Laserfiche WebLink
SinmnoNs YOU WILL FACE <br />AFTER A RooD <br />"The wake of a flood is a traumatic time and the easy thing to do is to rush in <br />and fix what's been destroyed. We've learned that this is the time to ask if rushing to <br />rebuild is just reinvesting in a future disaster and causing other long-term <br />problems." — Terry Young, former Mayor, Tulsa, Oklahoma <br />Your job after a flood will be far easier if your community has pay-off will be lives saved and property preserved. <br />undertaken both emergency preparedness and mitigation <br />planning before the flood. Without such planning, very little <br />gets done immediately after a flood. Emotions run too high. <br />At this time you have two prin <br />responsibilities as a local official: <br />• Directing the immediate use of <br />your community's resources to <br />deal with the emergency; and <br />• Directing your community's <br />longer -term recovery effort. <br />EMERGENCY RESPONSE At the . <br />and county levels of government, e.�..«u viiik-ialD <br />play key roles in an emergency. The public expects its <br />elected officials to show up and take charge. If your <br />community is flooded, you and other local officials must <br />MITIGATION After the immediate flood emergency <br />has passed, you face a number of other tasks that should <br />mitigate (reduce or eliminate risk) <br />zst future flood losses: <br />Learning what caused the flood, who <br />was affected, and to what extent. <br />• Dealing with an emotional <br />citizenry who want answers and <br />immediate action. <br />"in <br />ding out exactly what type of <br />aid to expect, and when. <br />• Taking advantage of the "window of opportunity" <br />to guide redevelopment. <br />• Leading your community's post -flood efforts. <br />respond to supply lifesaving operations, restore vital ser- FINDING OUT WHAT HAPPENED First, you need to <br />vices, and provide for the human needs of the victims. investigate what happened and who was affected. If you <br />Successful emergency operations are the result of <br />having been prepared. Experience shows that when <br />emergency plans and procedures are made, understood, <br />practiced, and used, reaction times during the emergency <br />are reduced, coordination is improved, and overall res- <br />ponse and recovery measures are more effective. The <br />were involved in the emergency response, then you may <br />already have much information. If not, then your previ- <br />ously acquired understanding of your community's flood <br />problem will greatly help you. <br />You will also want to know the cause so you can <br />respond to the public and the media. The state and federal <br />page 21 <br />