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Director William (Bill) H. Turner III joined the Connecticut State Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (DEMHS) in 2022 as the Emergency Management Director. He is responsible for directing staff and DEMHS operations during disaster situations and overseeing coordination, planning and management of state and federal programs involving preparedness, planning, mitigation, response and recovery from all types of emergencies and disasters, and during post-disaster recovery operations and pre-disaster planning.
He says, “The most meaningful and rewarding part of my work is working in concert with other local, state, and federal partners to prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural and manmade disasters. No incident is the same, and the needs of one community may be different from another. Supporting the response and recovery as the lead state agency for statewide coordination to these events makes working for DEMHS exciting, challenging, and fulfilling all at the same time.”
DEMHS has a unique partnership with United Way of Connecticut. United Way of Connecticut 211 serves as a multifunction communication and information arm for the state before, during, and after emergencies and other natural disasters. This includes supporting the State Emergency Operations Center with public messaging and situational awareness of local incidents and individual needs and being the central point of communicating cooling and warming center locations in communities during inclement weather impacting the state.
The official start to hurricane season was June 1st. While Connecticut’s summer weather hazards don’t usually include hurricanes until later in the summer — around August — there are already storms forming in the Atlantic Basin that DEMHS is keeping an eye on. Director Turner says, “It’s important to have a go-bag ready in case you or your family need to evacuate and take critical supplies to an alternate location, it’s important to be signed up for CT Alert to receive emergency messages from your town and it’s important to Know Your Zone. All of this information can be found on our website.”
There is a lot of uncertainty this year with the sea water temperatures and different atmospheric conditions caused by different weather patterns and even volcanic eruptions in other areas of the world. As is the case with all hurricane seasons, coastal residents are reminded that it only takes one hurricane making landfall to make it an active season for them. They should prepare the same for every season, regardless of how much activity is predicted.
Director Turner is originally from Media, Pennsylvania, where he worked as an emergency manager for Chester County Department of Emergency Services, Emergency Management Division. He shares, “Once we decided to take this great job opportunity, my wife, our dog and I all relocated to East Hampton, CT last summer. In November our first child joined the family, and we are now proud parents of a beautiful baby girl who is already 8 months old. Between moving to a new state, starting new jobs (my wife is a middle school teacher in Glastonbury) and having a baby, our lives have certainly been busy. When we do find free time, we really enjoy exploring the great trails, parks, restaurants and beaches here in Connecticut. Anything to keep us active and outdoors is where we like to focus our free time. We also love to travel and spend a lot of time at the shore in Avalon, NJ.”
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