Deluge in Tillamook,
Oregon
In the winter of 1995 to 1996, unremitting rains pounded Tillamook County. Rising flood waters, which eventually reached seven feet deep, forced thousands of people from their homes, destroyed surrounding highways and countless businesses, drowned over 700 dairy cows, and covered farms with a layer of mud up to a foot thick. Federal help covered about $8 million in damages, but the uncompensated losses totaled $53 million -- a devastating blow for the County's 25,000 residents whose incomes average only $18,000 per year.
A Partnership for Success
Following the 1996 flood, Tillamook County was selected to be a demonstration community through a joint initiative of the Federal Geographic Data Committee, the Vice President's National Partnership for Reinventing Government, the Innovation Fund, and the Environmental Research Systems Institute. The purpose of this initiative was to increase local access to geographic information to support community decision-making for public safety, land use, and other issues.
A pivotal tool this project provided to Tillamook County was a county geographic information system -- hardware and software capable of storing, displaying, and synthesizing information about Tillamook County's resources. Tillamook's GIS, for example, helped the county and its Federal partners identify areas with the greatest flood risk. Armed with this information, the partners could make engineering controls and improvements for the greatest benefit to the community.
"What unfolded
next was a textbook example of a performance partnership," said Tillamook
County Commissioner Sue Cameron. The opportunity to participate in the
Federal Emergency Management Agency's Project Impact, an innovative program
to build disaster-resistant communities, helped mobilize the community.
Guided by the information from Tillamook County's GIS, the County's partners acted fast. "With the help of Senator Ron Wyden, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stepped up to the plate with an offer of temporary flood mitigation in the rivers through their Advance Measures Program," explained fellow Tillamook County Commissioner Gina Firman. "And, the Department of Housing and Urban Development provided funding to elevate 55 homes and 14 businesses; we elevated the whole town of Nehalem," she said. The partnership even constructed five "critter pads" to rescue stranded animals during flooding.
When the next big flood arrived on Thanksgiving Day 1999, 9.1 inches of rain fell in 48 hours. But this time, Tillamook County was ready. This dairy-oriented county lost none of its more than 20,000 cows. And, according to Commissioner Cameron, damages to homes, businesses, farms, and roads were reduced by 96 percent -- nearly $50 million -- compared to the damages in 1996.
"Our county is sold on partnerships," said Commissioner Cameron. "We're all very much believers in reinventing government and the good that can come from the partnership approach."
