While other City employees went home during the winter storm in January, Cheree Smith pulled out the cot and blanket she keeps in her office for emergencies. Yes: she slept at her office.  

As emergency management coordinator for the City, Smith has grown accustomed to being prepared for the worst – hence, the cot. Her office is at Central Fire Station, which provides access to reliable Internet connectivity due to the backup generator on site, and her job requires her to be available when that generator might be the only thing keeping the lights on.  

Growing up, family members kept a canoe handy so they could row away from their Gulf Coast home when hurricanes struck. Brazoria County flooded often, and Smith recalled having to vacate the home during several mandatory evacuations caused by hurricanes.  

So being prepared for anything life might throw at you became normal.  

“It’s a mindset that was learned over the years,” she said. “You start learning how to prepare for certain things at a young age – that was just built in.” 

Nowadays, Smith has a to-do list on her office wall that includes items such as “mass fatality plan.” And there are long days when “you don’t even realize you’re tired until you stop,” she said.  

When the weather appeared likely to become an issue earlier this year, Smith kicked on one of her preparedness plans, providing City directors with weather updates and coordinating efforts for a possible emergency operations center activation. Departments were each asked to provide a list of unmet needs and/or concerns for the days ahead. Situation reports were compiled, with information that might be needed when asked to communicate with county and state leaders in a call that might include upwards of 300 people.  

This year, Oncor staged work vehicles at Dell Diamond to assist during the storm – a situation that hadn’t arisen during other recent storms. With help from Matt Fitzgerald in Transportation and others, the City figured out a plan to assist Oncor with their efforts, which included mobilizing crews to treat part of the Dell Diamond parking lot so Oncor vehicles could get to and from jobs despite cold nights and freezing rain.  

The City was able to help Oncor quite a bit, Smith said, and earned kudos from the electricity provider in front of hundreds during a county call afterwards.  

“It was really a good look for the city,” she added.  

While disaster response can lead to long days, the recovery process can take months. Relatively few disasters receive federal designation, leaving cities and states often leading the efforts to get residents back on their feet.  

During one evacuation, as a child Smith and her family were on the road over 36 hours to Lake Buchanan, often in bumper-to-bumper traffic. During another, it took more than 11 months for their home to be repaired. So she’s seen disasters from the other side.  

“You want to make sure the decisions you’re making are as much in the best interests of the community too,” she said. “We as a City want to ensure we are doing what we can to minimize the stress.” 

For now, Smith is, of course, preparing for the next disaster. There’s never an off-season, she says, and there’s always room for more training. 

“Preparedness is never done. It’s a constant cycle and a cycle you want to make sure you maintain.”  

In the meantime, the cot will be there, in the office. But it won’t be for mid-day napping.  

“There are three things I like in a job and I get all three of them here,” Smith said. “I like a challenge, I like to never be bored and I like to always be learning.”