FEMA/OES Flood drill - Manteca Fire

Manteca Fire participates in flood drill

It was a dress rehearsal Wednesday - dictated by (FEMA) the Federal Emergency Management Agency - for the possibility of a disastrous levee break and flood with Manteca Fire Department personnel playing an integral part.

The stage was set in the scenario with a never-ending series of storms dumping excessive amounts of rain on the valley floor.

The Office of Emergency Service (OES) is required to hold an emergency response exercise every year prior to the rainy season to prepare for the possibility of a levee break west of Manteca, Lathrop and Stockton.

The day-long activities kicked off at 9:30 a.m. and concluded in mid-afternoon following a tour by county, state and Coast Guard officials - and a tour of the Reclamation District 17 levee work now under way.

A command post was set up at the Manteca Fire Department's Powers Avenue station where fire fighters and other emergency personnel spent their morning preparing an incident action plan for the next 24 hours after the emergency was first declared.

Jim Stone, city deputy public works director, and Jim Fry, a local amateur radio operator, developed the traffic evacuation plan in addition to the communications plan that called some 15 ham radio operators into service.

The ham operators man emergency radios from their vehicles at major intersections throughout the area while others monitor where flood waters are heading keeping in contact with their command post.

Many of them already have experience from the floods of 1997 when floodwaters devastated much of the lower areas near the San Joaquin River.

In this week's drill, evacuees of Weston Ranch residents were to leave the area by traveling to northbound Interstate 5. CHP was expected to have movement control in place on freeways and would be coordinating directly with the Metropolitan Area Command (MAC) in charge of the operation.

Manteca and Lathrop sectors would evacuate southbound on I-5 and then eastbound on Highway 120 where they would drive to southbound Highway 99.

The shelter for Weston Ranch neighborhoods would be at the Lodi Grape Festival grounds. Manteca and Lathrop sectors' shelter assignments would be the Stanislaus County Fairgrounds in Turlock.

The fire department's incident plan created Wednesday morning determined the equipment that would be needed in the field in the case the flood disaster was an actual threat. That list included the numbers of police cars, dump trucks, sand bags, a boat, a bus with a driver, more barricades and a flat bed truck to carry those barricades.

Everything would be taken to the official pre-determined staging area in the flooding scenario.

Fire chief Chris Haas said his department had to order more resources including a fuel tender with gasoline. That is a critical need to help residents who have fled their homes and were able to reach a pre-determined rally area and find their car is near empty.

"You come to a rally point and we could fill your gas tank to get you to an evacuation point," Haas said. For Mantecans the evacuation point would be the Stanislaus County Fair Grounds. Residents of Lathrop, Weston Ranch and French Camp they would be sent to the fair grounds at the Lodi Grape Festival grounds.

Fire department personnel pointed out they also have to be prepared to rescue large animals - having trailers for that purpose.

The day ended with a simulated water rescue drill at Van Buskirk Park in Stockton. The "swift water rescue" was carried out by members of the Stockton Fire Department.

A debriefing of the entire exercise took place at the San Joaquin County Robert J. Cabral Agricultural Center on Earhart Avenue in Stockton.
Source: http://www.mantecabulletin.com