But on Monday, when overflowing Cowiche Creek inundated county and city homes, emergency management staff for both jurisdictions were not talking to each other about services for displaced residents.
“Between our office, the Red Cross, and the individuals in the Riverview Manor Mobile Home Park, there were some difficulties getting ahold of the city,” said Scott Miller, director of the Yakima County Office of Emergency Management.
“We were trying to respect the city’s jurisdiction, but finally at 4 o’clock I told the Red Cross to open the shelter for those people because there was water rising around their homes,” Miller said.
Interim City Manager Jeff Cutter agrees there was a communication breakdown with the county, but said city emergency responders were working in the area, talking with mobile home park residents about the potential need for evacuation and otherwise managing the flooding of city streets.
“We were on the scene throughout the day and into the night,” Cutter said. “I know they tried to call us and we tried to call them and I don’t know what happened exactly. ... But it’s a public safety issue and obviously we both need to do a better job in communicating.”
Such coordination didn’t used to be a problem, because the city of Yakima was part of the county Office of Emergency Management (OEM), which is a cooperative group composed of cities, towns and the county. But in 2014, Yakima decided to pull out and set up its own emergency response office.
“It just seemed ironic that they left OEM saying that they could save money, and (Monday), in the midst of that situation, we had the question, ‘Where’s the city?’” said Yakima County Commissioner Mike Leita. “I don’t know, they might have been there and it was just a miscommunication, but it is a concern.”
According to Cody Tessler of the Red Cross of Yakima, the problem was that city offices were closed for the Presidents Day holiday and he didn’t have a cellphone number for the city’s emergency management director.
“It was just a delay because I couldn’t get ahold of them,” Tessler said. “Now that I have the number and know how to get ahold of the city office of emergency management, it’ll be easier in the future.”
The direct impact was minimal — a Red Cross shelter was still set up and then ended up not being needed for Riverview Manor residents because the water did not rise as high as officials initially feared.
But having all the emergency management officials on the same page during future events is key to a successful response, said Jim Hall, the longtime emergency management director for the county who retired at the end of 2014.
“The optimum goal is to have everybody working together so that you don’t go into an event trying to figure out who you need to talk to,” Hall said. “Being together and coordinated at the outset is a big piece of how successful you’ll be at the other end.”
Tessler said the good news is that now everyone is better prepared to communicate, and Cutter said the city will be looking into what it can do to prevent similar issues in the future.
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