San Saba Community loves all of their "unsung heroes" and the way they all come together to keep everyone safe

During the week of Storm Uri, San Saba community members were greatly affected in some way. . . physically, emotionally, financially. . . or all of these ways. However, certain community members who normally don’t work together and many who wished to be “behind the scenes” or anonymous, formed a strong, cohesive unit in order to keep residents and visitors safe.

In the first and second articles of this series, “unsung hero” groups including the City of San Saba, the County of San Saba, County Volunteer Fire Departments, community churches, various groups and individuals, all joined forces to help each other to help one another in our community who were in great need! Now, one of the biggest forces in our community who constantly serves and meets our safety needs 24/7 will be featured in this third part of the continuing series - the San Saba County Sheriff’s Department.

Chief Deputy Dewayne Shaw was interviewed for this article. In addition to other interviewees, he and Sheriff David Jenkins really didn’t want attention and praise given to themselves but to their hard-working, dedicated staff who helped make the week of Storm Uri safer and smoother for many residents and those travelling in the county.

In preparation for Storm Uri, the Sheriff and Chief Deputy Shaw, along with their deputy staff, did the following things:

● Ensured generator at the jail was in working order so 911 and radio communications kept working;

● Purchased rock salt to assist Sheriff’s Office staff and citizens if their vehicles become stuck in ice;

● Anticipatory preparation for radio communication failure on main channel; backup paging of emergency services were reviewed with officers, EMS, Fire and Dispatch; and

● Fueled all Sheriff’s Office vehicles so all 1st responders could respond to calls; searched for fuel trailers to keep nearby in case of fuel shortage.

So, as Alexander Graham Bell stated, “Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.” With the tactics and preparation by the Sheriff’s Department in place, Storm Uri blew in leaving a blanket of snow and ice. Sheriff’s deputies hit the streets. . . literally sliding on slick roads throughout the county during patrol or answering calls.

Power was lost, and the “rolling blackouts” began with some residents actually losing powers for hours or days at a time. Loss of power, rolling blackouts and the weather itself interfered with all forms of communication - landlines, cell phones, and 911 systems. No one could get through to Emergency Medical Services (EMS) or Sheriff’s deputies in case of an emergency.

Keeping the faith, Chief Deputy Shaw described how the Sheriff’s Department did their best to prevent a complete breakdown of communication. With that said, they published a Dispatch cell phone number, announcing the critical break in 911 service. The cell phone number was posted on their Facebook page, as well as officers and staff sharing this information when power returned so county residents could be informed.

The statement of phone outage and publishing of the Dispatch cell phone number was broadcast on State Interoperability Radio Channels to put the word out to first responders in San Saba County and anyone else who might possibly be monitoring the Interoperability channels. Because the main radio channel was down for several days, backup base radios were being used for that purpose. Another back-up system was used to broadcast the emergency message when power did come back on so those with scanners would be able to hear the message. Apparently, this worked because the Sheriff’s Department received word that people heard their broadcasted message.

Throughout the week of the storm, the Sheriff’s Office responded to numerous calls; however, these calls weren’t quite the common calls of prior weeks but calls of welfare checks, wrecks or vehicles too cold to start or frozen up, and on and on! In addition, deputies as well as dispatchers/ jailers worked around the clock to ensure that communications remained optimal, especially since the main/primary radio communications had become disabled.

Then when telephone services were operational again, the Dispatch Office experienced an extremely high call volume and extra staff were needed and calledin, if possible. However, the main computer communication system that communicates with the entire state of Texas was down due to the “rolling blackouts,” and this system had to be transferred to a neighboring county until it could be brought back on online – this took several days in all.

Below are some ways Officers/EMS/Dispatch helped the community and each other:

• A local DPS trooper brought in a trailer containing well water and parked it beside the jail for any and all citizens to get and use the water for their personal use;

• Local VFDs and EMS assisted Sheriff’s Office in any way possible; and

• Sheriff’s Office staff brought cook stoves and food and cookfed while on duty.

Results and “lessons learned,” according to Chief Deputy Shaw:

• Many broken water pipes (including at the jail);

• Alternative toilet resources had to be utilized at the jail for staff;

• Inmates could not be housed at the jail since no running water was available. Consequently, all inmates had to be transferred to other facilities until water was restored and pipes and drains were properly repaired.

In conclusion, Chief Deputy Shaw stated valuable lessons were learned from Storm Uri. The Sheriff’s Office has taken steps to put new policies and procedures into place, as well as utilizing funds to repair or procure needed items to promote unbroken communication and the safety of those the entire Sheriff’s Department protect and serve.

To be continued. . .

Please note: If you know of someone (individual or group) who went above and beyond the call of duty to help out during this time of dire emergency, please let us know by submitting a brief written or typed article of who, what, when and where. Or, if something wonderful was done for you and you want to call out that person(s) and give praise, submit a brief statement to the News and Star. Our email address is: editor. sansabanews@centex.net