Five Years Later

 $98+ Million in damages  Ruined schools  840+ homes impacted  30+ businesses impacted  $? Million in cleanup costs  Questions about Vernonia’s survival

Economic ImpactsCivic Impacts  How would we recover from at least $98 Million in damages?  Could we beat the typical post-flood 40% loss of jobs and businesses?  What would the impact be on the local housing market?  Would new elevations look as bad as the 1998 projects?  Would Vernonia still have Schools?  What would happen to the Senior Center, Clinic and Food Bank?  How would the City cover the cost of FEMA match for:  Garbage removal  Major infrastructure damage

Those With CapacityThose Without Capacity  Use insurance, savings and borrowing to fix their problem  Remain in community (mostly)  Recover quicker  Their capacity is increased (at least the skills aspect)  Get seen/counted  Often do not know what to do  Have insufficient (or no) resources to recover  Struggle for months or years  Disappear from the community  Don’t get seen/counted Often depends on their “capacity,” i.e. money, skills, and time

 Fewer students in the schools  Lost time and economic opportunity waiting for another entrepreneur to fill the niche  A diminished workforce  Fewer households, businesses, etc. to spread the cost of utilities, sewer, water, etc.  Lost tax base  In short, the reverse of economic development!

Are there solutions?

ComprehensiveNon-comprehensive  A wide range of projects meeting a wide range of needs  Coordination and community support for particular “heavy lifts”  Local leaders, regional leaders, state and federal leaders all working in concert  Individual projects completed  Supported and run by benefited organizations  Large, one-off projects  “Spotty” recovery

 Immediate Leadership  Team Response  Set a Vision  Collect Data  Long-term Planning  Good Communication  Effective Partnerships  Outside Resources

 Spontaneous Volunteers  Donations  FEMA, Individual Assistance  Construction Volunteers  DOL disaster jobs program  Foundations  Private resources  HMGP/FMA  CDBG  HOME  Oregon VOAD

State & FederalLocal  Gov. Kulongoski  Gov. Kitzhaber  Senator Wyden  Senator Merkley  Oregon Emerg. Mgt.  FEMA Region X Staff  Or. Bus. Dev. Dept.  Corp. of Engineers  HUD Portland Office  Sen. Betsy Johnson  Comm. Tony Hyde  Rep. Brad Witt  Columbia Co.: BOCC and Staff  City Council  Community Action Team  NOWCDC (regional revolving funds)

But the Results Are Significant $30 Million

 FEMA/USACE Mapping  Jobless Grants  Oregon Solutions  CAT Program Advances  HMGP / FMA Grants  Four CDBG Grants  FEMA Advances  Flood Staff  County Legal  Federal Waiver of $3.3 M limit (Schools)

 Met with and advised nearly 850 victims  Made unrecorded number of referrals (thousands) to: FEMA State and County agencies Donation sites – food, fire wood, clothing, furniture, lumber, sheetrock, insulation, etc. Nonprofits – housing, energy assistance, etc.  85,000+ hours (41 person years) of volunteer time  22,000 hours of skilled volunteer labor (130 jobs to date)  $23 million in approved FEMA grants  $2 million of CDBG funds awarded  $500,000 HOME Grant  $500,000+ in cash and in-kind donations  $800,000+ in cash grants to victims  Created regulatory systems for City and County gov’t.  De-facto City planning staff for all flood issues

 Homeowners and Small Businesses  Elevations (39)  Acquisitions (42)  Large Business Projects  WOEC - Acquisition  Senior Center - Acquisition  Health Clinic - Acquisition  Sentry Market – Floodproofing  The Schools  Special Packaging/Federal Waiver  Acquisition

Economic Impact Impact on Community Members  Large losses of community wealth  Tax Base losses  Out-migration  Conflicts  Demo Contractor selection  Unhappy Elevation Clients  CDBG Wars  Projects delayed  Funds disallowed  Decks  Floodway  Ongoing compliance concerns  School bond  Reduction in School District students