Q & A Emergency planning with County Emergency Management

BONNERS FERRY — With upcoming inclement weather, residents should be in the know of emergency management procedures and where they can get emergency information.

In this Question and Answer segment, Boundary County Emergency Management Director Andrew O’Neel informs residents how emergency management communications will be distributed and other emergency planning procedures to know for winter.

Question: How will residents be informed of events/emergencies in Boundary County? What are the channels of communication?

Answer: Residents are notified of emergencies and other situations in several ways. If it is localized, they may be notified face-to-face by a police officer or firefighter knocking on their door, or via phone call from Sheriff's dispatch. If the incident is more widespread, we may use Nixle alerts, which are texted over phones and emailed to people who have signed up to receive such messages. Go to Nixle.com to sign up, or text your zip code to 888777. We also get information to the public via press releases to local news sources. Finally, in a large incident we can use the Emergency Alert System that pushes a message over radio, television and cellphones.

Q: Can you give me an example of how residents were informed and updated during this summer's forest fires?

A: Notifications to residents during the fires this summer were done door to door for impacted residents and primarily through local media for the wider county audience.

Q: Are there places in the county designated as emergency shelters or does this go through a process? If there is a massive power outage in Copeland (for example) and people need to be evacuated, is there a particular church or building in that area that is already a designated storm shelter/staging area, or when the emergency is announced will a shelter be determined?

A: If emergency shelters are needed, they will be designated and announced through the communication methods above. Most people who have to evacuate have someplace to go (friends, relatives, a hotel, etc.), but in certain situations the county can designate a shelter location and trained Red Cross volunteers will operate it. The location of the shelter will depend on who is being evacuated, but we'll typically use the schools, churches or the fairgrounds. Evacuees will be told where to go if they need a place to take shelter. Residents with animals need to think about where they can take them if they ever have to evacuate. Red cross shelters don't allow animals, except for service dogs.

Q: To report a power outage, should dispatch be called in addition to the power company?

A: Please don't call dispatch if the power goes out. Our 911 dispatchers are dealing with emergencies all the time, especially during winter storm events. Residents should report outages to their service provider.

Q: Are there any neighbor groups/emergency networks people should be aware of?

A: There are many social media groups in the county that are good ways to learn about county events, though there is a lot of speculation and rumor as well. The county Public Information Officer tries to get accurate information out as quickly as possible using the communication methods mentioned above, and posts on the Boundary County Emergency Management/PIO Facebook page. Updated information is also available on the county emergency information line at 208-696-2626.

For more information and resources on how to prepare for emergencies, visit the Idaho Office of Emergency Management and Federal Emergency Management Agency websites.

For your own evacuation planning brochure, visit boundarycounty.org to retroactively plan for evacuation.

Go to Nixle.com to sign up for Nixle alerts, or text your zip code to 888777. For emergency information, visit the Boundary County website, PIO social media pages or call the county emergency information line at 208-696-2626 for emergency updates.