Lessons Learned and Planning for Future Emergencies in Missoula

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - The storm that plowed through western Montana on July 25 caused millions in damages, and tested the mettle of city, county, and state emergency personnel in their response.

On KGVO’s City Talk segment of Talk Back on Friday, Adriane Beck, Director of the Office of Emergency Management, and Nick Holloway, Deputy Disaster and Emergency Services Coordinator, answered questions from listeners about the event and how the community responded.

Adriane Beck and Nick Holloway Look Back at Storm Response

“Emergencies are a process, and in the very early stages, our focus is primarily on that immediate life safety component; answering those 911 calls, making sure that we have the appropriate resources to deal with those immediate life safety hazards as we kind of check those things off,” began Beck. “Then we move into that incident stabilization component, you know, stop the loss, prevent and mitigate any future impacts from what happened, and then ultimately, we end up in a place where we are trying to put things back together.”

Beck said the wind event did not catch emergency responders completely unaware.

Beck said Responders did Have some Advance Storm Warning

“We were geared up on Wednesday, thinking that this front that was going to come through and it was going to be very hazardous from the standpoint of the fact that we were already in extreme fire danger, we already had one large fire on the landscape, the Miller Peak Fire,” she said. “We did not anticipate or expect that we were going to have the level of damage and destruction that occurred within the city limits and county-wide wide for that matter, the power outages and the safety hazards that were presented.”

Nick Holloway said existing emergency procedures helped to reduce the impact of the storm.

“It was pretty hectic for the first 12 hours or so after the storm occurred,” began Holloway. “We knew we had to get to work pretty quickly and start prioritizing those resources that were out there and helping 911, with their overflow. In my mind, it worked out pretty well. Was it perfect? No, it never will be. It never looks the same twice, but it went well.”

Beck said Families Should Start Planning for the Next Emergency

Beck wrapped up the hour by asking families to have a serious discussion as to how to respond to the next emergency, which she said is sure to come.

“It's really an opportunity for people to begin having those dinner table conversations with their household about ‘what if’,” she said. “Coming up with your own personal plans of, ‘where would I go if I couldn't stay in my house? Do we have, do we have family close by? Would we go to a hotel? Would we wait for a shelter to be opened up, and will we go there? Having those conversations ahead of time, and just gaming those types of things out and that, what if, kind of framework really takes the stress out of when something does happen, and you're not sitting there asking, well now what, because you've already kind of thought through some of those things.”

Beck also took the opportunity to encourage everyone in the community to sign up for Smart 9-1-1.

Find out more about Smart 9-1-1 here.