After Camp Fire, what comes next?
The
The disaster has raised concerns for the
County logistics
"The Cascade Fire raised several issues and when you see your sister county go through a horrific event themselves, there's certainly a focus on making
Bendorf said county staff have been working on committees, engagements and advocacy to improve emergency preparedness, with focus on the modernization and enhancement of vegetation management practices, and promoting public infrastructure that is more durable to extreme weather events.
"There's so many components to not only emergency preparedness and response, but also to future planning," Bendorf said.
He's talking about the county's general plan, which may see updates by 2021. The county will begin work on it in the next year or so, and he said staff will look at things like how to plan future growth, hazard-resistant infrastructure and tree mortality.
For Bendorf, what's difficult is balancing property rights with concerns for urban sprawl.
"It's imperative we do the best we can to protect property rights and provide livable, safe communities," he said.
The last nearly two years of local emergencies have taught
"My takeaway from the Sutter Buttes Fire (this summer) in particular is the importance of expecting the unexpected," Mitnick said, "and that we can never be prepared enough for local disasters."
Serious floods in 1955, 1986 and 1997 caught
Mitnick said he met with sheriff-elect
And while the evacuation last year took some people four and five hours and frustrated the public, Mitnick said it still worked -- considering the wall of water initially thought to be heading toward
"But it was really sloppy and messy, and we should have done a better job," he said.
Mitnick said the recent
"We were two counties working very well together with a lot of cooperation," he said.
Medical needs
Health care is an important component in an emergency situation, especially when residents are forced to flee their homes with little to no notice.
And while
"We've been able to improve every time, but it's a fragile population that comes into the shelters because these things happen rapidly; people are unprepared to leave their homes," Vasquez said.
Her staff prepares and trains with the county as a whole, as well as in their own department. The department has storage units throughout the county stocked with supplies necessary to shelters, and they have created partnerships with other agencies -- like
"There's a lot of moving parts involved and a lot of different players that have to come to the table and work together," Vasquez said. "So much of it is about the planning; so much of that happens outside of the disaster itself."
Preparing for
the future
The
He wants officials to focus on all emergencies and the unique impacts, and said earthquakes are a very real possibility not talked about very often. In spring comes water rescues and in summer comes vegetation fires. But day-to-day, he worries about the old structures in downtown
Another important piece to puzzle, he said, is preparing a robust recovery plan -- what is usually the missing link in disasters.
"As a fire department we're versed in dealing with emergencies, we're pretty good at coming up with things to bridge the new crisis, but you can't replace that with being prepared," Karlen said. "I think there's more work to be done and we need to evaluate how
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