Wednesday, July 3, 2013

City launches website for disaster response

Resources and volunteers needed


By TONY EVANS
Express Staff Writer

    When a flood or fire hits the Wood River Valley, locals are quick to offer help to neighbors. But due to a lack of organization during emergencies, volunteers and local resources can be underutilized.
    “Every time a flood strikes Hailey, which is about every three years on average, volunteers have showed up to help fill sandbags,” said Hailey Fire Chief Mike Chapman.
    The next time the city of Hailey is struck by a natural disaster, there could be a pool of citizens prepared and ready to respond. There will also be a website where people can go to offer help or seek help.
    The Hailey Fire Department, in partnership with the Wood River Amateur Radio Club and the Hailey Public Library, launched Hailey.recovers.org on Monday, a website that will enlist volunteers before and during a disaster, dispatching them to where they are needed most.
    The website will also screen local donors and the resources they offer, including trucks and equipment and administrative support.
    “While we do have access to state and federal resources, the greatest asset in our community is the people within it who come together in times of emergency,” Chapman wrote in a letter to the Hailey City Council, before launching the website.
    Chapman said in an interview that his son, Chris Chapman, who works in sales in New York City, discovered the opportunity after watching a Ted Talk YouTube video.
    In the video, Caitria and Morgan O’Neill describe the platform they developed after a tornado hit their Massachusetts hometown.
    The Hailey City Council on Monday unanimously gave support of the new program, which will cost the city $400 per year.
    “It’s a no-brainer,’ said Mayor Fritz Haemmerle.
    Last spring, Quigley Canyon flooded into the Deerfield subdivision. The Hailey Fire Department was pumping 3,000 gallons of water per minute into an empty canal and into the sewer system to keep water from entering homes.
    “The city only sandbags city infrastructure, not private homes,” said Chapman. “So citizens have to fend for themselves in a sense.”
Chapman said he hopes people will visit the website and make themselves available in case of an emergency.
“This will help manage volunteers before and during an emergency. We would have the ability to text, email and twitter them, and to get replies,” said Chapman.
“It streamlines an existing volunteer base and organizes spontaneous volunteers,” he said.
    Hailey volunteer firefighter Danielle Edelman said she heard many stories of people wanting to help during the Castle Rock Fire that threatened the Wood River Valley in 2007. She said people needed help to move or rescue animals, and to travel out of the smoke to Boise. Others wanted to bring food and blankets to fire crews, she said.
    “We have so many people here who care and want to help restore the community,” Edelman said. “People were turned away from helping, or they didn’t know how to help.”
    During an emergency, Hailey.recovers.org would be available from anywhere an Internet connection exists. Computer banks would also be deployed at the Hailey Public Library.
    “We are launching this from Hailey, but hopefully the county will take hold also,” said Chapman.
    “I hope the county integrates this into there emergency operations plan,” he said.




About Comments

Comments with content that seeks to incite or inflame may be removed.

Comments that are in ALL CAPS may be removed.

Comments that are off-topic or that include profanity or personal attacks, libelous or other inappropriate material may be removed from the site. Entries that are unsigned or contain signatures by someone other than the actual author may be removed. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or any other policies governing this site. Use of this system denotes full acceptance of these conditions. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.

The comments below are from the readers of mtexpress.com and in no way represent the views of Express Publishing, Inc.

You may flag individual comments. You may also report an inappropriate or offensive comment by clicking here.

Flagging Comments: Flagging a comment tells a site administrator that a comment is inappropriate. You can find the flag option by pointing the mouse over the comment and clicking the 'Flag' link.

Flagging a comment is only counted once per person, and you won't need to do it multiple times.

Proper Flagging Guidelines: Every site has a different commenting policy - be sure to review the policy for this site before flagging comments. In general these types of comments should be flagged:

  • Spam
  • Ones violating this site's commenting policy
  • Clearly unrelated
  • Personal attacks on others
Comments should not be flagged for:
  • Disagreeing with the content
  • Being in a dispute with the commenter

Popular Comment Threads



 Local Weather 
Search archives:


Copyright © 2024 Express Publishing Inc.   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy
All Rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Express Publishing Inc. is prohibited. 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.