State Watch Office

The State Watch Office operates 24/7, 365 days a year as a daily extension of the Florida State Emergency Operations Center. The State Watch Office monitors local, state, and national media as well as communicates with Florida’s counties and state agencies to ensure that the State Emergency Response Team is aware of any on-going or developing situations. The SWO maintains communications systems and warning capabilities to ensure that the state’s population and emergency management agencies are warned of developing emergency situations and can communicate emergency response decisions as mandated by § 252.35 F.S.

State Watch Office Fact Sheet

Effective July 1, 2020, §252.351 F.S. requires the Division to create a list of reportable incidents and requires political subdivisions to report incidents contained on the list to the State Watch Office. The list shall include, but is not limited to, the following:

• Major fires, including wildfires, commercial or multi-unit residential fires, or industrial fires
• Search and rescue operations, including structure collapses or urban search and rescue responses
• Bomb threats or threats to inflict harm on a large number of people or significant infrastructure, suspicious devices, or device detonations
• Natural hazards and severe weather, including earthquakes, landslides, or ground subsidence or sinkholes
• Public health and population protective actions, including public health hazards, evacuation orders, or emergency shelter openings
• Animal or agricultural events, including suspected or confirmed animal diseases, suspected or confirmed agricultural diseases, crop failures, or food supply contamination
• Environmental concerns, including an incident of reportable pollution release as required in s. 403.077(2)
• Nuclear power plant events, including events in process or that have occurred which indicate a potential degradation of the level of safety of the plant or which indicate a security threat to facility protection
• Major transportation events, including aircraft or airport incidents, passenger or commercial railroad incidents, major road or bridge closures, or marine incidents involving a blocked navigable channel of a major waterway
• Major utility or infrastructure events, including dam failures or overtopping, drinking water facility breaches, or major utility outages or disruptions involving transmission lines or substations
• Military events, when information regarding such activities are provided to a political subdivision