For years, the county’s Department of Emergency Management has operated as a branch of the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
This year, the Board of County Commissioners assumed control of the department.
In doing so, it selected former Sheriff Steve Mansfield to lead it.
Mansfield knows disaster well, having been at the helm of the sheriff’s office during the historic flooding of 2007 and a handful of other events throughout the years.
His first major test of the season — not including a summer of wildfires that struck in Lewis County and throughout the state — was the rising waters of local rivers, from the Chehalis to the Cowlitz, this week.
Fortunately, it amounted to a close call, though several residents in Randle chose to leave their homes, and U.S. Highway 12 was closed for a time as water spilled over the roadway.
Earlier this year, The Chronicle reported on Mansfield’s preparations at the new command center inside the Lewis County Courthouse, where television screens were being mounted to show river levels, road closures and other logistical information to coordinate an emergency response.
Mansfield explained that his previous belief that his department should be the response agency during floods had changed.
Response is key, he said, but so are preparation, planning and recovery.
The sheriff’s office, in the able hands of Rob Snaza, still stands at the ready to respond to disasters of any nature, along with all other local law enforcement and emergency response agencies.
The Emergency Management Department sits at the center of these responders, focused on addressing needs and directing resources.
The decision to focus on emergency management as its own entity seems appropriate considering the chronic flooding that afflicts all corners of Lewis County.
Mansfield proved his mettle in 2007 and previous and subsequent floods, and seems the logical choice to lead.
His advice to residents?
“My goal is everybody in Lewis County have three to five days of food, water and shelter,” he told The Chronicle.
The Emergency Management Department is also partnering with community agencies like United Way, Salvation Army and American Red Cross should the need for response arrive.
The most recent round of wet weather is likely just a taste of what’s to come this winter, and it seems the county has made wise moves in preparation through the realignment of emergency management duties.
“We’re going to do a good job on the response, and we’re going to do an even better job on the recovery because I just don’t have the Sheriff’s Office and county employees to help me there, I have the community to help me,” Mansfield said.
