June 2008 in West Des Moines

It is another rainy day in West Des Moines, Iowa, a reminder that just two weeks ago our city was in the midst of serious flooding concerns. In retrospect, West Des Moines has been very fortunate considering the heavy rainfall our region has received in June. Our citizens dealt with some issues like flooded basements due to sewer backups, high water tables, and excessive surface water. We saw parking lots and some businesses with standing water, and had to close a few roads near major waterways. We were prepared for more, for something worse, but have been spared the calamities many cities and counties in Iowa are now dealing with.

We are concerned for our neighbors in Des Moines and our fellow Iowans in cities too numerous to even mention. Because the levee put in place in West Des Moines after the floods of 1993 held, we have been able to use our current resources to help out elsewhere.

At the request of Area Ambulance Service in Cedar Rapids, The City of West Des Moines Emergency Medical Services department sent one ALS staffed ambulance to Cedar Rapids on Friday morning, June 13, to assist with the emergent evacuation of Mercy Hospital - Cedar Rapids due to floodwater threatening their power system.

The WDM ambulance transferred two critical patients to another hospital in Cedar Rapids and brought one patient for further definitive care to Broadlawns Hospital in Des Moines.

City employees who participate on the State of Iowa Incident Management Team also made their way to another part of Iowa—this time to help out with the aftermath of the tornadoes in Parkersburg. The Incident Management team was created in 2006 as an asset for the state in planning and mitigating incidents and ensuring a quick recovery; three 9-person teams rotate on call status monthly. The teams are multi-disciplinary, including police, fire, public health, public works, and city administration personnel. Membership is spread across the state so that if an incident occurs in one spot, the team can still pull personnel from unaffected areas. Deputy Chiefs Jones and Sonnenburg from West Des Moines were asked to participate on the team.

Everyone on the Incident Management Team received three weeks of training including a simulated emergency operations center and extensive role-playing exercises in working together. The training was themed “all hazards,” so exercises involved tornados, flooding, earthquakes, terrorist events, and other challenging large-scale incidents.

The training could not have come at better time given the state’s recent bouts with all forms of inclement weather. The team’s first deployment was to Parkersburg, and they were on the ground less than 24 hours after the tornado hit. The team assisted local officials, who were very appreciative for the help and support in managing the incident. The amount of organization, management and information flow necessary in Parkersburg would be tough for any city, no matter what the size, to handle. The team was able to handle and support various parts of the recovery allowing the local officials to be visible to their residents and concentrate on their community.

The Incident Management Team was deployed again more recently to the Polk County Emergency Operations Center to help planning for the potential floods of 2008. This experience was different in that it involved planning for an incident rather than helping to manage one. Being closer to home, this deployment allowed the West Des Moines members to start using their training for the West Des Moines community.

Shifts in the command post are approximately 14 to 16 hours long since the command center must be open 24 hours a day. Deputy Chiefs Jones and Sonnenburg reported that the experience proved to be an extremely valuable one, and although they hope they never need to support our community in managing such an incident, their Incident Management Team will be ready just the same. They will use tools picked up in training and this hands-on involvement to help organize and plan for future large events that may occur in the city in hopes of minimizing potential problems.

I want to thank our employees for their tremendous response to this potential emergency. As you have read, we were an active participant in the Polk County Emergency Operations Center. Although we frequently updated our own city website and cable news channel, West Des Moines did not get a lot of local news coverage mainly because we did not have as many issues as some of our neighbors. Our staff spent time with several neighborhood groups discussing expectations for rainfall. We are taking actions to help our residents who have suffered some problems due to heavy rainfall, including picking up items damaged by floodwater, providing mosquito control, and providing references that may be useful as those who were affected go about cleaning up their homes. For more information on those steps, please visit the city website at http://www.wdm-ia.com/ or click here.