El Nino in the
OC
Orange County Sheriff’s Department
Emergency Management Division
The mission of the Orange County Sheriff ’s Department’s Emergency Management Division
is to promote, facilitate, and support the County of Orange and the Operational Area (OA)
efforts to prepare for, mitigate against, respond
to and recover from disasters.
Legal Mandates
• OC Emergency Services Ordinance
Title 3, Div 1, Art 1 (updated via Reso 12-036)• OC Operational Area Agreement
• California Emergency Services Act
– Government Code Section 8550-8605
• Disaster Service Worker
– California Government Code Section 3100 – 3109
• California Disaster and Civil Defense Master Mutual Aid Agreement
• Federal Stafford Act
• National Incident Management System
• NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP 1
– Criteria for Preparation and Evaluation of Radiological Emergency Response Plans, Preparedness in Support of Nuclear Power Plants
Trabuco Creek (L02)
Laguna Beach December 23, 2010
Laguna Beach December 22, 2010
Laguna Beach
December 24, 2010 Laguna Beach
December 24, 2010
Marian O'Sullivan, a 5th grade teacher at St. John the Baptist Catholic School in Costa Mesa, center, is joined by helpers to sweep out water that flooded the school after heavy rains pounded Orange County on Monday. (1-18-2012)
LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
3,081,804 Residents*
6
thLargest County in US by Pop 948 Sq. Miles
42 miles of Coastline 34 Cities
31 Special Districts 33 School Districts 25 County Agencies
8 Federally Declared Disasters in 10 years
Average of 5 EOC Activations per Year
* 2013 CA Dept of Finance Figures
OC Statistics
OA/County EOC Activations Since 2005
• Storm-Prado Dam Jan/2005
• Laguna Beach Landslides June/2005
• 9-1-1 Communication Failure Oct/2005
• Sierra Ridge Fire Feb/2006
• Windy Ridge Fire March/2007
• Diemer Water Emergency March/2007
• Santiago Fire Oct/2007
• Winter Storms-Debris Flow Nov/2007
• Winter Storms-Debris Flow Dec/2007
• Winter Storms-Debris Flow Jan/2008
• H1N1 April/2009
• Severe Weather-Storm/Debris Flow May/2008
• Severe Weather-Storm/Debris Flow May/2008
• Freeway Complex Fire Nov/2008
• Winter Storms-Debris Flow Nov/2008
• Tsunami Advisory Sept/2009
• Winter Storms-Debris Flow Jan/2010
• Tsunami Advisory Feb/2010
• Winter Storm-Mud Flows Dec/2010
• Japan EQ-Tsunami Advisory- Nuclear Incident March/2011
• Southern CA Power Outage Sept/2011
• SONGS Alert Nov/2011
• Anaheim Riot/OCSD July/2012
• La Habra Earthquake March 2014
• Silverado Fire September 2014
• Winter Storms 2014-2015
• Tsunami Advisory Sept 2015
Orange County Operational Area Hazard Analysis
#1 Flood / Storm
#2 Hazardous Materials Event (fixed location or transportation)
#3 Fire / Wildland Fire
#4 Earthquake
#5 Civil Disturbance/Riot
#6 Aircraft Incident
#7 Oil Spill
#8 Drought
#9 Train/Transportation Accident
#10 Dam Failure
#11 Disease Outbreak/Epidemic
#12 SONGS
#13 Terrorism
#14 High Winds
County Responsibilities
• Emergency Operations Center, Plan, Training, Exercises
• Emergency Management Council/Policy
– Emergency Management Council Subcommittee
• Director of Emergency Services/Command & Control
– Line of succession
• Mutual Aid Coordination
• Operational Area Coordination
• Public Health and Safety
• Public Information
• OES/FEMA Resources, Information, Recovery
Coordination
EMD Responsibilities
• Consequence Management
– Coordinating County Agency Response/Recovery
• Dual function
– Local Disaster Management/Disaster Council
– Operational Area Lead/Operational Area Executive Board
• 24/7 Contact Operational Area for Cal OES
• EOC Mobilization and Support
• Countywide Disaster Plan Development and Coordination with OA
• Countywide Disaster Training and Exercises
• Disaster Recovery Coordination
• Policy Development
General EOC Triggers
• Incident to extend beyond one operational period
• Incident requires development of Incident Action Plan
• Incident requires mobilization of mobile command post
• Incident involves multiple response agencies or jurisdictions
• Complex incident
– Life, property, environment protection
– Response and support operations necessary – Enhanced communications required
• Significant number of resources mobilized and dedicated to incident
– Mutual aid– Unique resources to manage – Volunteers
• Before incident begins to stabilize
• Recovery phase is expected
Specific EOC Activation Triggers
• The Orange County Operational Area
Emergency Operations Plan list the following EOC activation triggers:
– On Request - A local government within the OA has activated its EOC and requested
activation of the OA EOC to support its emergency operations.
• Two City Local Emergency Proclamations
• County & City Local Emergency Proclamation
• Request for Governor’s Proclamation
El Nino EOC Activation Triggers
• The Operational Area Emergency Operations Center may activate if one or more of the following occur :
– OC Public Works advises the Storm Operations Manual has been activated to Stage 3 or higher
– At the request of OCPW -- Operational Area Coordinator.
• National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood Warning in a recent Orange County Burn Scar area and/or pre-identified debris flow triggers are met as indicated in specific plans.
• Incident extend beyond (2) operational periods and actual rainfall amount is:
– 6 inches or Greater in a 24 hour period (25 year storm)
• Hydrology-Soil Saturation levels from back to back storms:
• USACE notification of 8,000 CFS or greater release of water from Prado Dam.
• Overtopping or degradation of flood channels and river beds.
• Shelter operations for 1000 or more people Flooding and erosion of beach areas, and local jurisdictions requesting assistance.
• Damage Assessment is required and/or Recovery phase is expected
El Nino Preparedness Actions
• Previous work with Post Fire Debris Flow Unified Command
• Hazard Mitigation Plan 2015 Revision
• Responder Training
• Public Education
– Town Hall Meetings on El Nino, Public Safety Expos – ReadyOC
– El Nino Website
• September 2015 Winter Weather Workshop
– 156 Attendees: Operational Area wide
• October 22, 2015 Cal OES—Southern Counties Tabletop Exercise
• November 4, 2015 County Agency Coordination Meeting
– Employing 1997-1998 Tactics
• December 1, 2015—EOC Training Day
• December 2, 2015—Disaster Recovery Training
• January 5, 2015—EOC Training Day
Complexities of El Nino
• Cascading Impacts
– Storm Surge
– Coastal Erosion and Flooding – Life Safety Rescues
– Landslides (protracted out i.e. Bluebird Canyon) – Critical Infrastructures
– Housing
– Regional Impacts
– Disaster Fatigue
El Nino Response Actions
• Event driven
• Expectations include:
– Emergency Proclamation – Public Information
– Situational Assessment
• Multi Agency Field Response
• Street Closures
• Evacuations—including homeless population
• Shelter Operations
• Damage Assessment
• Hydrology & Geotechnical Assessments
• Coordination of damage information for OA
– Recovery Process
• Damage Assessment and Cost Tracking
