'How we're going to protect people': Reducing severity of future floods in Richland County
Floods in Richland County have threatened the livelihoods of residents and damaged structures ranging from houses to bridges, and they wreak that havoc every year.
That was the premise Wednesday when first responders, elected officials and engineers discussed how to better prepare for future calamities.
Thirty of them listened as Sandy Hovest, president of Resource Solutions Associates, helped them discover ways they could mitigate the effects of natural disasters.
Those hazards, she said, can be any size.
"We're talking about incidents that disrupt our day," Hovest said.
The county eventually will give the Federal Emergency Management Agency its plan to lessen hazard intensity.
'How we're going to protect people'
Hovest helps officials in 20 counties with emergency preparedness.
When it comes to flooding, she said everyone's first thought is typically about buildings that are affected.
"If it takes you with it, that's a bigger deal," Hovest said. "We have to talk about how we're going to protect people."
At-risk populations need the most help: elderly, disabled, unemployed and homeless.
"We have people who, if their house was destroyed by a storm, don't have anywhere to go," Hovest said. "I call it 'residentially instable.' "
She told county leaders residents are considered disadvantaged if they don't have at least $400 available to cover sudden disaster damages.
"There are a lot of people who don't have $400 cash," Hovest said.
'What were the damages?'
The emergency planner split Wednesday's participants into five subgroups: law enforcement, firefighters and paramedics, engineers, public health agencies and elected officials.
Their task was to discuss the frequency, duration, severity and effect of floods countywide.
"Talk about these situations from your perspectives," Hovest instructed them.
They thought back to floods over the past decade. They wrote down what streets had the most damage in each of the county's cities, villages and unincorporated areas. They added to incomplete FEMA data.
"What were the damages?" Hovest asked them to record. "Did you have flooded basements? Did you have roads that needed rerouted? What were the costs?"
More: Mansfield weather records since 1895
Floods pose threats of erosion and water rescues
The parties shared their discoveries.
Randy Hutchinson, mayor of Ontario, noted the Home Road area in his city is the headwaters of Touby Run, which can lead to flooding in other parts of the county.
"We talked erosion," Hutchinson said.
The mayor said there are several places countywide where streams are eating away ground, posing a future threat to roads, bridges and buildings.
A recurring nightmare for everyone involved Wednesday was the possibility major floods could block multiple roads throughout the county at the same time.
In fact, as Shelby Fire Chief Mike Thompson pointed out, the data included only the actual floods and not the untold number of times emergency personnel have stared at a river and then sighed in relief after the waters stopped rising.
"These are some of the biggies," Thompson said. "There are many others."
Should multiple areas severely flood at the same time, the first responders agreed, they aren't sure which agencies across the region have advanced water rescue equipment, which is something they plan to research.
Single parents and older adults could use an extra hand
A lot of people countywide could become endangered by floodwaters.
A faction that Terry Carter, coordinator of First Call 211, wanted everyone to keep in mind was one-parent homes.
From her experience, a lot of single parents take their kids to childcare centers during the workday. In the event of a natural disaster, those adults then must choose between earning much-needed money and watching their children.
"Maybe we can build up daycare centers operating as essential services, not just as businesses," Carter said.
Parents, older adults and many others, she added, could also benefit from knowing where they can seek shelter during storms.
Once the discussions had ended, Hovest told everyone they had come up with a lot of helpful information. She will compile their notes into report for the county's EMA office, which will be added to during future review sessions.
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Richland County officials reviewed their flood hazard mitigation plan
