STATE WATCH CENTER UNIT

ABOUT THE WATCH CENTER

The Watch Center is responsible for monitoring events in the state and integrating with stakeholders from other agencies and the emergency managers across the state that represent each of Nebraska's counties. This is accomplished through a combination of full-time staff, and on-call Watch Officers, drawn from other units within NEMA. The Watch Officer system, staffed on a rotating basis by all qualified, full- time NEMA personnel, provides on-call 24/7 response, monitoring and information gathering for NEMA.

The State Watch Center gathers and disseminates intelligence on natural and man-made hazards and threats with potential, imminent, or ongoing impacts to the state of Nebraska. A daily situational briefing is distributed Monday through Friday, or more often, as conditions warrant, to more than 500 public safety stakeholders at all levels of local, state and federal government. This briefing helps provide situational awareness about weather, incidents, events and available response resources in the state.

During 2020, the Watch Center rolled out a live dashboard briefing that is updated in real time, as events, incidents, and weather conditions develop. This provides public safety stakeholders with current information on demand.