HELENA — After the back-to-back flooding of 2017 and 2018, city and county officials recognized the vital need to prepare for possible future flooding. On Thursday, a tabletop exercise was held at St. Peter’s Health to prepare for the future.
“So, of course, wildfire we think about that all the time. But having the flood conversation is really important, especially it being timely with it being end of February, about March. So, we'll start to see some of that snow melt off,” says Disaster and Emergency Services Coordinator for Lewis and Clark County Sierra Anderson.
Lewis and Clark County Disaster and Emergency Services held a county flood tabletop exercise on Thursday in order to gather regional partners including city and county officials. Those gathered assessed the way in which they could work together in order to tackle flood response and recovery.
A meeting like this allows all parties to better understand their role in the event of a flood. As well as better understand what other officials are doing to mitigate flooding impact.
“So, being able to understand who is responsible for what, know who to call when the bad day happens, and be able to provide the community with the best amount of service,” says Anderson.
Anderson wants to encourage folks to sign up for Lewis and Clark County’s Emergency Notification System in order to stay up to date during emergencies.
Additionally, the Floodplain Manager for Lewis and Clark County says that flood insurance can be a wise decision and to do it before disaster strikes.
