Codington County Advances Emergency Preparedness, Hazmat Plan and Crisis Track Training
- Steve Jurrens
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
Northeast Radio SD News – Watertown, SD - It was a close call for Codington County this past week, as severe storms that swept through the region narrowly missed the immediate Watertown area. “Dodged a bullet last night,” noted Codington County Emergency Management Director Andrew Delgado during the Tuesday, August 25, 2026, Codington County Commissioners meeting.
“It was all around us—Day County and Clark County.”
Advancing Hazmat and Security Preparedness
At the top of the agenda, Delgado confirmed the successful completion of final reviews for the county’s Hazardous Materials (Hazmat) plan. The revised documents have been forwarded to the First District Association of Local Governments for review.
The plan is expected to receive official approval at the upcoming Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) meeting scheduled for September 8th. Following LEPC sign-off, the plan will go before the County Commissioners for final authorization.
“Then we can close out that project, which was funded in part by the HMEP [Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness] grant,” Delgado explained.
Additionally, Delgado reported that he and his team successfully participated in regional communication drills over the past month. The department also received its official 2025 Homeland Security Grant award letter, ensuring continued financial backing for local security initiatives.
Search and Rescue Operations See High Demand
August proved to be a busy month for the county’s Search and Rescue (SAR) teams. The unit was highly visible at community events, participating in “Hooking with Heroes,” National Night Out, and the End of Summer Summer Fest. Furthermore, they successfully hosted the 22nd Annual Ultimate Sportsman Raffle, which serves as the organization’s primary fundraising event of the year.
Beyond community engagement, SAR members were actively deployed to assist first responders on multiple emergency calls. The team was dispatched twice to provide specialized drone support and once to assist with a rural fire. Initially called in to fill air tanks for firefighters, the SAR unit’s role quickly expanded on the scene.
“I ended up with doing some traffic control while they were on scene and also brought out a light set upon the fire chief’s request,” Delgado detailed, highlighting the dynamic and vital support SAR provides to local fire departments.
Expanding Incident Command Training
Looking ahead, Emergency Management is heavily focused on elevating the county’s operational readiness. Delgado announced that coordination is underway for an ICS 300 (Intermediate Incident Command System) course, which will be hosted at the Watertown Fire Department from September 29th through October 1st.
“That’s really important for staffing the EOC [Emergency Operations Center] in large-scale events and then just generally improving overall readiness,” Delgado emphasized. “It’s showing those intermediate-level employees how expanding incidents should be handled.”
Local responders and officials must sign up no later than three weeks prior to the course start date.
Commissioners Approve LEMPG Participation and ‘Crisis Track’ Integration
Following the monthly update, the commission took official action on the Local Emergency Management Performance Grant (LEMPG). The grant, a critical federal and state program, helps reimburse up to 50% of the salary and benefits for county emergency management personnel in exchange for meeting stringent training, planning, and operational requirements.
Delgado pointed out a few key updates in this year’s agreement compared to years past. The first major update involves the annual Local Emergency Operations Plan (LEOP) review. Going forward, the review must formally include stakeholders and county commissioners, complete with a rostered list of who provided input.
Delgado welcomed the collaborative mandate, admitting that updating the comprehensive plan alone can be daunting.
“I rewrote essentially the entire thing, but I mean, it’s lived in my computer... making sure that everybody is able to provide input and whatnot, so we can improve that and get that officially updated,” he shared.
The second update requires county participation in “Crisis Track” training. Crisis Track is a specialized software provided by the state to streamline Preliminary Damage Assessments (PDAs) following a disaster.
Commissioner Lee Gabel, District 1, expressed strong support for the software, noting his participation in the training last year.
“It’s good, especially for the township people. It makes it a lot... more understanding,” Gabel stated.
Delgado agreed, emphasizing the software’s impact on state-level logistics.
“It really streamlines the process. It makes it so much more accurate at the state level, being able to get real-time information on how much damage has actually occurred statewide.”
He noted that this is a vast improvement over the old paper methods where the state had to rely solely on delayed, second-hand reports from counties.
Following a brief discussion on scheduling the LEOP review, Commissioner Tyler McElhany (District 2) motioned to approve the county’s participation in the LEMP grant, which Commissioner Gabel seconded. Chairman Troy VanDusen called for the vote, and the measure passed unanimously.
