Emergency Management Commission lacks quorum but has productive session

The shorthanded La Conner Emergency Management Commission managed some heavy lifting last week.

Commissioners Doug Asbe and Jerry George at their Oct. 15 meeting took a deep dive into a risk analysis of various emergency scenarios listed in a draft community Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan due for completion by the end of the year.

They were joined by Administrator Scott Thomas, who called the 75-minute session “a productive meeting” after the trio discussed challenges posed by some 20 potential disaster threats ranging from storm surges and earthquakes to lightning and volcanic activity.

No formal action was taken, however, as the five-member commission – which has two vacancies to fill – did not achieve a quorum.

Asbe, the committee’s new chair and George, its immediate past chair, forged ahead, delving into the 34-page draft document and discussing risk assessment and emergency preparedness.

Mindful of major saltwater flooding nearly two years ago that caused about $2 million in property damage here – the December 2022 event provided the impetus for establishing the emergency management board – the two agreed that storm surge merits the highest local risk score.

Asbe provided good news for the king tide season ahead, citing forecasts of lower high tides this fall and winter.

The threat of local earthquake damage, Asbe and George noted, is less probable than flooding and storm surge but with more severe. impacts

George stressed that earthquake preparedness is paramount.

“You can’t prepare for an earthquake after the shaking starts,” he said.

George contrasted the after-effects of surface earthquakes from those of more remote subduction quakes.

“We have virtually no risk from a subduction tsunami,” he said, “but there has been a tsunami in Puget Sound from the Seattle (earthquake) fault.”

Asbe and George described the proposed CEMP as a living document.

“It will be subject to review,” George said, “as soon as it’s adopted.”

He addressed the benefits of neighborhood mapping, whereby neighborhoods are organized so residents know who lives in each home and what their needs would be in the event of a natural disaster or other emergency.

Asbe noted that in Petersburg, Alaska, a community of about 3,000 people, a local radio station airs regular emergency preparedness tips to build public awareness. That led Thomas to suggest that La Conner – without its own radio station – could hold monthly public preparedness seminars.

“We could go over different topics,” Thomas said, “and employ other resources. There are a lot of resources that would be able to help.”

Asbe said the seminars could enlist law enforcement officers and firefighters as speakers, among others.

“These would be people with specific skills sets,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Town is seeking those with specific skills or civic commitment who would be willing to serve as emergency management commissioners.

“We need two people desperately,” George said at the last town council meeting.