 National Association of Counties * Washington, D.C. Vol. 32, No. 20 * November 6, 2000 Previous story | Table of Contents | Next story Rethinking disaster mitigation in the By Commissioner Sue Cameron
One of five “cowpads” built to rescue threatened livestock during recent Tillamook County flooding.
In February 1996, western Oregon was devastated by its worst flooding in more than 30 years. Heavy winter snow, followed by warm weather and strong rains, caused widespread flooding that left dozens of communities isolated. When the waters came, residents worked together to save what they could, producing countless acts of heroism, but the losses were nonetheless staggering: eight dead, scores injured, thousands of homes uninhabitable, miles of highway impassable and several hundred million dollars in damages. Tillamook County in northwest Oregon was particularly hard hit. This small coastal region, with a county population of just 23,800 and an economy based on dairy, agriculture, lumber and fishing, took a disastrous financial punch. Some 700 dairy cows were lost and thousands of acres of farm fields were flooded. Many local families were displaced, only to return to destroyed houses and businesses. Private insurance and assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) helped put the county on the road to recovery, but we were still left with more than $50 million in uncompensated losses. Flash forward to 1999: Beginning on Thanksgiving Day, more than nine inches of rain fell in the county within a 48-hour period, mirroring the 1996 deluge. But this time things were different. Countywide, damages were reduced by an almost unimaginable 96 percent compared to 1995. And not a single cow died. What accounted for such a dramatic difference? In the interval between the floods of 1996 and 1999, a number of meaningful changes were effected locally, including an administrative reorganization that shifted responsibility for the county emergency management office from the sheriff to the county commissioners. For the first time, Tillamook County was in a position to implement a comprehensive pre-disaster mitigation plan. But let me back up a little. As one of three county commissioners in Tillamook, I had joined with my colleagues and other community leaders in the aftermath of the 1996 flooding to talk about what we could do to lessen the impact of future disaster events. By recognizing that we had to fundamentally rethink our approach to planning and preparedness, we had taken the first — and perhaps most critical — step toward building a more disaster-resistant community. From those early post-flood discussions, a dynamic partnership began to emerge among local, state and federal officials, buttressed by the input and support of county residents eager to avoid further emotional and economic loss. Soon thereafter, FEMA designated Tillamook County as one of its Project Impact communities. By using Project Impact as the focal point to mobilize the community, the county was able to combine available public and private resources and begin to finally develop a long-term mitigation strategy. Consider just some of what has been undertaken in Tillamook County as part of its new Performance Partnership initiative:
Of all these changes, perhaps it is surprising that the final one has been among the most significant. Historically, local emergency managers have been closely intertwined with laws enforcement, with a strong emphasis on emergency response activities. By moving emergency management responsibilities to an environment more oriented toward strategic, long-term planning, it has allowed for mitigation to emerge as the very foundation of disaster preparedness in the county. A related benefit has come in the ability of the county government to better integrate disaster planning with capital improvement and smart growth. The expanded leverage in the community has made for better public policy — and safer neighborhoods. And where the county once had a single half-time staff person dedicated to emergency management activities, the office now has three full-time members and includes an aggressive communication and outreach component. None of this could have been done by the county alone, and the progress to date has not always come easily. But in a region that receives more than 90 inches of precipitation a year, we can no longer afford to be surprised when it rains. (Sue Cameron has been a Tillamook County Commissioner since 1997. She can be reached at scameron@co.tillamook.or.us.) |
