Water Utility Emergency Field Guide: South Carolina - Emergency Management Division (EMD) Area 2 When you need help: You are not alone during an emergency! Help is available through local, county, state, and non- governmental organizations. Request assistance from your local resources first (police, fire, health, local Emergency Operations Center or EOC, and existing mutual aid and assistance partners - if applicable). Contact your County Emergency Management (EM) office or EOC for additional assistance (see numbers on next page) if needed AND be prepared with: a) Your utility's name, address, and contact information. b) The address where the resource is needed, and Global Positioning System or GPS coordinates if you have them. c) A description of the emergency and magnitude (what happened, how large is the affected area, how many people will be affected). d) What you need (kind and type of resource, such as a Type IV generator: a trailer-mounted, 400 KW, sound attenuated, multi-voltage panel, 3-phase generator). Resource typing, or categorizing and describing resources, is vital during an emergency. Be sure to fully describe the function and specific capabilities of the requested resources to avoid confusion. e) When you need the resource by (how urgent is it) and how long you will need it for. f) If you need a qualified operator for the requested equipment. g) Don't forget to ask for an anticipated delivery date, time, and a point of contact, if available. Your County EM or EOC will follow-up with you, but you can check back if necessary. There may not be a formal tracking number assigned to your resource request at the County level. If your County EOC is not activated, the County EM coordinator should still be able to help you. If you are unable to reach the coordinator, contact the State EOC at (803) 737-8500 for 24/7 assistance. The State EOC can coordinate your resource request with the County EM or EOC, Utilize mutual aid and assistance agreements such as the South Carolina Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network (www.scwarn.org) to request resources from other utilities. Keep in Mind: If the County cannot fulfill your resource request, they will look to neighboring counties. If the neighboring counties cannot fulfill your resource request, your County will forward it to the State EOC and will notify your regional Emergency Management Coordinator. All will try to locate the resource within South Carolina. If the State EOC cannot fulfill your resource request, they may use their Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) coordinator to access resources in other states. The State EOC may also contact the federal government for assistance through FEMA. This can be a lengthy process (at least 3 days), so don't wait too long to ask for help. Not all assistance will be free-of-charge. You may be responsible for some or all of the costs. The best way to make sure you get what you need is to have pre-disaster contracts and mutual aid and assistance agreements, such as SCWARN. If you wait until after the disaster to plan, it may be too late. July 2008 ------- Who To EMD Area vHi 2m State EOC 24/7 803-737-8500 EMD Area 2 Phone Numbers* SC Department of Health and Environmental Control • You can call the following state 24/7 number for assistance: 888-481-0125 (24/7 emergency number) • Your Environmental Quality Control (EQC) Field Office can also be reached during office hours at: Greenwood EQC Field Office: 864-223-0333 Lancaster EQC Field Office: 803-285-7461 Spartanburg EQC Field Office: 864-596-3800 Cherokee County 1434 North Limestone St. Gaffney 864-487-2590 864-487-2747 - After hours Laurens County 321 South Harper St. Laurens 864-984-4731 864-984-2523 - After hours York County 155 Johnston St. Rock Hill 803-329-7270 803-329-1110 - After hours Chester County 156 Columbia St. Chester 803-377-4632 803-355-5433 - After hours Spartanburg County 9039 Fairforest Rd. Spartanburg 864-595-5366 864-596-2222 - After hours Lancaster County 208 W. Gay St. Lancaster 803-285-7333 803-283-3388 - After hours Union County 414 South Pickney St. Union 864-429-1620 864-429-1611 - After hours Phone numbers can change, so be sure to check contact information on a regular basis. Mutual aid and assistance is available on a voluntary basis from other utilities through membership in the South Carolina Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network (WARN) System. The SC WARN website is available at www.scwarn.org. Other organizations that can help you locate resources in the event of an emergency are: • South Carolina Rural Water Association: 864-833-5566 • South Carolina American Water Works Association: 803-939-9574 • Water Environment Association of South Carolina: 803-939-9574 (same number as SC AWWA) • Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project: 540-345-1184 - ext. 18 • South Carolina Rural Community Assistance Partnership: 803-731-0584 July 2008 ------- |