Emergency responders provide ‘boots on the snow’
Multiple agencies continue to work on storm impacts
The Eastern Sierra TriCounty Fairgrounds has been bustling with activity as the Emergency Operations Center coordinating the work of about 240 personnel from various state, local, and federal agencies and private contractors responding to the dangerous and critical impacts created by the string of March rain and snowstorms that have pounded Inyo and Mono counties.
The operations are being managed with a “unified command” structure that includes the Inyo and Mono counties’ sheriff’s offices, Cal Fire and the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (OES). The response is being coordinated with federal, state and local law enforcement, other state and federal agencies managing land or infrastructure in the Eastern Sierra, and volunteer fire departments throughout Inyo and Mono counties.
About 140 personnel from various government and law enforcement agencies are working on the emergency response, according to the March 19 Incident Update. That total includes three Urban Search and Rescue Teams, two Swiftwater Rescue Teams and one Hazmat team.
One of the Swiftwater Rescue Teams on Sunday was dispatched to help with a determined angler whose car was stalled and stranded in standing water on a county road in the Tinnemaha area, according to the Inyo County Sheriff’s Department.
An additional 102 personnel from private companies are also working on the emergency response. The state OES contracts with private firms to perform various tasks, with the most notable and noticeable being snow plowing and removal in Mono County. Private sector equipment includes 80 dump trucks, 13 skip loaders, four road graders, two bulldozers and one excavator.
‘State of emergency’
Since the storms prompted the counties and the state and federal governments to enact an official “state of emergency,” the OES can quickly complete contracts for a wide variety of work and get private contractors and their crews and equipment on-site with minimal bureaucratic hurdles, noted Public Information Officer Chole Castillo.
A video posted by Inyo County reported that the snow moving operation has been massive.
Those 80 dump trucks have made about 1,600 trips from Mammoth
Lakes and the surrounding towns to dump roughly 20,000 tons of snow in the “snow pit” south of Mammoth Lakes.
The town of Mammoth Lakes has also noted the help provided by OES contractors in clearing and widening some of the narrow and more troublesome streets in town.
The update states that crews have identified 26 structures that have been “destroyed” during the storms with another 40 structures “damaged.” The report did not break down if the structures were homes, garages, outbuildings or barns, or commercial buildings.
Castillo said Cal Fire staff, members of the Urban Search and Rescue teams, and local building officials inspect buildings and those that are determined to be “destroyed” are red-tagged and cannot be occupied. Damaged buildings typically can be repaired and still used by residents.
The emergency response also includes boots on the snow, as the case may be.
Castillo noted that Cal Fire and National Guard personnel have been shoveling snow off roofs and driveways for residents unable to manage the huge, heavy snow loads. The focus has been on smaller, isolated communities, such as Mono City, Twin Lakes and even Bridgeport.
The crews can also deliver groceries and other necessities, if needed. Cal Fire supervisors with each crew are also EMTs, she added, which allows them to respond to medical emergencies or situations, if needed.
With more storms predicted though the end of March, and the prospect of massive potentially damaging runoff from the region’s record-setting snowpack, the emergency personnel could be calling the Tri-County Fairground their Eastern Sierra headquarters for quite some time.