The Galveston, Tx. county emergency management center is the first in the nation to combine a National Weather Service office with an emergency management department of local government. The 23,500-square-foot building has been designed to withstand a Category 5 hurricane (winds in excess of 155 mph) and will house the Galveston County Office of Emergency Management, the National Weather Service, Galveston County 9-1-1 District and members of the Texas Division of Emergency Management.

This partnership will help the agencies better mitigate, prepare for, respond to and recover from all types of emergencies or disaster situations in Galveston County and the region. The County has been operating out of the basement of an adjacent building that was constructed in an era when Civil Defense departments were confined to bomb shelters. Unfortunately the storm surge of a Category 3 hurricane would flood the basement, severely impacting if not curtailing emergency operations. The National Weather Service was formerly located across FM 646 and would also flood in a strong storm surge.

The new facility will provide a location where agencies can centralize communications, technology, logistics and resource management for a wide variety of emergency services and provide a secure location from which to effectively manage crisis situations. Voters approved a bond issue in 2000 to construct this facility in League City along with a new justice center and jail in Galveston.