county, but they’re really community driven.”

Florida Association of Counties Executive Director Ginger Delegal said that even if state associations lack robust staff, they could play a critical role in helping counties manage disasters, serving as de facto directory assistance.

“It’s about making connections among those people where connections need to be made in the moment,” she said. “You know who they are, you have their cell phone numbers. Use them, because when communications go down, we [have] cell phone numbers for county engineers that were related to people who were in that county,” she said. “No matter how large or small your state association is, you can do this in this space even without the technical expertise; you can really be helpful in connecting each of these levels of government together.”

Kimball suggested that counties with military installations work with the Department of Defense to address resiliency needs near those installations.

“They are one of the most advanced [entities] in preparing for different disaster events because they are interested in protecting national security and protecting that infrastructure,” she said.

A recent North Carolina Association of County Commissioners initiative, 100 Counties Prepared, offers a certificate program in partnership with the state Department of Emergency Management. The program offers trainings for county commissioners and managers twice a year. It was the brainchild of another task force member, Brunswick County, N.C. Commissioner Frank Williams.

Delegal said the years since Hurricane Andrew devastated Florida in 1993 have shown an adaptation that is apparent when an onlooker can contrast building styles and codes in play when houses are rebuilt following disasters, and counties can glean progress from those disasters by improving their responses and protocols and hardening their communities against further devastation.

“Building back bigger stronger and better absolutely does exist as an opportunity,” she said. 

And the execution of sound management can pay off with stronger relationships between the county and the public.

“There is a great opportunity for trust, not only in the intergovernmental space, but also with your communities,” she said, noting that counties can build that trust by “having your communities see what it is you do at the county level and really when you shine.”