Pier Fire: Flood, mud slide concerns

Community meeting is well attended

Well over 100 Tulare County residents affected by the Pier Fire attended a community meeting in Springville’s Veterans Memorial District to get information on what to do should a flash flood or mud slide affect them and their ability to travel along Highway 190.

In addition to ensuring that residents stay safe throughout the winter months, Tulare County Fire Chief Charlie Norman said his other biggest concern is from Highway 190 all the way up to Mahogany Flat.

“Having some significant precipitation could create some challenges for us and keeping everybody out of harm’s way, but we are there for you, and we will make sure we have adequate staffing,” Norman said, adding that in case of an emergency, the county’s fire station will serve as a community center.

Jerald Meadows with the National Weather Service, said many people seem to believe that a heavy storm is needed to cause a disaster such as a flash flood, but, after the massive Pier Fire, noted that they are wrong.

“After a wildfire, it doesn’t take nearly the rainfall it does normally to produce a flash flood or mud slide,” Meadows said, adding that there is a one in every year probability that such rainfall will occur. “So this is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when large quantities of debris and ash will slide down the [Highway] 190 corridor.”

Even though this winter is expected to be drier than normal, Meadows said it only takes one good storm to cause havoc.

“This type of storm is likely to occur at least once each winter, even in drier conditions,” Meadows said. “The problem there becomes less snow, more rainfall and a higher probability of debris throw and slides.”

To prepare for such a disaster, Meadows advised the audience to monitor www.weather. gov/hnx/ for updates and further information.

“We are continuously monitoring the situation,” Meadows said. “In fact, the National Weather Service and part of the Forest Service is installing weather gauge right at the top of the ridge lines so we can get an instantaneous

monitoring of rainfall conditions and what that will mean.”

U.S. Forest District Ranger Eric Laprice noted that there is a high probability of either a buildup of debris on the road or an erosion of the road material, thus cutting off the road for hours, days and maybe even weeks.

He added that the big drainage he is concerned about is above the Wishon turnoff and below Pierpoint Springs, Soda Creek and Moorehouse Creek.

“Those have the highest probabilities of being our points that cause the entire highway to be closed,” Laprice said.

Lt. Kevin Kemmerling with the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department, who spoke on behalf of Sheriff Mike Boudreaux, said the sheriff’s department has evacuation plans in place and plans on what to do if there are road closures, specifically on Highway 190.

“There is a potential that if we lose Highway 190, it could take us a couple of days, depending on the size of the event, to get emergency equipment up there,” Kemmerling said, adding that there has to be a level of self-preparedness by everyone just in case because, “It may take us a couple of days to get in.”

Johnny Wong with the Tulare County Resource

Management Agency, said if Highway 190 closes, the best alternate route would be Mountain Road 107, or M107, through Mountain Road 50, or M50, which he said is Parker Pass. That 21-mile stretch, Wong said, cannot be open at all times, but noted that there is a possibility that personnel can clear the road should there be an emergency.

Wong noted that the county is also working to get emergency equipment up within another week “just in case things happen.”

Cindy Huge, a public information officer with the American Red Cross, said the best advice she could give to residents is to evacuate whenever emergency management individuals and law enforcement tell them to leave.

“I have been on 17 disasters throughout the United States in the last five years and the people who unfortunately don’t make it out alive thought that they could beat whatever they were told,” Huge said.

She added that residents should start preparing now for a disaster by creating a to-go bag, which she said could be a backpack filled with essential items such as a week’s supply of medication, food, and water. She added that bringing an extra phone charger or two is also not a bad

idea.

“That [to-go bag] is really important to have, I can’t stress that enough,” Huge said, adding that more information on what to include in a to-go bag is available at www.redcross.org.

Huge said those with pets should also start buying extra supplies such as leashes and food.

Huge noted that residents should take a picture now of their house insurance and car insurance policies on their phone just in case.

“If you do lose your

house or your car, the first thing an insurance company is going to ask you is what is your policy number and who knows their policy number,” Huge said.

For residents concerned about not being notified if there is an emergency, Andrew Lockman, the emergency services manager for Tulare County Office of Emergency Services (OES), said they should consider registering with Alerttc — a mass notification system designed to keep Tulare County residents and businesses informed of emergencies and other

time-sensitive messages.

“The way that system works is we grab all of the 911 databases from AT&T, Verizon and Comcast so if you have a landline through one of those providers we will have your landline,” Lockman said, noting that he will not have residents’ cell phone numbers. “There is no database accessible to us that gives us your cell phone numbers.”

He said, nevertheless, that all residents have to do if they want notifications on their cell phones is register them at alerttc.com.