The collaboration of residents, businesses, local, regional, state and federal agencies resulting from last weekend’s flood warnings demonstrated the value of the region’s emergency planning and preparedness efforts. Washoe County Emergency Manager, Aaron Kenneston, is confident that the efforts of the past weekend will help the region be even better prepared for the next event.
“We feel all the agencies did a great job working together to be proactive with citizens and businesses and push preparedness forward,” said Kenneston. “Businesses actually had a seat at the emergency operations center, and they appreciated how well we communicated together and worked with the public, and how quickly we were able to engage with the state and federal governments to make sure we had the resources to help people prepare.”
If the Truckee River had flooded, Kenneston said the preparations would likely have saved people hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damages.
“This weekend’s storm serves as a great reminder for all citizens to stay prepared,” said Kenneston. He wants to remind citizens to sign up for emergency alerts for their cell phones. Code Red is the County’s reverse-911 system and was used last weekend to warn residents of possible flood danger. Residents can visit www.ReadyWashoe.com, click the “Get the Message” banner, and fill out the brief form to sign up.
In addition, for residents who may still have sandbags, they can be returned to the Washoe County Roads Department, 3101 Longley Lane, in Reno. For more information, please call (775) 328-2180 or visit www.floodawareness.com.
For pictures of the storm event, visit www.washoecounty.us/index/photos.html and click on Washoe County, then December 2012 Storm.
