Director of The Madison County Emergency Management Agency

Story by Lyda Kay Ferree, The Southern Lifestyles Lady. Photography by Woody Woodard & Chelsea Croom.

Jason Moore has been working for Madison County and the City of Jackson under EMA (Emergency Management Agency) full time since 2009. He came in under the recovery effort after the 2008 tornado that struck Union University, several businesses, and a lot of private property as well.

He moved to western Oklahoma on a farm during middle school where he saw his fair share of tornados. This was most likely what sent him on a path to this type of work. He moved back to Milan, Tennessee to attend high school so that he could be closer to family. Jason graduated from Milan High School in 1993 and attended Jackson State Community College focusing on radiology. It turns out that after two years in college, he did not like the sight of blood and broken bones and decided to go into the private industry.

He spent the next 13 years in private business and started his own company during this time. After the tornados of 2008 Jason was asked by Madison County to help them out with some tornado sirens that they were having some issues with at the time. He had some experience in this field, so he tried his hand at it, and the next thing you know he was in public service, he says.

Soon he began training in all facets of emergency service and began training with the Federal Signal Corporation of Chicago. He then became a technician for all siren systems in Madison County. In 2011 he was promoted to Deputy Director and in his 12th year at EMA he has built a great relationship between city and county governmental departments and his office. He also became the co-chair for District 10 Homeland Security in 2012 helping a total of 8 counties acquire assets needed to support emergency response teams across the state as well as multistate deployments during disasters. He has worked four disasters in Madison County including the COVID-19 virus as well as tornadoes in the Cookeville area, and he has assisted with hurricane deployments in Texas, Florida, and North Carolina.

Jason was born in Nashville and he moved to Jackson as a young child where he spent his early grade school years in the northwest side of Jackson. He grew up in a large family with four brothers and two sisters in the Okeena neighborhood. He is married to Kelli, and they have two children—Lauren and Dylan Moore.

VIP: When was our Jackson-Madison County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) created and why?

Jason Moore: It was created in the 1950s as Civil Defense. In the 1980s it was changed from Civil Defense to Jackson-Madison County Emergency Management Agency, which was under the Dept. of State and the Dept. of Military.

VIP: What are your chief duties as the Director of the EMA?

JM: Our normal duties are to create or develop emergency operation plans and mitigation plans for government agencies as well as public and private school systems. One EMA employee is in charge of tornado maintenance. We have tornado sirens in the city and county. Approximately 60 percent of those sirens are in the city. We also do deployments during tornadoes and hurricanes with the help of our Regional Health Response Team and Madison County Fire Department.

VIP: What is keeping you so busy now besides learning your new job?

JM: Under EMA Presidential and state declarations float down to my office. There is a ton of paperwork or record keeping of every meeting, every dollar spent, everything you want reimbursed through Federal funding. The majority of dollars spent will be on the health and human service side for the current COVID-19 disaster. The down side is the current huge shortage of medical needs because about 70 percent of our supplies are made in China, which are very hard to get now. So we have to rely on private business and government partners to get our materials. We are in a waiting game. Every state in the U.S. is asking for the same products such as testing kits for the coronavirus and personal protection equipment. We have had some positive reaction from President Trump’s request for construction companies to give up some of their masks. Working with the Jackson Chamber we received about 7 cases of masks from several businesses. We’re keeping up with testing negative-positive cases. There is a long list of questions to ask patients.

VIP: How many people are on your staff?

JM: I have four people on my staff. Currently sixty to eighty percent of our time every day is spent on the COVID-19 virus. I’ve only been in my office about 20 minutes the last three days.

VIP: How familiar are you with dealing with a virus?

JM: The COVID-19 virus is new to everyone, and all of us are having to deal with it. We’ve had flus of different types although this virus is new with no current cure. What’s new to us as well as the general public is the hysteria that has been caused by this virus. Social media plus your regular media have changed and caused the general public to go on shopping sprees where some shoppers are emptying the shelves at grocery stores. This has caused mass hysteria that was unnecessary. The Corona virus may be a longtime disaster, and we’ll have to continue social distancing for quite a while.

VIP: Changing topics from the virus to the tornado season, we are entering the tornado season. What months comprise the tornado season?

JM: Typically the tornado season lasts from early spring to late spring. We’ve also had tornados in June.

VIP: What advice do you have for our readers regarding tornado preparations?

JM: Keep your essentials close. If you must leave your home, you may come to our safe rooms at the airport that are open to the public. One building holds around 80 people, and a second building holds 200 people. Both are on airport property and are open to the public if and only if we go under a tornado watch at which time their doors unlock and as the storm approaches the doors re-lock. It is a stand-alone room with concrete floors and no furniture. FEMA requires us to have 5 cubic feet between each person.
Have food and water to last a little while if you have a safe room. Use common sense and have essential food, water and medication in your safe room. A NOAA weather radio is helpful. We have a record of the location of safe rooms. It is the job of the public to inform the city or county Fire Departments of the location of their safe rooms.

VIP: Is Jackson located in what some call Tornado Alley?

JM: West Tennessee has moved into what is known as Tornado Alley. Those tornadoes usually start in Oklahoma and Kansas, and we just happen to be on the direct path. The front usually meets in Arkansas or Mississippi and that’s where Jackson, TN gets the reaction. Recently our office assisted with the search and rescue and communication efforts in Cookeville, TN (Putnam County) when a large tornado struck that area.

VIP: Describe the contents of an emergency kit.

JM: You may buy one or put one together. The list of must-haves is fairly long. Go to www.ready.gov for an emergency supply list. You should have an emergency kit at home, at work, and one in your car.
At home you should place the emergency kit in your bedroom or in your safe room because 90 percent of the tornadoes strike at night.

VIP: What is the best place to go if you are driving when a tornado approaches?

JM: That’s a personal decision. Never drive toward a tornado. Your best bet is to pull over in the safest place you can. Stay away from power lines and utility poles. I have not known anyone who has gotten in a ditch even though some recommend doing this. Stay tuned to the weather service on your phones. The Jackson-Madison County sirens are silently tested every day once a day. Then they are sound tested on the first and third Wednesday of every month. If we are having stormy weather they are not set off on test days unless needed.

VIP: What past experience has prepared you for your work with tornadoes?

JM: I grew up in Cordell, Oklahoma in the true Tornado Alley, which is geographically Oklahoma and the Western Plains where it is all flatlands and plateaus. From middle school up to high school I personally saw a lot of tornadoes during the daytime.

VIP: Comment on your EMA staff.

JM: We have a great staff at the Emergency Management Agency, and we strive every day to build great working relationships between the Public Health Services, First Responders, and private industry as well.

VIP: What are your hobbies?

JM: My job takes a lot of my time, but I have plenty of hobbies. I am an avid golfer and love 2-stroke ATVs.

What to Know

Emergency Management Agency
Emergency Operations Center Building located at 239 Grady Montgomery Drive, across from the main airport terminal.
(731) 427-1271
www.madisoncountytn.gov