PORT HADLOCK — When the National Weather Service warns of “dangerous and life-threatening” weather — such was the case with last weekend’s snowstorm — Jefferson County’s Emergency Operations Center is activated and staffed around the clock until the threat passes.
The center, situated in the building that houses JeffComm/911 emergency dispatch and the county jail at Elkins Road, is activated maybe only three or four times a year, but Bob Hamlin says the center, equipped and staffed with paid and volunteer staff, is ready to handle any kind of disaster.
“We had three watch-out-world-the-sky-is-falling events,” Hamlin, the county’s Department of Emergency Management program manager, said of 2008.
In the case of Saturday’s snowstorm warning, Hamlin said between 40 and 50 participants were involved, including law enforcement officers, fire officials and Puget Sound Energy.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration gives the Emergency Operations Center a briefing with a weather analysis.
From there, Hamlin and county EOC representatives discuss the seriousness of the situation and determine whether to activate the center and to what extent.
39 years experience
Hamlin, the state’s longest-tenured emergency program manager, with 39 years experience, has a paid staff of five and a “core team” of 13 volunteers who include many retired professionals with years of experience and education.
That team can be extended to 25, if need be, Hamlin said.
“It’s a unique opportunity and fits their skills,” Hamlin said of the volunteers.
“They are community-spirited people who like the positive feedback.”
He said volunteers “instinctively” show up when a threat exists.
Alternate center
The Port Hadlock center is connected to the alternate EOC in Port Townsend, inside the fire station at Lawrence and Harrison streets, and video cameras and monitors and audio communications allow the Port Hadlock facility to watch and communicate with the Port Townsend center as if each were next door.
Amateur radio operators are among those who volunteer at the center, and through their radio network, local communications take place.
Hamlin kept three “duty officers” on staff around the clock Saturday during the snowstorm, which dropped less snow than anticipated.
“If they tell us the sky is falling and it doesn’t, I’m not disappointed,” Hamlin said, adding that it is better to be informed in time and prepared for the worst.
The county Department of Emergency Management has procedures in place to receive alerts 24 hours, seven days a week and activate public warning systems, including the Emergency Alert System radio, TV broadcasts and the All Hazards Alert Broadcast sirens — towers recently installed along the Port Townsend waterfront.
In a major emergency, all available county and city offices and departments become part of the emergency management system.
They are routinely trained to keep the system operating efficiently, Hamlin said.
Gasoline generator
The center has a gas-fueled generator that produces 2,500 watts of emergency power.
That system is backed up by another generator.
The center operates in partnership with state Homeland Security Region 2, made up of Jefferson, Clallam and Kitsap counties.
Region 2 is a conduit for federal Homeland Security planning and funding.
EOC will request that local government leaders declare an emergency based on the nature and scope of the threat, if determined necessary, to activate special emergency powers needed to combat the emergency, according to Hamlin.
Those powers include the ability to fund activation and resources and use the equipment needed without restraint of time-consuming government procedures.
The 3,500-square-foot emergency management center is in a highly secured section of the building with security cameras.
Its foundation is set 5 feet below ground, and Hamlin said it is radiation-proof according the Federal Emergency Management Administration rules.
“We stand up fairly quickly if we have to,” Hamlin said.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
