Emergency officials plan for disaster

It starts with a sharp, shaking jolt. A firefighter e-mails his Chief to report the jolt and to note that he is monitoring radio traffic.

Reports start coming in that chimneys have fallen over in Sisters residences. There has been an earthquake.

Water is rising in Whychus Creek - and emergency officials know what that means: the glacial moraine dam at Carver Lake on the slopes of South Sister has given way and 33 million cubic feet of water is heading toward Sisters.

That was the scenario presented to some 25 representatives of local emergency agencies - the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office, the Forest Service, three local fire districts - and local municipalities late last month.

It was the first tabletop exercise using a draft of the nearly completed Greater Sisters Emergency Operations Plan.

"The exercise was a success," said Sisters Fire Chief Tay Robertson, "but it was a first step."

The exercise was essentially a run through of a checklist of actions to be taken in the event of a disaster, such as the breaching of the glacial moraine dam at Carver Lake. Different agencies must organize and coordinate efforts to mobilize efforts as quickly as possible - and everyone involved has to know what everyone else is responsible for doing.

"You'll just have pande-monium if you don't, because everybody will try to do something and nothing will be coordinated," Robertson said.

The plan is funded through a Homeland Security grant - $75,000 for planning and $8,000 for exercises. The consulting firm ESCi of Portland is drafting the plan, which covers the Sisters, Cloverdale, and Black Butte Ranch fire districts, including National Forest lands, resorts, the City of Sisters and large portions of the jurisdictions of Deschutes and Jefferson counties.

The Carver Lake scenario is just one of several disaster scenarios, which also include wildfire. Many scenarios have overlapping requirements and planning for a major problem like the dumping of Carver Lake can be applied to more limited disasters like a rain-on-snow event that causes flooding on Whychus Creek.

The plan will undergo further refinement before a final draft is agreed upon by the players. Then there will be more exercises, most of them of the tabletop variety conducted last month, but some including live drills.

Robertson says that the process is critical to the ongoing safety of the Sisters area.

"Without a plan, we're doomed to fail in our response as public safety services and the public safety will be compromised," Robertson said. "So this planning effort is critical."

Next week, Fire Chief Tay Robertson discusses the potential threat of Carver Lake.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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