Small-town disaster response

Jeff May, P.E., Public Works Director, City of Knoxville, Iowa, and Kürt D. Blomquist, P.E., Public Works Director, City of Keene, New Hampshire; members of APWA’s Emergency Management Committee

urricanes, tsunamis, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes and snowstorms have been a large part of the news headlines the last few years. The images of devastation and destruction have been on the front pages of newspapers and all over the Internet. Recovering from these monumental disasters requires an enormous amount of resources.

National events such as Hurricane Katrina, the tsunami in Japan and the Haiti earthquake have garnered national and international attention. These events utilized workforces from all around the United States and the world to aid in the response and recovery efforts. Large regional/ local events such as the F5 tornado in Parkersburg, Iowa in 2008, the Iowa City tornado in 2006, the Cedar Rapids, Iowa flood of 2008, the snow storm in Chicago in 2011, the Joplin, Missouri tornado in 2011, the Missouri River flooding in 2011 and the recent east coast hurricane and snow storm in succession have received national attention and have received federal assistance with response and recovery operations.

But what happens in smaller communities where the impacts of a disaster are only of local significance? In small towns like Knoxville, Iowa with a population of 7,331, response and recovery activities are largely left to the City’s workforce. Knoxville has 12 full-time employees (reduced from 16 previously due to budget constraints) in the Public Works Department that has responsibility for streets, cemetery, parks, wastewater and contract observation.

The City of Knoxville has experienced several events that taxed the Public Works Department including an 18” snow event in January 1996, a windstorm in June 1997, an ice storm in October of 1997, a 17” snow event in January of 2004, an ice storm in February of 2007, and an ice storm in December of 1997 that left large parts of the city without power for several days and required cleanup that lasted up to two months. The tasks for the public works departments in small communities in an emergency/ disaster are similar to those in larger communities and start with response and finish with the longer recovery.

The most significant event for Knoxville was the windstorm in June 1997. The city was hit with 80 mph straight winds that leveled trees throughout the town and left many residents without power for days. Restoration of power was delayed due to the time it took to remove downed trees to allow the power company access to their facilities. City crews along with Iowa Department of Transportation crews and Knoxville Water Works crews spent seven weeks picking up debris. Since the storm was so localized federal assistance was not available and cleanup was left to be funded by the City. The December 2007 ice storm was another significant local event that took over two months to clean up. The cleanup from that event was interrupted by several snow events that stopped the storm cleanup operations. Response and recovery activities for small communities become a daunting task with the city/town needing to continue to provide its services, such as wastewater and cemetery, while devoting every available person to disaster response and recovery operations. How do small communities handle these tasks? In many communities public works professionals must wear multiple hats. Along with being the Public Works Director/Supervisor you may also be the community’s Engineer or responsible for direct supervision of field crews. This situation requires the municipality to use every available employee. It doesn’t matter if you are a wastewater operator, a cemetery sexton or streets laborer, you are involved in the storm cleanup and recovery. It will mean reaching out across departmental lines. Your building officials become your damage assessment team, Parks and Recreation staff may supplement road crews, City Hall administrative personnel answer calls in the Emergency Operation Center. This requires communication ahead of time and meeting with various staffs so they understand and know how they will fit into the community’s response and recovery operations. Small communities face the challenge of providing National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Incident Command System (ICS) training to all their employees, not just the ones that would typically be involved in street operations. In small communities the response and recovery activities are completed

by a handful of individuals that are involved in every portion and aspect of the operation since there are typically not enough employees to divide up into separate crews. This makes preplanning and understanding your community’s priorities critical to avoid the wasting of resources.

Small communities rely on volunteer assistance from the residents. Residents help by sorting debris and cutting the debris to a size that fits in the City’s trucks and stacking them in a manner that is easy to pick up. Local businesses can participate by donating meals to help feed crews and volunteers working long hours. It is important that you reach out ahead of any event. If possible you should identify who would provide what resource so there is not a duplication of effort. You should identify an individual or group to assist you in coordinating volunteer efforts. During any kind of event you will be tasked with multiple activities and having a volunteer coordinate will assure the most effective use of that resource.

Small communities also rely on assistance from private companies. Knoxville is fortunate to have Vermeer Manufacturing located in our county. Vermeer has provided assistance during disasters by providing chippers and grinders. In response to the 2007 ice storm Vermeer brought in a large tub grinder and spent several days grinding the debris to reduce the debris volume. Establishing a relationship or contract with various private companies prior to an event will be critical. It allows you to balance what you may need for resources, establish procedures for activating the contract support and will be one less action that will need to be completed during the event.

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Winner of Transportation Development Foundations 2009 Roadway Work Zone Safety Awareness Award “Innovations in Product” Disasters in small communities provide unique challenges. The limited size of the workforce and the limited amount of equipment available in small cities/towns can increase the time it takes to clean up and recover. Staffing the essential operations while also staffing a crew to clean up and recover from disasters puts emphasis on planning and training. Making sure everyone has completed NIMS and ICS training helps small cities/ towns with staffing options and can provide employees the opportunity to experience work very different from their usual work day.

Jeff May can be reached at (641) 828-0550 or publicworksdirector@ discoverknoxville.com; Kürt D. Blomquist can be reached at (603) 3526550 or kblomquist@ci.keene.nh.us.

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