2008.06.20 CC Minutes - Debriefing at Washington County

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MINUTES FOR THE JUNE 20, 2008 HUGO TORNADO DISASTER DEBRIEFING AT WASHINGTON COUNTY The meeting was called to order at 9:00 a.m. by Deb Paige, Emergency Management Director for Washington County PRESENT: Haas, Petryk, Miron ABSENT: Granger, Puleo ALSO PRESENT: City Administrator Mike Ericson, Community Development Director Bryan Bear, Public Works Director Chris Petree, Senior Engineering Technician Scott Anderson, Disaster Recovery Coordinator Nate Ehalt, and State and County Officials and Agency Representatives Deb Paige presented the after action report and stated the meeting was not intended to critique but to focus on tasks and goals to improve on for future disasters. Ground rules were that only one person talk at a time. Many good things came out of Hugo similar to the I -35W bridge disaster. Discussion was to be about what and why, not who. A staging officer was needed. Jim Compton was the incident commander, Kevin Covard was safety officer and communications officer. There is a need for after -hour phone numbers in the Emergency Management Plan employee lists. Activation, notification, staffing, deactivation and coordination of response were topics that need to be addressed. More radios needed in the first 24 hours. Emergency operations center defined and/or official location to be defined. Meetings are one piece of the effort. MPCA official was critical that no official EOC was staged with flags and signs. NIMS training was important — use command structure. Address life safety issues first, then implement NIMS structure and organization. 8:00 a.m. briefing on Monday, May 26 with all agencies and organizations was huge. North Ambulance was critical of number of ambulances empty with out crews Update employees annually Separation and removal of refuse debris was excellent — Lowell from County Define roles of City Council Members versus Mayor and roles of all elected officials. Good that there was a lack of egos in cleanup.