(a) Each county shall maintain an emergency management program or participate in a local or interjurisdictional emergency management program that, except as otherwise provided by this chapter, has jurisdiction over and serves the entire county or interjurisdictional area.
(a-1) An emergency management program required by Subsection (a) and maintained by a county, or in which a county participates, must provide for catastrophic debris management.
(b) The county program is the first channel through which a municipal corporation or a joint board shall request assistance when its resources are exceeded. Requests that exceed the county capability shall be forwarded to the state as prescribed in the state emergency management plan.