Emergency Director
Andrew Delgado
P.O. Box 12
14 1st Ave. SE
Watertown, SD 57201
(605)882-6272
(605)882-6277
8:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. | 1:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. – Monday through Friday
Office Location
Basement of Law Enforcement Center
Statutory Requirements of Codington County
- SDCL 34-48A-39. County emergency management organizations. Each organized county of this state shall establish a local organization and develop an emergency plan for emergency management in accordance with the state emergency management plan and program.
- SDCL 34-48A-40. Director of local organization–Duties and powers. Each local organization for emergency management shall have a director who shall be appointed by the executive officer or governing body of the county, and who shall have direct responsibility for the development and implementation of emergency and disaster plans, organization, administration, and operation of the local organization for emergency management, subject to the direction and control of the executive officer or governing body.
Duties and Responsibilities
- Emergency Management is responsible for the operation of the weather monitoring program in Codington County and the tornado warning systems within the county.
- Emergency Management supervises the operation of the Codington County Search and Rescue Team. This includes overseeing maintenance, inventory of equipment, and training of the team members.
- Emergency Management is required to develop and maintain a Local Emergency Operations Plan (LEOP). This plan outlines the governmental response to any given emergency situation.
- Emergency Management is required to develop and maintain a Hazardous Materials Plan.
- Emergency Management is responsible for the development and maintenance of Codington County’s Pre-Disaster Mitigation Plan. This plan must be completed and approved by FEMA so that Codington County qualifies for federal disaster programs and payments.
- Emergency Management is responsible for obtaining and delivering information, equipment, training, and grant funds to local government and non-government organizations from FEMA and Homeland Security. Emergency Management is also responsible for submitting requests for emergency disaster assistance.
- The Director of Emergency Management has been designated as the Wildland Fire Coordinator for Codington County.
- Emergency Management is responsible to respond to HazMat spills within the county and reports the incident to the State Emergency Management Office. Emergency Management coordinates resources for the response and clean-up.
- Emergency Management is responsible for the formation and operation of a Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC). The LEPC has two primary goals. It requires the development and implementation of the local Hazardous Materials Response Plan and it also manages the paperwork submissions from industry and their disclosure of hazardous materials stored by them. Emergency Management keeps a record of what hazardous materials are stored, where they are stored, and provides information about chemicals in the community to the public.
- Emergency Management works with local fire departments to coordinate resources to help with fighting fires. Any unusual fires are reported to the State Emergency Management Office.