SOUTH EL MONTE, Calif. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District hosted representatives from multiple local, state and federal agencies during a Whittier Narrows Dam Tabletop Exercise at the USACE Baseyard May 23 in South El Monte.
The exercise had three main objectives: To enhance roles and responsibilities while transitioning to emergency operations; assess the effectiveness of USACE’s messaging to external agencies during an emergency; and improve interagency coordination and procedures.
“Whittier Narrows Dam helps reduce the risk of flooding for more than 1.25 million people downstream in 25 cities and unincorporated communities,” said Col. James Handura, USACE South Pacific Division commander, during his opening remarks. “Life-safety is always the top priority for the Corps of Engineers … the Los Angeles District continues to work with our local partners to communicate the flood risk to downstream communities and coordinate emergency response efforts through community outreach, training and exercises like the one you will participate in today.”
During the exercise, the representatives were not just passive observers but active contributors. USACE LA District briefed participants about Whittier Narrows Dam, including dam operations, safety and procedures. Then they broke into teams and worked together to determine how to communicate between agencies and the public during a flood emergency.
“We develop all of these emergency action plans for the dams, but we need to test them – this is a great way to do it,” said Tina Duong, USACE LA District civil engineer. “This gives us an opportunity to test these plans and make sure that when we have these scenarios, we know what to do because we’ve gone through it before. Just having the plan itself is not going to work unless we practice it.”
After the exercise concluded, participants shared their feedback on areas of success and improvement. In addition to verbal comments, participants also submitted feedback forms, regarding the exercise’s design for future participants.
“I enjoyed and appreciated today’s exercise,” said Maria Svajian, Los Angeles County Public Social Services disaster services analyst. “Being a part of emergency management, you’re supposed to have exercises – that’s how you know you’re prepared, where you have to improve and what needs to be done. These exercises help with ease of activation during an emergency and help us to get familiar with each other’s procedures.”