Rapid Needs Assessment Neighborhood Assessment following a major incident. Radio Amateurs of the Gorge Emergency Communications Group Kevin Widener, KE7IN, Skamania County ARES EC

Acknowledgement Presentation borrowed (heavily) from Lamorinda CERT https://lamorindacert.org/ Rapid Needs Assessment form taken from Lamorinda and modified

Good incident information drives good decision making.

The ability of local governments to perform a Rapid Needs Assessment accurately and within the first few hours after an incident or emergency is critical to providing a response designed to save lives and support life sustaining actions. FEMA G557

Objectives Our objectives during this presentation are to: Understand the need for assessments Determine what data is needed Determine how the data is obtained Learn to use the new form and the process to transfer the data to where it is needed

Assessment Phases Assessment is Accomplished in 3 Phases Rapid Needs Assessment (RNA) takes place during or immediately after the event and focuses on lifesaving needs, imminent hazards, critical lifelines and available resources. Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) identifies and affixes a dollar value to damages. Combined Verification includes a detailed inspection of damages to individual sites.

Community Hazards What hazards do we face in The Gorge? Wildfire Earthquake Winter Storm Flood Landslides Hazardous Materials Spill Others?

Why is Damage Assessment Important? First Step to Recovery! Assists in identifying life safety issues. Assists in identifying resources needed, i.e. manpower, equipment, supplies. Assists in identifying available resources. Gives information to those that need to plan, coordinate, and act on the incident. Provides an accurate account and extent of the emergency by providing information in a standardized manner.

Who can do it? Community partners: are “distributed” in a community. have an ability to communicate independent of normal communications methods. have a rapid response capability. can readily adapt. are available to participate.

What are First Responders doing? Law Enforcement officers and Fire Departments will be overwhelmed and on their own. Many communities in the Gorge will be isolated and unreachable by roads.

The “Windshield Survey” A visual inspection of an area or specific object (a neighborhood, a house, a bridge for example) in a rapid fashion frequently done from a vehicle through the “windshield”.

Rapid Needs Assessment form, Rev. 08/20/2017 The Form

RNA Neighborhood Assessment First, make sure your family is safe! Do not unnecessarily endanger yourself! Don’t overcommit! Be quick, delegate response (first aid, etc.)

2017 10 31 Kevin W. KE7IN Underwood Hale/Ashley Neighborhood

2017 10 31 Kevin W. KE7IN 1 Underwood Hale/Ashley Neighborhood 11:00 112 Hale Dr. S L O ✓ ✓ C Water coming from garage 11:05 223 Hale Dr. S O ✓ ✓ B Tree blocking drive

2017 10 31 Kevin W. KE7IN 12:30 Skamania EOC KE7BUI 1 1 Underwood Hale/Ashley Neighborhood 11:00 112 Hale Dr. S L O ✓ ✓ C Water coming from garage 11:05 223 Hale Dr. S O ✓ ✓ B Tree blocking drive 11:10 321Hale Dr. S L O ✓ 1 3 C Propane tank leaking, off foundation 11:15 412Hale Dr. S ✓ O ✓ ✓ C 11.25 100AshleyDr. 11:30 215 Ashley Dr. S 11:10 11:15 320 Ashley Dr. 512 Ashley Dr. ✓ O ✓ 1 2 C Fully engulfted O ✓ ✓ C O ✓ ✓ C Nurse aavailable to triage O ✓ 5 C Roof collapse

Vantage point observations Rapid Needs Assessment Vantage point observations

2017 10 31 Kevin W. KE7IN 2:45 Skamania EOC KE7BUI Cook-Underwood Road Overlook 1:45 Hood River bridge Lift span destroyed WA14 White Salmon River bridge Bridge appears ok, WA14 MP 64 Landslide blocking both lanes I84 east of Hood River Landslide blocking east lanes

Common terminology for describing damage The Form Details

The 4 Degrees of Damage Affected Minor Damage Major Damage Destroyed

Affected The house has a tree on it. The roof is intact, the windows appear ok, and the house looks very livable. This residence is “affected”.

Affected Masonry building with exposed cracks. Building my have additional damage but on the outside, it appears mostly normal and likely functional.

Affected Less than 2” of water on floor. Foundation intact. No obvious structural damage.

Affected This category includes dwellings with minimal damage to structure and/or contents and the home is habitable without repairs.

Minor Damage The house has a tree on it. The roof is damaged, but only one area of the residence is affected. It’s repairable. Damage limited to 1 wall or roof.

Minor Damage Partial wall collapse but clearly repairable. Not a complete wall failure; building probably needs further technical inspection.

Minor Damage No Basement. Less than 1’ of water in residence.

Minor Damage Minor damage encompasses a wide range of damage and is generally the most common type of damage. Minor damage exists when the home is damaged and uninhabitable or only partially habitable, but may be made habitable in a short period of time with home repairs. Some of the items that determine minor damage are listed below:   Will require less than 30 days to repair. Windows or doors blown in. One foot or more of water/sewer backup in basement (i.e., furnace, water heater damage). Has less than 50% damage to structure.

Major Damage The house has a tree that went through the roof to the ground. Multiple walls damaged. Heavy damage, may not be re-buildable.

Major Damage Soft story failure in Santa Cruz mountains from Loma Prieta earthquake. The building could be repaired after the building was jacked back to a plumb condition. Many such red-tagged buildings can be repaired rather than demolished

Major Damage 2 to 5 feet of water on the first floor. Potential for major damage in the structure.

Major Damage Major damage exists when the home has sustained structural or significant damages, is uninhabitable and requires extensive repairs. Any one of the following may constitute major damage.   Substantial failure of structural elements of the residence (e.g., walls, roof, floors, foundation, etc.). Has more than 50% damage to structure. Will require more than 30 days to repair. One foot or more of water on the first floor (of a home with basement).

Examples of Major Damage Indicators Earthquake Damage may include failure of one or more of the following: failures to structural elements, such as chimney, roof, buckling of walls, foundation, broken windows, racking of structure, masonry and mortar failures, and plaster cracks. Failure of non-visual “in-ground” items could be commonplace and further exploration may be required (e.g., water, sewer, and gas lines, wells and septic systems, foundations). (Assumption: residence is a typical stick framed house) Fire Any one of, or a combination of, the following could constitute major fire damage: severe smoke damage, fire damage to residence (e.g., roof, exterior siding, windows, and doors) water and/or fire-suppressant chemical damage, imminent danger from ground-cover loss. (Assumption: damage is to a standard stick framed house.)

Examples of Major Damage Indicators Landslide/Earth movement Any sign of earth movement that may affect the residence. (Note: there may be times when a hill shows signs of movement ¼ mile above a group of homes that are not (yet) damaged but all will be recorded as being in “imminent danger.” Other damage may include failures to structural elements of the dwelling walls, floors, or foundations.) (Assumption: typical ranch home built on or near a hillside.) Flood If a house with a basement had more than 1 foot of water on the first floor, it ordinarily would have suffered Major damage, especially if the furnace and water heater are located in the basement. Without a basement, the threshold for Major damage would be in the 2 to 4 foot range, depending on length of time the home was inundated, home construction, and sediment content of the flood water. In most cases, 2 feet of water will require replacement of a 4 foot perimeter of sheetrock due to insulation wicking. With 4 feet of water there will most likely be a 6 foot cut of sheetrock required, if not full replacement. Two feet or more of water on the first floor also affects all appliances, lower cabinets, etc. (assumption: typical ranch home, quick rising and falling water levels, without velocity or chemical factors.)

Destroyed

Destroyed Greater than 5’ of water.

Destroyed Destroyed means the structure is a total loss or damaged to such an extent that repairs are not economically feasible. Any one of the following may constitute a status of destroyed: Structure is not economically feasible to repair. Structure is permanently uninhabitable. Complete failure of major structural components (e.g., collapse of basement walls/foundation, walls, or roof). Only foundation remains. Two or more walls destroyed and roof substantially damaged. House pushed off foundation

Inaccessible This group includes homes that are inaccessible by normal means, due to disaster-related road closures (e.g., bridge out, road flooded or blocked by landslide, mudslide, severe erosion, washed out, etc.).

Photos of Damage If you take photos of damage: Take first photo of curb painted street address, if possible If no address, use GPS location from your cell phone Turn on Geo-tagging for photos or Google Earth or other App Avoid photographing people

CERT Triage Colors Red - (immediate) are used to label those who cannot survive without immediate treatment but who have a chance of survival. Yellow - (observation) for those who require observation (and possible later re-triage). Their condition is stable for the moment and, they are not in immediate danger of death. These victims will still need hospital care and would be treated immediately under normal circumstances. Green - (wait) are reserved for the "walking wounded" who will need medical care at some point, after more critical injuries have been treated. White - (dismiss) are given to those with minor injuries for whom a doctor's care is not required. Black - (expectant) are used for the deceased and for those whose injuries are so extensive that they will not be able to survive given the care that is available.

Other things to watch for: Collapse of a major non-critical structure Significant damage to residential areas Major road blockage Serious infrastructure damage Looting Large groups of stranded or uninhabited citizens