Storms Prompt Activation of PWC Emergency Operations Center

T that moved through the area Friday evening have prompted the activation of the Prince William County Emergency Operations Center (EOC).

The EOC is currently in partial activation mode, meaning only certain necessary elements have been deployed, said Jason Grant, spokesman for Prince William County.

Right now, those elements are the Emergency Support Functions or ESF, he said.

The Emergency Support Functions are are: external affairs, which is responsible for disseminating vital information to the public, emergency management such as fire and police and mass care, which handles social services and shelters.

All elements of the support functions are not activated because all are not needed, Grant said.

The EOC’s purpose is to be a centralized place where the meeting of the minds from several different agencies can happen and carry out concerted efforts for the county.

The EOC began operations at 9:30 a.m. Saturday and has been active for about 12 hours a day.

The busyness of each EOC element ebbs and flows at different times, Grant said. Right now, many personnel are out in the field gathering information and feeding it back to the center, he said Sunday afternoon.

Emergency officials are still dealing with difficulties linked to the failure of the Verizon's mobile and landline services.

The county’s 911 dispatch service, which also dispatches Manassas Park Fire and Rescue, still isn’t completely online, Grant said.

External affairs is still working hard to make sure residents have the for reaching emergency officials, he added.

People who dial the alternate number are connected to the county’s communications center. The call volume for the center remains consistent and as busy as it would be on a normal day, despite the fact not everyone has the alternative number, Grant said.

still doesn’t have a timeline for fixing the technical problems and bringing everything back on line for 911 in the county, Grant added.

There are many different elements to the problem with the phones which stem from a problem with the trunk lines extending from Arlington, he said.

Some cell phone are able to get through to 911 but the service is intermittent, Grant said.