WARRENTON — The city has made crucial updates to an emergency operations plan to help better prepare for emergencies and natural disasters.
The comprehensive, all-hazards plan provides the city with a framework for readiness, response and recovery. The plan also details how agencies and organizations in the region can coordinate to maximize resources and assistance.
The effort was driven by a state homeland security grant acquired by Clatsop County in 2018, but the process was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. After receiving an extension, the county tasked Stantec, an international consulting firm, with performing updates to Warrenton and Gearhart’s emergency operations plans.
Warrenton’s refreshed plan was adopted by the City Commission in July.
Mayor Henry Balensifer said updating the plan was his No. 1 priority since he took office.
“It takes a long time in government to get anything done, but we’ve had a lot of staff turnover in areas where we would normally work on (emergency management),” he said. “I’m just grateful that we’re finally doing that.”
The three-month process took feedback from several levels of city staff, Police Chief Mathew Workman and Fire Chief Brian Alsbury, as well as community organizations.
Updating the plan was necessary to meet state and federal standards, but also to reflect the changing needs of Warrenton since the plan was last adopted in 2010.
According to the 2020 census, Warrenton was the fastest-growing city in the county over the past decade, with a 25.8% rise in population.
“One of the big, critical drivers for a plan update in a situation like this is making sure that the document is pointing to the right tools, the right resources, the right partners that (the city) can bring to bear,” Zane Beall, a senior emergency planner for Stantec, said.
Coming into compliance with requirements could also open the door for receiving funding related to emergency management, Matthew Lieuallen, a principal planner for Stantec, added.
Struggles with flooding
In January, heavy rain led to an overwhelmed stormwater system in Warrenton, causing widespread flooding. City crews covered manholes with tarps, plastic and sandbags as the system reached inflow limits.
In looking for additional state resources at the time, Balensifer declared an emergency.
The mayor said it became clear during the city’s struggle with flooding that several elements of the emergency operations plan were outdated, underscoring the need for an update.
Since the plan is a playbook for all hazards, it does not list flood mitigation strategies, Beall said, but the city’s experience with flooding allowed the consultant to “review some of those lessons learned and apply them through an all-hazards lens.”
Moving forward, Balensifer viewed it as important for the city to familiarize itself with the plan as it tackles more frequent emergencies related to flooding and levee breaches.
“If I had my perfect world, we’d update our EOP probably every five, seven years if possible. … Part of that is because, when you have a hand in creating a plan, you have a lot more knowledge about that plan instead of reading it. You’ve developed it, right?” he said. “In addition to that, it helps keep fresh in everybody’s minds how we operate. ... So, being able to focus on making sure that we know what we’re doing, and have that muscle memory.”
Ultimately, Balensifer said, emergencies will be unpredictable and won’t necessarily follow projections, but the plan will offer a framework to manage them.
“You plan to fail in a sense, then plan to manage those failures,” he said.
Earlier this year, the county sought to strengthen emergency management by adding a new department and recruiting a full-time director.
With the North Coast facing unique vulnerabilities from natural disasters, Lieuallen, whose focus is in emergency management, noted that the continuity between jurisdictions is important.
“Disasters don’t respect jurisdictional boundaries. Clatsop County, the city of Warrenton, the city of Gearhart … were all working in tandem to level up content and there is now consistency in approach and content and understanding of the document between communities,” he said. “If anything, it really started a great conversation and model for how the jurisdictions in Clatsop County are starting to think about planning and the nature of reaching in and out of your organization to be sure you’re ready.”
Tiffany Brown, the county’s emergency manager, identified the disaster risk from the Cascadia Subduction Zone as an important consideration.
“It’s really important for all of us to be leaning into that threat, understanding how we will respond,” she said. “Everyone is woefully unprepared, simply because it’s a relatively new understanding we have against the backdrop of all the infrastructure that we’ve developed in the inundation zone. Cities starting to engage with their emergency operations plans really suggests that they’re diving into that work and understanding their response, needs, capabilities, where those gaps exist.
“Anytime you get a group of people — a city — sitting around the table talking about their EOP, that’s going to be a benefit to the city and the community.”
