Sean C. Morgan
Sweet Home officials are taking a close look at dangers to the community posed by a large earthquake or other catastrophes, such as fires or flooding.
On the heels of numerous media reports during October on the potential for a large subduction zone earthquake, the City of Sweet Home’s Hazard Mitigation Committee is preparing to work on projects identified in the Hazard Mitigation Plan, approved late last year by the City Council.
Sweet Home has a risk of flooding, mainly from rain events, said Planning Services Manager Laura LaRoque. Flooding is a possibility too with the potential for dam failure, particular in context of a large earthquake.
The biggest risks are impacts to power and transportation infrastructure in and out of town, along with landslides she said. Those can lead to problems with access to food and medications.
Following news stories in the fall about Oregon’s susceptibility to subduction zone quakes, city staff heard from callers seeking information about the city’s response plans, she said.
“Concerns were specifically over the dam, if an earthquake impacted the integrity of the dam. I think that’s the number one thing people are interested in.”
That’s where the city’s Hazard Mitigation Plan comes in. Every five years, the city updates that plan, which must be approve by the the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It also is reviewed by local and state jurisdictions.
Action items in the plan are aimed at preparing for potential hazards, LaRoque said. The plan includes an analysis of risks, natural and man-made, rating the potential risks of each hazard.
“Mostly, our plan is focused on getting information out to folks about the risks in the Sweet Home area,” she said.
The committee probably needs to reach out to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regarding the earthquake risk, LaRoque said. In other areas, people can plan ways to reduce their risk in case of a wildland fire in the wildland-urban interface.
The committee may set public meetings where Sweet Home residents can learn more about local hazards, with informational materials by the Red Cross, FEMA and the state.
From the city’s perspective, preparing for an emergency means mapping out critical and essential facilities and resources, making sure they will be available and up to the task during an emergency, LaRoque said.
“We want to look and see what impact a hazard would have on places where people might gather,” she said. Potential concerns might be churches built in flood plains or constructed at older standards and not ready to withstand earthquakes.
The plan also addresses whether the community has enough food, electricity and water available, she said. Some goals have been achieved already. Among them, the community has three portable water stations, which can draw and filter water directly from creeks. The stations are available at City Hall, the Police Department and Fire Hall.
The city also has adopted zoning changes and flood plain regulations to help mitigate potential damage from hazards.
Smaller tasks in the plan include families planning and preparing, LaRoque said. They need to prepare “bug-out” bags and communication plans. Each family has unique conditions, specific disabilities, for example, that they should address.
The committee might organize an event and bring in experts to teach families how to prepare, she said. Informational brochures have been disseminated at the Senior Center and Sunshine Industries, and they are available at City Hall.
The city also has added more information about preparing for disasters to its website.
The Hazard Mitigation Plan is the “decrease-your-risk” phase of planning, LaRoque said. Emergency responders operate on their own plans for handling emergencies. The final phase of disaster response is recovery.
Some jurisdictions have recovery plans, she said, but Sweet Home doesn’t yet.
Based on previous experiences in the United States, LaRoque said, communities go through a one- to two-year mourning period. The community isn’t in a place where it can plan what to do. That’s when a recovery plan is useful.
The planning is complete before the disaster occurs, she said. That’s something that could come out of this committee.
The Hazard Mitigation Committee hasn’t met often, LaRoque said, but she would like to get it going regularly, once a month. At this point, it has one member, and she would like others to get involved.
Current members include Aaron Pye, Ned Kilpatrick, Scott LaRoque and Edie Wilcox.
For information on participating, call the city manager’s office at (541) 367-8969. For more information on disaster planning, call the planning office at (541) 367-8113.
To see the city’s Hazard Mitigation Plan, visit http://www.sweet-home.or.us/index.aspx?NID=300 on the web.