When I was with King County Office of Emergency Management (OEM) we had three different EOCs. The first one was in the County Courthouse. The Courthouse had rated a minus score on a seismic vulnerability scale of 1-10. Not the best place to be in an earthquake. And, the space we had available for the EOC was basically the administrative offices for OEM.
There was an interim EOC, the location for which had already been picked when I arrived. It was a vast improvement in space and capabilities. The problem was the location. It was in a flood zone, in an area of liquifaction, on an airport, less than 100 yards from the major N-S railroad, very close to I-5 and in a communications hole. Did I forget to mention the building was non-reinforced masonry construction! Why there? It was a county building of course that needed remodeling. The good news is it ended up being an interim EOC, and the building did get a seismic retrofit as part of the remodel. We survived the Nisqually Earthquake in the facility.
It is understandable that FEMA Region IX would want to locate their offices somewhere else than their current vulnerable location. When there is a disaster you don't want to start with reconstituting your disaster response infrastructure because your EOC is toast!
If you do get to help pick the site for a new EOC location work to eliminate as many hazards and vulnerabilities as possible. That's what we did for our third and final location. You sill be surprised how hard it is to find a place safe!
By the way, the last facility was built on county owned property.
