The annual emergency preparedness meeting for all UTMB staff was hosted Monday, June 9. The institution’s emergency preparedness officers, Dr. Joan Richardson and Mike Megna, discussed important points related to institutional plans, and representatives from key emergency support areas presented information and updates. Materials from the meeting have now been posted online.
This week, the State of Texas is conducting its annual hurricane and evacuation exercise for the Gulf Coast. UTMB will participate in several activities both in the community and on campus, including assisting and coordinating with City of Galveston and Galveston County efforts. On the afternoon of Wednesday, April 30, UTMB will activate its incident command center and test campus communication systems. The exercise will include review of the planning and decision-making processes that would be used in an evacuation or hurricane situation.
There are no alerts currently posted for UTMB. We are watching weather in the gulf (west of Florida) with the potential for development, but nothing yet.
We’ve been watching a tropical weather system for several days that has now become a little better organized as it approaches the Texas coast south of Galveston Island.
Earlier today, Tropical Depression Nine was upgraded to Tropical Storm Humberto by the National Hurricane Center. At 3 p.m., the center of Tropical Storm Humberto was about 40 miles south of Freeport, Texas, with maximum winds of 45 mph, mostly east of the center in the heavier squalls. Humberto has been moving just slightly right of due north, at about 6 mph, for the past 6 hours. On this course, the center should reach the coast between Freeport and Galveston just before midnight tonight (Wednesday night). Heavy squalls north of Humberto’s center are already moving ashore from Freeport to Galveston. These squalls will move inland across southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana this evening and spread northward into east Texas and western Louisiana during the day on Thursday. Due to the close proximity to land, forecasters do not expect any significant strengthening prior to landfall. Read rest of message…
UTMB officials have been watching the progress of Hurricane Dean. At this time, the threat to the upper Texas coast continues to diminish. UTMB is “standing down†from the early stages of its emergency plan. Normal academic, clinical and research activities on the Galveston campus continue. Schools, hospitals, clinics, labs, offices and other areas will open as usual Monday morning, Aug. 20. (The McAllen RMCHP Clinic will be closed to patients on Monday and possibly through the week; and UTMB Correctional Managed Care employees working at facilities in deep south Texas should check with their facility managers for instructions.) Get additional details…
UTMB officials continue watching the progress of Dean as it begins its approach to the Gulf of Mexico. Although there is still a great deal of uncertainty around this storm, it poses a threat that UTMB is are taking seriously. Read message from the university preparedness officers…
The #1 goal of Payroll Services is to ensure every employee is paid in an accurate, timely manner. To that end, the Payroll Services Business Continuity Plan (see link below) has been reviewed and updated to make sure employees continue to be paid during declared emergencies or other times when information systems may not be available. Department managers and those who process personnel transactions in KRONOS and PeopleSoft HCM should review important planning information and tools that will help them be prepared in the event the Business Continuity Plan is activated. Payroll Services is requesting that paper copies of these documents become an important part of every department’s emergency plan. If you have further questions about this information, please contact Payroll services at Ext. 78078. Read the plan
On Wednesday, May 23, 2007, UTMB hosted its annual All-Staff Emergency Preparedness Meeting. The university’s emergency preparedness officers, Dr. Joan Richardson and Mike Megna, and representatives from key emergency support areas on and off campus presented information and updates about the upcoming season. A video recap of the meeting and available presentations are now online.
We’ve now successfully completed the test of UTMB emergency communication systems. Thank you for your interest and support.Â
UTMB is testing its command center setup today. Satellite, wireless, emergency phones, a bank of PCs and much more are set up and working.
The campus monitors are also running an emergency message.