City officials from Kent, Tukwila, Renton and Auburn were part of a four-day exercise this week about how to restore communities following disasters, including a major flood in the Green River Valley.
The first of its kind training exercise also included representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Boeing and King County, according to a FEMA and King County media release.
“The scenario simulated a major flood in the Green River Valley, but it could just as easily have been an earthquake scenario, widespread flu epidemic or even a terrorist strike,” said Ken Murphy, FEMA regional administrator. “The scenario was designed to push existing plans to their limits, to provide maximum learning opportunities.”
More than 250 private, public and volunteer agency participants met at Boeing’s Seattle facility for an intensive four-day Integrated Emergency Management Course conducted by FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute. The course focused on the critical and sometimes overlooked transition between the first days of a response and the long-term demands of whole community recovery.
Murphy said public officials and emergency managers were placed in a realistic, fast-paced crisis scenario within a structured learning environment to validate real-world disaster response and recovery plans.
Elected officials, including King County Executive Dow Constantine, Auburn Mayor Pete Lewis, Kent Mayor Suzette Cooke, Renton Mayor Denis Law, and Tukwila Mayor Jim Haggerton learned from nationally recognized disaster experts and put the newly developed Regional Disaster Recovery Plan through its paces. They gleaned a number of lessons to better protect public health, safety, and economic re-vitalization post-disaster.
“Disaster recovery involves restoring communities to a ‘new normal’ following a disaster,” said Hillman Mitchell, King County Office of Emergency Management director. “It’s about getting assistance to people in need, getting critical infrastructure and services working again, and restoring business continuity.”
The private sector is also an important stakeholder in regional response, recovery and resiliency, according to David Komendat, Boeing vice president and chief security officer.
“It is important that Boeing effectively partner with state and federal agencies as well as our municipal neighbors so we have our emergency plans and procedures in place well before we need to rely on them,” Komendat said. “Boeing operations depend heavily on the availability of major transportation links like air, rail, shipping and highways; all of which are essential to our business and economic vitality. We all have a vested interest in protecting this critical infrastructure and restoring it as soon as possible following a disaster.”
The course concluded with an “After Action Review” that identified what worked well, areas for improvement, and how to incorporate them into a revised recovery plan.
For more information on emergency planning for yourself, your family, your community or business visit: www.kingcounty.gov/prepare.
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