Building Dialogue

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24 / BUILDING DIALOGUE / JUNE 2015
by Joy Spatz, AIA
As disaster recovery manager for Boulder County and having
had deep leadership serving multiple recent disaster events,
including the Fourmile Canyon Fire in 2010 and the September
2013 flooding, can you speak to the scale of impact these
two events have had on Boulder County resources, number of
people impacted, wide-scale efforts of coordination?
GS:The scale of both of these events required a significant and
lengthy two-stage effort on resources: response and recovery.
The response phase for bothof these events involved significant
and sustained demands on our emergency response teams to
save lives and evacuate victims. The local fire, police and emer-
gency teams worked together with county resource partners to
assess the conditions and penetrate the areas impacted as soon
as possible. In the case of the flood, the National Guard provided
additional support during the response phase.
The recovery phase demanded a wider scale of resources. An
integration of local, state and federal agencies came together to
determine the plan of action and cost impact of the recovery
efforts. Because of the nature of such events, federal support is
absolutely necessary for residents and businesses in the recov-
ery effort. The local resources only go so far and it’s critical to
have the partnership with our federal representatives as our
advocates in Washington, which enabled us to achieve federal
assistance.
Regarding the flood recovery effort, the assessment of the
damage in unincorporated Boulder County is estimated to be
valued at $237 million. The roads and infrastructure costs alone
are $154 million.
To date, $72 million has been spent on road repairs, high-haz-
ard debris removal, household debris cleanup, creek stabiliza-
tion, trails and parks.
So far, Boulder County has submitted $37 million for reim-
bursement from federal funding sources and received $21 mil-
lion thus far. Our local match for federal funds is anticipated to
be $60million.
Regarding the floods, four people lost their lives in Boulder
County, while 1,100 people were air lifted out of the flood. This
is second in scale only to Hurricane Katrina. Some 150 miles of
roads were damaged, 30 miles of which were completely de-
stroyed. Thirty-six public bridges were damaged and 150 private
bridges and culverts were damaged.
More than 100 county staff are involved in some way in the
flood recovery effort, averaging over 6,000 hours per month tal-
lied thus far.
Statistics pertaining to the Four-
mile Fire event include 165 homes
lost in the fire, 86 building permits
issued to repair or replace buildings
lost to fire damage and issuance of 53
certificates of occupancy.
Can you speak to some of the community
leaders andmaybe companies that have
demonstrated extraordinary contributions
to helping others?
GS: One example is Citywide Bank. They
were one of the few banks who made ex-
treme efforts to work with a business own-
er to restructure a loan proactively to avoid
interruption to their business. In situations where assets have
sustained significant damage, timing is critical.
For example, the standard loan policy is a three-month for-
bearance, which is pretty common. Threemonths doesn’t allow
for road rebuilding – and, as an example, Highway 34 took over
a year to be rebuilt. So lending solutions are a part of the answer
to recovery.
Having banks come to the table with solutions proactively is
what matters to keep our businesses thriving. I’m sure there are
other examples of this occurring in a variety of instances with
other business partners.
In Lyons, Oscar Blues was major contributor to the commu-
nity, especially during the response effort. It’s their community
mindset and commitment that made such a difference to the
people of Lyons.
Sen. Michael Bennet and Rep. Jared Polis have been instru-
mental in making connections at the federal level. Their sup-
port has been significant to our ability to navigate the federal
agencies and keep a sense of urgency front and center inWash-
ington.
What opportunities exist for shifts in civic planning, interagency
policy, development and construction standards that can have
the most positive impact for disaster resiliency?
GS: Boulder County sees the opportunity to implement new
ways of thinking and operating that can make a difference
during disaster events. The planning efforts are underway.
There are three facets we areworking on: Our local forces and
first responders – lessons learned; creating a disaster assistance
center to provide support to victims faster; and establishing pol-
icies and regulations to support road rebuilding and for hazard
mitigation.
The long-term recovery is ramping up with the implemen-
tation of HUD Community Development Block Grant-Disaster
Recovery funding, which is partially funding the long-term
planning and recovery. Lessons learned internally within the
county and externally among stakeholders, individuals, com-
munity, city, county, state and federal team members came to
the table in May for meetings to share lessons learned, identify
opportunities for better integration and ways we all can be bet-
ter prepared for the next disaster.
Boulder County also has assembled internal teams to look at
ways we can provide better response in the early phases and
how our resources should be prioritized to meet the sustained
needs of these events. \\ September 2013 flooding
Gary Sanfacon
Boulder County
Flood Recovery
Manager
Leading the Way