Thanks to the December windstorm and ensuing snow and ice hiccups that all but shackled the city, staffers have had several opportunities to execute its emergency preparedness procedures, and then evaluate successes and failures.
After all is said and done, a single buzz word has surfaced.
"One thing we learned was that we need to have a better system of communication," said Tracy Burrows, senior management analyst with the city.
And Helen Ahrens-Byington, deputy chief for the Kirkland Fire Department and emergency manager for city emergency preparedness agreed: "The general information we're getting is that we did pretty well. Communication with our citizens is one of the biggest areas where we can improve."
So exactly how will this be done?
For starters, Burrows mentioned that the city needs a point person with Puget Sound Energy. "We had conflicting information as to when power would be back on; sometimes there was no information at all," she said. The point person optimally would provide reliable information that the city would deliver to residents.
This is one item in an after-action report that the city is putting together, which is focusing on the difficulty in communicating to an entire city with a complete power outage. "Now we're trying to set policies and practices so that we continue to improve communication," said Ahrens-Byington, who has emerged as the key organizer in emergency preparedness in the city.
Disseminating information
Some potential communication channels in the event of another power outage include:
* Using the CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) group to deliver flyers in neighborhoods. (This is the group of citizens who have taken fire department-certified emergency training.)
* Putting flyers in grocery stores that had power.
* Using the volunteer group (ARES) Amateur Radio Emergency Services, which is the ham radio part of the fire department.
"We're trying to connect all the dots to get information out there," Ahrens-Byington said. "Once we get everything set up, we'll publish emergency phone number with all of the city numbers. It will be an information line that's updated." She recommends that citizens go to the city Web site www.ci.kirkland.wa.us to stay updated; look under fire and building and emergency management. Along these lines, she advises having at least one corded phone. As long as there's phone service, it will work.
Red Cross
Another gap was discovered: with Red Cross shelters. There weren't any set up in Kirkland. The closest was in Bellevue, which opened the weekend following the Thursday windstorm. "I called Evergreen Hospital [to help disseminate information] when we found out about shelters opening," Ahrens-Byington said.
However, she has since learned from the Red Cross that shelters need to be set up regionally because they are so labor intensive. Cities shouldn't expect specific overnight shelter assistance. Instead, cities could help provide transportation for their residents to get to the nearest shelter.
Burrows said the city was in contact with the Red Cross the afternoon of the storm and was frustrated at the response time. "There wasn't a critical need this time around as far as we know," said Burrows. "But there's a gap there. We want more day shelters in town - just to warm up and get coffee."
Emergency Operations Center
The city, including the police, fire and public works departments and the city manager's office, had already taken a pre-emptive strike at the storm and set up its own emergency operations center early Dec. 14. Ahrens-Byington said it was activated at 6 p.m. that day. "It was one point to coordinate all calls - 911 service calls got channeled to the EOC," she said. Extra people had already been called in, she added.
Ahrens-Byington did say that Kirkland's EOC could work better with King County EOC and improve its connection as a viable center. Kirkland is working on having more of a representation in King County's Zone 1, which includes Eastside cities, "to have our needs better expressed," she said.
Drainage problem?
The December windstorm was preceded by torrential rains, leaving many to question of the viability of the city's drainage system. "Our system is sized to adequately handle pretty significant flooding," said Daryl Grigsby, director of the city's Public Works Department. "We have a 72-inch pipeline storm drain that runs on Central Way. It's sized to handle flooding of significant size," he added.
According to statistics, Kirkland received 1.6 inches of rain in 67 minutes. In addition, one 11-minute period registered more than half an inch of water. "That's a lot of water, especially in an urban area with impervious surfaces where the water would run off," said Grigsby.
This is precisely the point, some say. Is Kirkland outgrowing its current drain system? Grigsby offers an unequivocal no. "The system is sized for 25-year and 50-year storms," he said. "Basically, the system that's out there now was not adequate to handle that kind of flow, but you can't build it to ultimate capacity because the pipeline would be bigger than Central Way itself. And it would be unaffordable. At some point there's a balance."
A common sight during the deluge depicted many residents furiously cleaning storm drains. Kirkland City Council has received several flood-related complaints and claims.
In a response to a resident's Dec. 18 e-mail concerning the lack of street sweeping before the storm, the city council said that the city's two street sweepers are deployed about 11 times a year and that fall leaves and debris normally add a substantial amount to the roadway, slowing down the sweepers' progress.
The memo stated: "In this particular storm, the intensity of the storm washed more debris than normal onto the streets and gutters of the city." The memo added that the city is reviewing its current procedures.
Grigsby said that the worst flooding was Parkplace, Lake Street, Juanita and N.E. 85th Street.
"The fact that you don't do it that often ... the beauty of this is we get to see how we respond in an emergency," said Grigsby. "Some things went well and there are some things that could be improved." For instance, he said that they had public works crews out in the height of the windstorm - obviously a potentially dangerous situation. Next time they will wait until the storm subsides.
Like the Boy Scout motto, the message is to be prepared. The standard rule of thumb today is to be self-sufficient for three days (see www.govlink.org/3days3ways for more information). For the most part, Ahrens-Byington said most people reacted appropriately. "They checked on neighbors and shared supplies," she said. "That's what a community does."[[In-content Ad]]
