Whatcom County getting new equipment. Here’s how it’s preparing for another flood disaster
In advance of the rainy season, Whatcom County has received a $4.3 million state grant for supplies that will help officials respond to disasters such as the two rounds of flooding that devastated the region in November 2021, causing some $200 million damage.
Items obtained through the grant include a sandbagging machine, electronic signs to indicate road closures, and trailers filled with necessities to stock an emergency shelter.
In addition, the Sheriff’s Office received funding from the County Council on Aug. 8 to buy two 18-foot rescue boats that could be used in the ocean, lakes or rivers.
With a lack of boats in 2021, many residents of areas near Everson, Nooksack and Sumas were saved by volunteers driving farm implements and construction equipment like tractors and skiploaders through waist-deep floodwaters.
Amy Cloud, spokeswoman for the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office Division of Emergency Management, said funds from the state Commerce Department are buying:
▪ Six portable electronic message boards that can be placed on roads to let drivers know about standing water, detours, road closures and other information
▪ One sandbagging machine, with the intent to buy more
▪ Four all-weather drones
▪ An alert and evacuation notification software system
▪ Six emergency response trailers stocked with items such as hand sanitizer, garbage bags, cleaning materials, 25 cots with blankets and pillows, chairs, generators, a tool kit, a first aid kit, safety vests, office supplies, paper products and feminine supplies.
John Gargett, deputy director of the Division of Emergency Management, said the grant will also fund a radio simulcast system.
“One of the problems during the November 2021 flooding was communications in that there was only one tower (Sumas) that carried the emergency traffic for law enforcement and search and rescue,” Gargett told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
“While the radio did not have a complete failure, it was so heavily used that there were radio traffic collisions. Additionally had we had an issue with this single tower we would not have had reliable communications. The Commerce grant enabled us to upgrade our radio system to a simulcast system, which means that all the towers in our area are receiving and broadcasting simultaneously. Therefore, if we were to loose one of the towers, another tower would pick up the radio traffic,” he said.
Gargett said the equipment and trailers will be stored in areas where flood damage is most likely, allowing a faster response in an emergency.
