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OPINION
There is something not right about giving an after-action report on the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) that had been stood up for a snow storm 5 days ago when the temperature today (Sunday) is forecasted for 80 degrees, a possible record high. Besides that, we haven’t seen snow in the Fountain Valley for weeks. The Sheriff’s Office started receiving reports of drifting snow in the north and east portion of county early in the day. Road crews began pushing snow in the morning and by lunch time our County Assessor got a call from his wife to let him know if he didn’t get headed home to Falcon soon he may not make it. Mark Lowderman didn’t leave the office for another couple of hours, but in his defense it was only windy and raining downtown and he was driving his ¾ ton 4-wheel drive. By the time he got home there were white out conditions and the roads and ditches had drifted level. Judging from the 161 stranded motorists and 200 stuck vehicle calls received by the EOC, several people had a similar experience but with different results. As you would assume by the name, the Emergency Operations Center is activated during emergencies. The EOC is overseen by the staff in our Office of Emergency Management and manned by volunteers taking time from their regular day jobs and a County Transportation employee for coordination efforts. While I was there we had about 15 people each responsible for a specific task or to communicate with an agency in the field. The Governor activated the National Guard who rescued stranded motorists and delivered food provided by the Salvation Army to some of the 140 students whose school busses were stranded and had walked to neighboring houses. When the county sent its snowplow operators home due to meeting the legally allowed hours of service, Fort Carson sent in a snow plow and road grader to clear the road for the rescue vehicles. In one case a school bus with children on board stopped at a downed power line, with the help of the wind slid on the ice and was stuck for 5 hours until Mtn. View Electric could get a crew out and a road grader plowed a path to get them back to safety. According to the latest report some people will have been without power a week or more. After seeing how school busses full of kids added a whole new layer to emergency response and imagining what it must have been like for the kids, their parents, and homeowners turned host for the night, I vowed to be more tolerant of those outlying schools when they close due to weather. When the EOC stood down at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning, they looked out the window and saw a neighbor cutting his grass, wearing shorts. CONTACT THE WRITER • HISEY4CD4@MSN.COM |
