Ventura County prepares for disaster

By Debra Tash

Today Ventura County staff was tasked with handling a “Storm Day” event.  Out in the field and at the government center, they were put through their paces in an exercise to hone their ability to deal with a natural disaster. With predictions high for an El Nino winter, Public Works Director Jeff Pratt said his personnel will be, “The first in and the last out,” when it comes to such an event.

The County conducts these exercises annually.  Congress mandated new policies after emergency personnel didn’t carry out their duties in post-Katerina New Orleans.  Deployment logs and other data are to be uploaded to FEMA via SharePoint after an event.

Public Works has 200 miles of drain channels to maintain and 56 dams throughout the County along with numerous debris basins.  Pratt said his department has jurisdiction over anything with a concrete bottom.  Channels and byways with soft fill are under the purview of Fish and Game and to deal with them requires state permits.  Most Public Works channels have already been prepared for the upcoming winter.  However when the hard rains do arrive vegetation and debris can be swept downstream at incredible speeds.  The small channel where the demonstration took place can flow up to 500 cubic feet per second.  Also a problem is debris from further upstream that can be swept off of private property and obstruct the County’s channels and culverts under roadways.  In 1998 trees from a nearby orchard were uprooted and sent downstream by a rain swollen Long Canyon Creek taking out the 1907 bridge spanning it.  It shutdown Caltrans’ Highway 118, a major truck route.

Debris removal demonstrated today at one of the County’s drainage channel

The Ventura River presents another problem.  From the Los Angeles Times: “And like the Ventura River itself–which floods dramatically about once a decade–the tributaries are dangerous when swollen with intense rainfall.”   Pratt mentioned that the river is prone to extreme flooding due to its geology (soils) and to its geography.  The County aims to give anyone at the Ventura Beach RV Resort, at the mouth of the river, sufficient evacuation notice in case of flooding.  Also the County is working on moving the homeless who have encamped on the river bed out before the rains come.  They’re obtaining grant money and hoping to use the Oxnard National Guard Armory, as has been done in the past, for a winter shelter.

Also in attendance was Roger Boross, Superintendent for the Watershed Protection District, who was there overseeing his crew.   He manages Zones 3 and 4 which encompass the east end of the County through Simi Valley.  When debris is cleared from the channels it is taken to one of two yards in his area.  There it is sifted.  Trash, foliage and other waste is then taken to the landfill.  The soil is kept on site and used as infill for erosion repair.

In the case of a widespread emergency the Ventura County Sheriff’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) will activate at the government center.  The EOC is a centralized point for all County departments, the ten cities, special districts, non-governmental organizations and the private sector.  They will get help to where it is needed most.

Ventura County Sheriff’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) running simulations 

Even with the promise of El Nino, and the problems it may present, Mr. Pratt said that large storm events will do little to relieve the drought here.  The volume of water comes quick, and leaves just as fast, flowing out to the sea.  There are some reclamation basins in the County but not enough to capture the runoff in a cost effective way.

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In the event of a REAL emergency go to this website for updates, road closures, mudslides, evacuations, school closures etc. VCEMERGENCY.COM

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Photo Credits: Consortium Media

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Debra Tash is Editor-in-Chief of Citizensjournal.us, past president for Citizens Alliance for Property Rights, business executive and award-winning author, residing in Somis.

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