Thursday, the Lubbock City Council held a work session, where city leaders and officials could talk about their report of the December blizzard, and how each department responded.
According to the report, the City held a number of meetings and had preparations in place ahead of the blizzard hitting Lubbock. The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) was activated during the storm and included representatives from a number of different city departments.
Some of their objectives during the blizzard included providing emergency services, supporting the utility companies and crews, and keep the public updated throughout the event, among other goals.
On December 27, Mayor Glen Robertson issued a disaster declaration.
“Although there are many things that we did right during this storm, I believe it’s critical that we focus on the areas that we failed,” Robertson said Thursday.
After hearing from the departments in the report, the council members had a chance to ask questions and make comments on their observations.
Many council members listed the same areas they think could be worked on: communication and expectations.
“I think the two areas that we’ve got to work on are expectations and communication. Because we’ve not had a snow like this in forever, nobody knows what to expect,” Mayor Pro Tem Jim Gerlt said.
Many departments, however, did have positive things to report.
“Our first priority, was assisting first emergency responders, the first 48 hours of this event, you’ve heard from the fire department and police department, they were getting stuck,” Wood Franklin, the Director of Public Works, said.
There were also concerns raised over the City Manager and the Deputy City Manager not being in town during the storm.