Local PIO Helps Out at Slide

to serve as a temporary PIO in Darrington, Wash., last week. Columbia County Commissioners gave their blessings as Ver Valen left her local post to work in the small town that was ravaged by the effects of the recent landslide on State Route 530 near Oso, Wash.

Ver Valen currently works as operations manager for Columbia County Emergency Management and Public Safety Communications and as PIO for emergency management and the sheriff's office. She is a former editor of The Times.

In 2012 the county sent Ver Valen to a week-long Advanced PIO Course at the FEMA Emergency Management Institute in Emmitsburg, Maryland. A PIO - or in the case of a large-scale incident, a group of PIOs making up a Joint Information Center (JIC) -- manage the flow of information related to the incident, ensuring that the community, the media, and those working on scene are kept informed.

Post 9-11, the federal government developed a universal system for responding to large-scale incidents. According to Ver Valen, the incident command structure is highly organized - whether the incident is a local house fire or a massive landslide, the first responders on the scene set up incident command and those who join can quickly fall into place, taking over specific roles to keep response flowing.

After several weeks working the March 22 landslide, many of the first response teams were unable to remain deployed and Snohomish County sent out emails seeking trained relief PIOs. Columbia County Emergency Management offered to send Ver Valen, both to be of help to those in need and as a way for her to gain experience with a large-scale incident.

The mile-wide slide on State Route 530 occurred on a Saturday morning in the tiny community of Oso. Oso is an hour north of Seattle, midway between the small towns of Arlington (pop. 17,926) and Darrington (pop. 1,347). Ver Valen said the scene was "surreal" as she arrived at the JIC in Arlington, on the west side of the slide. About ten other PIOs from across the Puget Sound region were arriving, while others were transitioning out. JIC supervisors began listing the roles they needed filled.

With a background in journalism and current studies in media and communications technology, Ver Valen felt well-suited for several positions mentioned: writing press releases, handling social media and providing on-site media tours.

Then the lead PIO asked for volunteers to go to the small logging town of Darrington, on the east side of the slide. "I wasn't prepared for that," said Ver Valen. "I'd already been assigned a hotel room in Marysville, I would have to drive on a service road around the landslide and I wasn't sure what I'd be doing."

When it became clear that few were interested in volunteering, Ver Valen stepped up. "I had the county's Ford Explorer, my Cathartt jacket, jeans and a hard hat. I was better prepared than most. Primarily, I knew that if a large-scale incident like this happened in Columbia County, we would be more like Darrington." Arlington's larger population and close proximity to I-5 make for a decidedly different community than Darrington.

Ver Valen drove the service road around the slide and watched the urban search and rescue teams at work. "The slide was 75 feet deep in some places. The scene was total devastation," she said.

Ver Valen spent her first two days working with a PIO who was from Darrington, acting as a family liaison, working with victims' families and connecting those in need with available services. She also helped update information boards with news clippings, media briefings, missing persons and identified victims lists and emergency and service locations. The boards helped connect the community by making sure residents knew where things stood, where and when the next meetings were and where to get help.

"It was challenging. Very difficult," said Ver Valen. "The slide blocked both the highway and the Stillaguamish River. Since Darrington is upriver, homes that were not destroyed by the slide were threatened by flood. It didn't reach town, but there was much concern. People are exhausted and working their pants off. Most of the heavy equipment you see in the news belongs to local people - loggers and their friends and family - and is operated by volunteers. Most of them know the victims they're looking for. It's rough."

Ver Valen said the community has been hard hit economically as well. Where it previously took 35 minutes to reach I-5, it now takes two hours. Hampton Lumber Mills is the largest employer in the area, with nearly 200 workers. Residents are concerned that the mill may "up and leave" if the highway doesn't open up quickly enough. "The four-hour round trip means the mill is losing money every day. At this point search and rescue is still looking for victims and there is no word on when work might begin on the highway," she said.

Ver Valen had been scheduled to work three days in Darrington but was able to stay an extra day to help relay vital information to the new teams transitioning in. "It felt good to be able to make sure everyone had the information they needed to get up and going. I felt like I was able to really help, which felt good," she said. She even spent time talking with the mayor - who has concerns about the future economics of the community - about Dayton's experience with the Blue Mountain Station, port and business districts.

Though it was difficult, Ver Valen is glad she went. "I've had lots of training," she said, "but having been personally involved - having seen base camps in play - helps me to have a better understanding of how things would work if Columbia County ever had to deal with a large-scale incident. I think it would be much easier for me to navigate should something happen here."

Thirty-six victims had been found and identified at the time of this paper's publication. Seven were still missing. Ver Valen said the two urban search & rescue teams have made great progress in covering ground and there was discussion of sending the California team home and retaining the Washington team when she left the site last week.

Updated information on the Oso landslide can be found at the official incident website http://inciweb. nwcg.gov/incident/3793/.