Disasters happen in Alaska every 90 days, listen to the team mitigating them on the first hand – Mike Dunleavy

In this age of earthquakes and epidemics, it may come as no surprise that Brian Fisher, director of the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, and his team have been in a continuous mode of revitalization since 2018. But the Alaska Disaster Scale that Fisher and his crew have reported are unusually responsive. Among them are ballistic ice, the size of a house, rolling off the banks of the Yukon River in Galena and the massive shaking of an 8.2 earthquake with a tsunami warning near Sand Point along the massive Aleutian fault.

In the podcast on FirstHand, director Fisher shares insight into how Alaska has changed, gleaned from his 30 years in disaster mitigation.

Click here to listen to the eighth episode of FirstHand. Listen on Spotify. Listen on Apple.

“We used to think of disasters kind of as seasonal in this case, whether it’s floods in the spring, avalanches in the winter, or the risk of sea storms in the fall, really there’s no longer a season,” Fisher said. “Disasters happen regularly in the state and across the country at any time of the year, so we haven’t really stopped at the state’s Emergency Operations Center, with our National Guard partners, and in particular, the local communities, responding to these weather events.”

Fisher said that a declared disaster in Alaska occurs every 90 days. Since the beginning of winter, the Fisher disaster calendar has looked like this:

October 29, 2021, heavy rain for the Girdwood area, 500 or 1000 years of rain happened in January 2022, is it unheard of rain indoors in winter? Heavy snowfall in Delta and Greeley, Copper River, Fairbanks North Star Borough, Nenana, and Denali Borough January 2022, 90 mph + hell winds at Matt Sue Borough Pop-ups and semi-slopes, knocking out power for about 20,000 residents during weather Cold temperatures in January 2022 The city and town of Yakutat and the Southeast have to break free from snow falling on their roofs in February 2022 A washing machine fire destroys the indigenous village of Tununak, leaving the community without showers and laundry service, February 2022, causes a failure of Dam in a sewage lake in a raw sewage spill through the tundra in the city of Huber Bay

For all but two of the declared disasters, the Alaskan National Guard has been activated to help clear snow from buildings to prevent collapse and help meet transportation needs. However, it is not like in the movies. Fisher said the Alaskan National Guard is not called upon to enforce the law in tense situations. In this pandemic, the guard has played a supporting role.

“A lot of people think it’s the easy button. We need the National Guard, but the National Guard is somewhat restricted by federal regulations…” If we need to take responders into a community or sandbags, things like that, we have to go to the sector. private first. If they can do that, that’s great. We pay them and work with them to make sure that happens. If they can’t, if the weather is really bad, or it’s nighttime conditions, we have the opportunity to use Alaskan National Guard planes to do that. But we cannot compete with the private sector. If the private sector can do that, they will get their first hit.”

Cyber ​​attacks can be added to the list of declared disasters to which Fisher responds if House Bill 3 gets the votes. Fisher knows that computer viruses can spell disaster for societies. “We are attacked millions of times a day with attempts to get into our networks and systems. Imagine if an attack on our facilities, electricity and water, had an impact on our lives. And this threat continues every day.”

Food security in Alaska is now part of Fisher’s defense mission. In February, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy issued Administrative Order 331 to ensure a strong supply of food in the event of a supply chain disruption. Fisher’s division is part of the Alaska Food Security and Independence Task Force. “We’re at the end of the supply chain,” Fisher said. “If we lose the ability to receive ships here or trucks over Al-Can, it will lead to a food shortage problem.”

Fisher and his staff are here to help people on their worst day. They also try to prevent the worst day from arriving.

River Watch is a program with the National Weather Service that provides early warning and survey on how rivers break, so when ballistic ice moves through communities like Eagle in 2009 and Galena in 2013, and floods in Buckland in 2021, residents are ready.

TsunamiReady in Alaska is a partnership with NOAA, (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), which puts warning systems in place for residents and visitors for coastal communities in the event an earthquake-induced wave reaches inland.

In the event of a disaster, Fisher heads up the SEOC, the state’s Emergency Operations Center, the one-stop shop that communities can call when they need help. He said the SEOC is the nerve center for responding to all requests and coordinating recovery later. He said the past two years have been difficult, as resources have been coordinated with communities by default. During the onset of the pandemic, Fisher said his staff had to adapt to managing a disaster from their kitchen tables.

Fisher praises the resilience of Alaskans who are often prepared for frequent fires, windstorms, earthquakes, heavy snowfall, and even volcanic eruptions.

In the fall of 2018, about 13,000 Alaskans applied for individual assistance from the state, and some were surprised by what was covered. “It is important for people to understand that government disaster assistance is not a substitute for insurance and is not meant to make people whole, so if a home is damaged or destroyed, we can’t replace it. The program is not there for that. What is here is home making. (which still stands) is safe, secure and habitable again.”

What can Alaskans do? “I know the dangers of where you live,” Fisher said. He said collecting financial documents now when there is no disaster, such as copies of birth, marriage and death certificates and house bonds. He adds that Alaskans should be more flexible than residents of Lower 48. Food and water for three days is not enough. Alaskans need food and water for at least two weeks. And don’t forget your pet’s food, he said.

Fisher urges Alaskans not to fear our inevitable disasters, just prepared.

The FirstHand podcast, Episode 8, was recorded at the Alaska National Guard Readiness Center at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson. FirstHand was produced in Governor Mike Dunleavy’s office by host Patty Sullivan.

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