Photo By Stacey Reese | Stephanie Bozarth, Tulsa District Corps of Engineers civil engineer presented...... read more read more
TULSA, Okla. — The Tulsa District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Emergency Management team recently held a tabletop exercise to simulate a flood event for the Broken Bow Lake project in southeastern Oklahoma.
In addition to Tulsa District staff members, representatives from the Choctaw Nation, Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Littler River County Office of Emergency Management, McCurtain County emergency management, Idabel Fire Department, The National Weather Service, City of Broken Bow, Town of Hochatown, and The U.S. Forest Service attended the meeting.
"Participating in this exercise was incredibly valuable," said Rudy Hatridge, Little River County OEM. "Key takeaways included utilizing the National Inventory of Dams' online resources for emergency planning and gaining insights into USACE dam operations. Additionally, the importance of NWS in flood warnings and the challenges posed by cellular dead spots in neighboring counties were highlighted."
"Moving forward, we must focus on developing an evacuation plan, identifying temporary shelters, and updating our lists of at-risk populations," said Hatridge.
The morning began with presentations from Tulsa District emergency management, dam safety, hydrology personnel, and National Weather Service personnel. These presentations spurred multiple discussions about each entity's roles in case of an emergency and what the group sees as limitations during such an event.
Broken Bow Lake saw almost 2 million visitors in 2023. Effective communication during an emergency is imperative to life safety. All participants agreed that one of the area's significant limitations is the limited number of cell towers, which makes communication with the public difficult.
"Broken Bow Lake area continues to experience tourism growth, with visitors spreading farther and farther into the scenic forest and waterways to experience this unique area," said Adam Miller, Tulsa District natural resource manager.
"A critical element to support public safety in this remote area is coordination and great communication with all federal, state, county, and local agencies and first responders," said Miller. "Everyone involved provides local knowledge and vital skill sets that we leverage off one another to complete our missions, which commonly overlap, especially in public safety. These tabletop exercises place everyone in the room, both old and new faces, allowing everyone to test their protocols so that any gaps identified may be filled before an actual emergency."
Broken Bow Lake has a different, complex environment. As is customary at lake projects, Tulsa District only manages some of the missions. Leases and subleases exist in multiple areas throughout the project. This project involves keeping up with the massive visitation numbers, working with personnel from Beavers Bend State Park, ODWC, Oklahoma Highway Patrol, and the Forest Service, as well as stakeholders with a financial interest in the ever-growing tourism connected to the area.
"The Tabletop Exercises that we have for the Red River Area are so important regarding communication to contend with potential emergency events at these lake projects," said Louie Holstead, operations program manager for Tulsa District Red River Area.
"It's not a matter of "if" but "when" such an event will occur, and when it happens, it's too late to prepare. I fully believe that all of our partnering agencies and stakeholders are fully committed to being prepared, as witnessed by the great turnout we recently had at Broken Bow," said Holstead.
| Date Taken: | 07.29.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 07.29.2024 19:37 |
| Story ID: | 477290 |
| Location: | TULSA, OKLAHOMA, US |
| Web Views: | 52 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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