Experiences Gained: Be Detailed in Planning and Evaluating Staff
Orange County, Texas, offers an insightful example of the types of staffing considerations localities experience during a disaster. The county was faced with a unique natural disaster situation in March of 2016 when the nearby Sabine River reached record-level highs, forcing operators at the Toledo Bend Dam to release water at an accelerated rate, flooding part of the county. Although county officials had two weeks to prepare for the flooding, they had no experience with flood waters coming from the north.
“Everything was flipped,” says Barry Burton, County Commissioner. “We had no historical data, no experience. You couldn’t model it, because all of our models have water coming from the south. But we had the luxury in that we knew it was coming.”
The advance notice allowed the county to coordinate with external resources for staffing needs in advance of the flooding. “We had at least 12 agencies here, plus volunteer groups,” says Charlie Cox, who was hired as the county’s OEM coordinator in June after being deployed there in March.
Yet the county faced challenges with its internal staffing plan, starting with unfilled positions. “I thought I was coming in to help when I was deployed here. I didn’t realize how much I’d have to take on,” says Cox. Burton agrees. “We lost time trying to train people and get them in the right place,” he says.
Borrowing from other departments in the county also proved challenging. “Everyone has a full-time job,” says Burton. “When a disaster happens they’re still going to be needed to do their regular job.” Additionally, staff who work for an elected official may have conflicts receiving directives from outside their own office.
The flooding in Orange County presented an additional challenge to staffing models because only part of the county was affected. “We only had plans for a county-wide disaster,” says Burton. “If you have workers who are displaced, you send them home for a week and they’re still getting their 40 hours that week. Those who aren’t affected, who have to work feel it’s unfair.”
Given their experience, Burton and Cox have several pieces of advice for localities who are developing or revising staffing models in their disaster plans.
- Train staff in an ongoing, team environment. Enroll staff members in training and drill practice together so they can build relationships with each other. Include requirements for initial and ongoing training for each position in the disaster plan.
- Whenever possible, have staff train with and learn from those who have worked through a disaster. “There’s no replacement for on-the-ground experience,” says Cox
- Plan and write out specific roles and duties during a natural disaster for each staff member in the EOC. Many localities will need to bring in people from different departments to help staff the EOC in a natural disaster. These employees – and their department heads – must know their responsibilities in a disaster and how to prioritize them with every day responsibilities. These details should be written out in the disaster plan.
- Specify how staff will be compensated when developing the disaster plan. Anticipate what scenarios may cause problems with staff compensation. For example, disaster plans should address scenarios that effect both the entire jurisdiction or only part of it.
- Also, specify if and how compensation will differ for staff who perform emergency duties outside their job description.
- Do paperwork associated with external personnel requests in advance. “If a disaster were coming my way now, I’ve already prefilled paperwork to ask for management teams from Forestry,” says Cox.
Emergency management officials in Orange County, Texas, found themselves faced with unique impending natural disaster and in March 2016. The nearby Sabine River had reached record-high levels after the region had received over 20 inches of rain in a week. The integrity of the Toledo Bend Dam was questioned, forcing dam operators to release water that flooded neighboring Orange County. At its peak, the amount of water flowing over the dam per minute was equivalent to the water flow of Niagara Falls.
Although the county had two weeks to prepare for the water releases over the dam, their flood plans only accounted for flooding from the Gulf and county officials were left scrambling to develop plan.
While certain parts of the community were untouched by the flooding, emergency management officials issued mandatory and voluntary evacuations for other parts of the county that were severely impacted. In anticipation of the water releases, more than a dozen agencies – from the Texas National Guard to the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas Forestry Service and county officials from neighboring counties – gathered at the Orange County Emergency Operations Center to begin planning and assisting with immediate recovery efforts.
The county spent nearly $700,000 in disaster recovery and repairs. All of the county money spent was reimbursed by FEMA after an agreement was approved more than eight months after the flooding.