Lubbock-County Emergency-Management

09/01/2026

Today Starts National Prepardness Month

Make a plan

Make a plan today! Your family may not be together if a disaster strikes, so it is important to know which types of disasters could affect your area. Know how you’ll contact one another and reconnect if separated. Establish a family meeting place that’s familiar and easy to find. Step 1: Meet wi...

08/26/2026

THERE AREN’T ENOUGH OF US.

Think about this:

In a community of 4,000 people, you may have only ONE person who is actually active in Amateur Radio.

Now ask how many of those active operators regularly volunteer their time and communications skills in service to their community.

Maybe one in ten?

Suddenly, the pool of people we’re depending on for volunteer emergency communications becomes incredibly small.

And Amateur Radio isn’t alone.

There are active operators scattered across GMRS, FRS, MURS, CB, Amateur Radio, and other communications technologies. Each group has its own people, equipment, knowledge, coverage, and capabilities.

But historically, we’ve had a habit of putting walls between them.

We think that’s a mistake.

West Texas Pathfinders has spent the last several years working on a different approach:

What if we stopped asking one small group of radio operators to do everything and started connecting the communications resources already spread throughout our community?

That’s why we created the SPARC TaskForce and why WTP invests so heavily in building our GMRS community, Amateur Radio capabilities, RACES, SKYWARN, digital communications, mesh networks, and relationships with other organizations.

A GMRS operator doesn’t need to become a ham to provide valuable neighborhood information.

An FRS user doesn’t need a callsign to become another set of eyes and ears in their community.

And Amateur Radio doesn’t become less important when we include them. Quite the opposite.

Its technical expertise, long-distance capability, digital messaging, traffic handling, frequency coordination, and liaison capabilities become even more valuable when they’re supporting a much larger communications network.

That’s the idea.

Don’t replace the individual radio services. Connect them.

One operator becomes part of a net.
One net connects to another.
Those networks connect communities.

And suddenly, a relatively small number of volunteers can organize and support a communications capability far larger than themselves.

That is force multiplication.

We don’t need everyone in West Texas to become a radio enthusiast.

We need enough people connected, trained, and willing to communicate that when someone needs the network—

there’s somebody on the other end.

West Texas Pathfinders
Ready Together. Stronger Together.

08/24/2026

An Extreme Heat Warning is in effect for the far southeastern Texas Panhandle and Rolling Plains. A Heat Advisory is in effect for the far southwestern Texas Panhandle and South Plains from Noon until 8 PM Monday.

08/24/2026

Heat Advisory issued August 23 at 8:14PM CDT until August 24 at 8:00PM CDT by NWS Lubbock TX

* WHAT...Temperatures up to 109 expected.

* WHERE...Eastern portions of the South Plains.

* WHEN...From noon to 8 PM CDT Monday.

* IMPACTS...Hot temperatures may cause heat illnesses.

Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors.

08/23/2026

Heat Advisory issued August 23 at 5:32AM CDT until August 23 at 8:00PM CDT by NWS Lubbock TX

* WHAT...Temperatures up to 106 expected.

* WHERE...Eastern portions of the South Plains.

* WHEN...From noon today to 8 PM CDT this evening.

* IMPACTS...Hot temperatures may cause heat illnesses.

Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Take extra precautions when outside. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing. Try to limit strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Take action when you see symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

08/21/2026

Heat Advisory issued August 21 at 12:58PM CDT for August 22 until 8:00PM CDT by NWS Lubbock TX

* WHAT...Temperatures around 105 expected.

* WHERE...Lubbock and Lynn Counties.

* WHEN...From noon to 8 PM CDT on Saturday.

* IMPACTS...Hot temperatures may cause heat illnesses.

Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Take extra precautions when outside. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing. Try to limit strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Take action when you see symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

08/13/2026

Event: Severe Thunderstorm Warning

Effective: 04:28 PM CDT on 08/13/2026
Expires: 05:15 PM CDT on 08/13/2026

Alert: SVRLUB The National Weather Service in Lubbock Texas has issued a * Severe Thunderstorm Warning for... Lubbock County in northwestern Texas... * Until 515 PM CDT. * At 428 PM CDT, a severe thunderstorm was located 5 miles southwest of Lubbock, moving northeast at 15 mph. HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts. SOURCE...Radar indicated. IMPACT...Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. * Locations impacted include... Lubbock, Wolfforth, Shallowater, Idalou, Lubbock South Plains Mall, Lubbock International Airport, Texas Tech University, Slide, Downtown Lubbock, Woodrow, Reese Center, New Deal, and Lubbock Science Spectrum.

Instructions: For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building.
Target Area: Lubbock, TX

08/13/2026

08/11/2026

The Enduring Legacy of RACES

The Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) was established by the FCC in 1952 as part of the nation’s Civil Defense program. During the height of the Cold War, its mission was simple but critical: ensure government emergency communications could continue when normal systems failed.

Over the next seven decades, almost everything around RACES changed.

Civil Defense evolved into Emergency Management. FEMA was created. Emergency Operations Centers became commonplace. Emergency management shifted from preparing primarily for nuclear attack to an all-hazards approach encompassing severe weather, wildfires, technological disasters, public health emergencies, terrorism, and more.

Yet through all of those changes, RACES has remained remarkably consistent.

Why?

Because no matter the hazard, one truth remains: communications are essential.

When infrastructure is damaged, power is lost, networks become overloaded, or conventional systems fail, emergency managers still need ways to share information, coordinate resources, and support response efforts.

For 74 years, RACES has helped provide that capability. Generations of volunteer amateur radio operators have stood ready to support their communities, local governments, and emergency management agencies when communications matter most.

Technologies have changed.
Threats have changed.
Emergency management has changed.

But the need for reliable emergency communications has not.

That is why RACES remains alive and well today—continuing a mission that began in 1952 and serving as one of emergency management’s most enduring communications resources.

The tools may change. The mission continues.

And that mission depends on people.

If you are an amateur radio operator interested in putting your skills to work in support of your community, emergency management, and public safety, Lubbock County RACES wants to hear from you. Whether you’re an experienced operator or someone looking for a meaningful way to develop your skills, there is a place to learn, train, participate, and serve.

Get involved. Train with us. Help carry the mission forward.

Brandon Kimbrell – K5BEK
Lubbock County RACES Coordinator
Regional RACES Officer – 1A, Texas RACES
1 (806) 317-2620