RESPONDING TO GEOLOGIC EMERGENCIES UNDER THE INCIDENT COMMAND SYSTEM: LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE OSO LANDSLIDE, WASHINGTON

The Oso landslide occurred on March 22, 2014 and buried the community of Steelhead Haven, killing 43 people and injuring eight. Emergency response was rapid and county officials requested that an Incident Management Team (IMT) manage recovery operations. An IMT consists of a partnership including county, state, and federal agencies and follows the organizational structure of the Incident Command System (ICS), which is a standardized, all-hazards incident management approach that allows for the integration of facilities, equipment, personnel, procedures, and communications operating within a common organizational structure. IMTs are typically used to manage wildfire and disaster response.

During the initial days of recovery, over 600 first responders and volunteers were working on and adjacent to the landslide runout area. Due to concern of a secondary failure of the landslide, the IMT requested the deployment of geologists to monitor slope stability, so during the nearly six week operational period, over 20 geologists from county, state, and federal agencies participated in landslide monitoring for the safety of those working in and adjacent to the runout area. For most geologists, working under the IMT structure was a new and slightly confusing experience due to the IMTs relatively complex organizational structure that was further complicated by the commotion of managing an immense recovery effort. One geologist was familiar with the IMT structure and worked closely with the IMT. This knowledge helped to expedite the ability of the other geologist to access the landslide, reserve airspace to deploy instruments and collect lidar and aerial imagery, attain permission for geologists to work within the field area, and communicate effectively and efficiently with IMT personnel to inform and educate them of the potential landslide hazards and risks throughout recovery operations.

When another geologic disaster occurs and recovery operations are managed by an IMT, geologists familiar with IMTs may be crucial to ensure that geologists working on site are able to effectively and efficiently perform assigned duties and communicate with the IMT. This talk will describe some of the challenges, benefits, and suggest hints for geologists and other scientists to work effectively under an IMT.