By Dallas D. Erickson, SOS the Bitterroot, Stevensville
For years I have been involved in the area of disaster preparation (which includes mitigation) and response through various organizations. As I have reviewed the possible disaster scenarios it has been plain to me and others that one of the greatest disasters for the Bitterroot Valley would be the inundation of Painted Rocks Dam or Como Dam. Because there are no Early Warning Systems (EWS) on those dams, if the inundation were to occur late at night, during the months the dams are full, the water from Painted Rocks would take out Darby and destroy much of Hamilton with a wall of water from 25 feet to 50 feet in height filled with trees and other debris churning down the valley with no warning. The infrastructure of the valley would be destroyed past Corvallis which would include all the fire departments, the 911 Center and the Hospital. Many of the Rest Homes are in the area of the Hospital and they would also be destroyed. Rocky Mountain Lab would be in its path.
According to their own research, it would take five hours to arrive at Hamilton and about three hours to hit Darby. At the present time there would be no warnings sent to the 911 Center so that preparations could be made to evacuate the Hospital and the Rest Homes. This issue is not discussed and it is my feeling that most who live in the area that would be impacted by a dam failure do not realize what the risks are and certainly do not know what to do if they were notified of a dam failure, especially since there is no way to notify people and no evacuation routes marked.
Since the agencies and those who should care have not acted we formed SOS the Bitterroot to get the word out with the end goal of getting good redundant EWS on the dams and to get this issue in public discussion and debate as well as to get evacuation routes well marked so families can plan for any eventuality.
I attended a four-day FEMA Dam Safety Course in Virginia and that helped me to fully understand the danger we are in if there is a failure with either of these two earthen dams and the need to do the things listed above to mitigate, at least, the loss of life. It is clear that thousands could be killed in an inundation which could be caused by any number of things.
Our plan is to inform groups and the public on what needs to be done with the hope of getting those who should be concerned, like the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation which owns Painted Rocks and the Bureau of Reclamation which owns Como, to act and to do what is necessary to warn the public in case of a failure.
In light of the Oroville Dam evacuation, ongoing presently, I think this threat to the Bitterroot, especially, and Missoula County should be discussed and people should be made aware of the threat during the times the dams are full. My information is from the Emergency Action Plans (EAP) for the dams as well as examples of earthen dam failures. It seems the media has been shy of addressing this issue even though it is a major threat.
For more information contact me at (406)240-5277, dallas@qwestoffice.net.