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<br /> <br />City of Bilk FWod HfDard Mitigation Plan <br /> <br />there were a serious hazardous materials spill on <br />either route it might become necessary to evacu- <br />ate the part of town in which City Hall is located. <br />The EOC would be rendered inoperable in either <br />worst-case scenario. The Rifle Senior Citizens <br />Activities Center has been identified as a more <br />suitable location. The center has ample ~pace <br />and is located on a hill above and to the west of <br />town. It would be isolated from both the threat <br />of inundation and a hazardous materials spill. <br /> <br />Communications between the EOC and field per- <br />sonnel were also identified as inadequate. The <br />EOC was equipped with hand-held radios which <br />had a limited range. It became necessary to relay <br />communications between the EOC and various <br /> <br />b <br /> <br /> <br />Flood Damaged Property <br /> <br />personnel, talking to those within range and <br />having them relay a message to the appropriate <br />person. The relocation of the EOC may help <br />improve this problem because of the higher ele- <br />vation of the proposed facility. Installation of a <br />repeater may also help improve communications <br />significantly. <br /> <br />It was realized after the emergency that staffing <br />and tracking of all personnel was an issue that <br />had not been addressed. During the emergency <br />a city employee had been working in a facility <br />near the flooding. This was not known by the <br />EOC. It was realized that should that individual <br /> <br />have been needed, or should the facility have <br />been destroyed, the individuals whereabouts <br />would have bee~ unknown. <br /> <br />The lack of an early warning system in Rifle was <br />painfully obvious in this emergency. As stated <br />earlier, the first warning was sounded by a con- <br />cerned motorist. Had that individual chosen to <br />ignore the problem and "not get involved", as is <br />often common, there may have been no warning <br />whatsoever. One option that may be considered <br />in developing an early warning system is the <br />utilization of the City's civil defense sirens. Three <br />sirens exist in strategic locations within the city <br />limits. Currently the only way to activate these <br />sirens is by actually turning each one on at the <br />site, There may be a way to link these sirens to <br />stream flow gauges which would have to be in- <br />stalled on Rifle and Government Creeks, and <br />perhaps even at Hubbard Gulch, When the ca- <br />pacity of these creeks reached a certain pre-des- <br />ignated point, the sirens would be remotely <br />activated. Since Government Creek feeds into <br />Rifle Creek at the upstream end of town, there <br /> <br /> <br />';,.- <br />$'*';-.)";;7' - ':.m'ft!' ,:""-".. .~":::: <br />~7~ ,," ,,'~"~i "."M~V\~~T~' <br />:t~'~::;c:, ',~' <br />'" " .i. '. ";&.', 1,.,.... _.,"4 ".:-"" <br />..- :t -_~ .~ +*"PM ~. LA L-~~~~~4~V <br /> <br />Flood Damaged Property <br /> <br />would be few areas subjected to false alarms. The <br />cost ofthis system is unknown, but the existence <br />and under-utilization of the sirens may warrant <br />ftutherexanrination. <br /> <br />5 <br />