County emergency response technology can help field teams report property damage and track evacuation contacts. Mobile assessment tools and live maps give supervisors information they can use to coordinate response and recovery. Their value depends on reliable reporting procedures and staff who know how to use them.
Programs in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, and San Bernardino County, California, illustrate those applications. Howard County, Maryland, adds lessons from public notification and emergency management training. Their documented programs give county executives practical questions to ask about their own capabilities.
Damage Assessments in Waukesha County
Waukesha County’s Countywide Damage Assessment Team earned Best in Category for Risk and Emergency Management in the 2026 NACo Achievement Awards, according to NACo’s award summary.
The program combines a mutual-aid agreement with standardized procedures and a county-customized mobile assessment tool. Municipal staff can work across jurisdictional boundaries, with the county’s Office of Emergency Management coordinating deployment and reviewing reports.
First deployed during the August 2025 Wisconsin floods, the team completed nearly 700 vetted home damage assessments in days. NACo reports that the work helped residents access approximately $19.5 million in FEMA Individual Assistance.
The practical lesson is to prepare the assessment process before a disaster. Shared reporting standards give field teams a consistent way to document damage and help officials assemble information for recovery assistance requests. Damage assessments support those requests; they do not determine federal approval or an individual household’s eligibility.
CEA’s coverage of the 2026 NACo Achievement Awards includes more on Waukesha County’s recognition.
Howard County Staff Readiness and Public Alerts
Howard County received 113 NACo Achievement Awards in 2026, a single-year Maryland record. Eight were in Risk and Emergency Management, according to the county’s announcement. Its earlier programs show why emergency preparedness requires sustained attention to both public communication and internal training.
In November 2011, Howard County launched NotifyMeHoward. NACo’s 2012 award profile described a free notification service that could send alerts to subscribers’ mobile devices and convert text to voice for telephone delivery. It also supported geographically targeted messages and integration with FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System. The program earned Best in Category for Risk and Emergency Management that year.
In 2022, Howard County earned Best in Category for Risk and Emergency Management for its On Call Emergency Manager and Emergency Operations Center Manager Training Program. The training addressed a staffing challenge. Experienced personnel had worked through major incidents, including the Ellicott City floods and COVID-19. New staff needed a way to learn the procedures and agency relationships required to make decisions under pressure. County emergency management leadership developed and combined the training programs to help close that knowledge gap.
Howard County’s 2026 emergency management awards included flood operations procedures for historic Ellicott City and dam emergency action plan training. These efforts connect preparedness with implementation: personnel need to understand the procedures that guide their work and be ready to use available systems during an activation.
Evacuation Mapping in San Bernardino County
San Bernardino County’s Sheriff’s Department previously relied on paper forms and radio calls to track evacuations. Emergency services coordinator Frank Kams worked with geographic information system (GIS) specialist Natalie Campos to adapt fire damage assessment technology for evacuation operations. The resulting mobile app lets deputies record contacts as they work. Supervisors can follow progress on a map and identify areas still needing attention. The display distinguishes residents staying or leaving from addresses where contact has not been made.
According to NACo’s account, the app was first used during the 2022 Sheep Fire and later supported the 2024 Line and Bridge fire responses, as well as flooding events. It received Best in Category for Information Technology in 2025.
In NACo’s account, officials also described plans for an enhancement that would show the locations of registered residents with access and functional needs within predefined evacuation zones. The intended purpose was to help responders plan assistance. For other counties, the example suggests a useful starting point: ask whether existing mapping capabilities can support a clearly defined field task.
What County Executives Can Apply
These examples suggest several practical priorities for evaluating county emergency response technology.
Start With a Specific Operational Problem
Ask staff where information was delayed during the last activation. Identify who needed it and what decision depended on it. That gives the county a concrete requirement against which to evaluate a tool.
Assess Existing Capabilities and Their Costs
Review available systems with emergency management and IT staff. An existing platform may support additional uses, but adaptation still requires staff time and ongoing support. Compare those requirements with the cost of a new system before choosing an approach.
Include Training in the Implementation Plan
Assign responsibility for keeping procedures current and preparing new staff. Exercises should test whether personnel can use the system under realistic conditions, including when the usual lead is unavailable.
Measure the Work the Tool Improves
Choose measures that reflect the operational goal. For an assessment program, track report completion time and corrections needed. For an evacuation tool, examine how clearly supervisors can identify outstanding contacts.
Questions to Resolve Before Implementation
Before adopting or expanding a system, county leaders should work with emergency management and IT staff to resolve the following questions. The answers should guide the implementation plan and the resources needed to support it.
- How will field teams record and share information if connectivity fails?
- Who can access sensitive resident information, and how will that access be controlled?
- Who will maintain the system and its supporting procedures?
- How will exercises test the workflow when key personnel are unavailable?
County executives can begin by asking their emergency manager which part of the last response was hardest to coordinate. Bring that problem to the staff responsible for the county’s technology and agree on what an improvement would look like. That discussion gives the next investment a clear purpose.