Mohave County, Kingman, Bullhead City, Lake Havasu City, the Ft. Mojave Tribe, and the Mohave Valley Fire District participated in the November 6, statewide emergency exercise organized by the Arizona Division of Emergency Management.
All participating jurisdictions activated their Emergency Operations Centers and practiced working together to handle the consequences arising from a simulated statewide power outage that lasts for two weeks during an extreme heat period. The County Public Health Department also activated its operations center as part of the exercise. Other counties across the state participated in the exercise and practiced communicating and coordinating with the State Emergency Operations Center in Phoenix.
The County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Kingman is manned during major county disasters by employees pre-designated and drawn from multiple county departments. The employees periodically train and exercise their EOC duties in addition to accomplishing their regular county job duties. The cities and tribe follow similar procedures in selecting and training their EOC staffer.
In the power outage exercise, County Administrator Mike Hendrix served as EOC Director and various department directors served as Chiefs of the Operations, Planning, Logistics, and Finance Sections. A total of 42 individuals participated as county EOC staffers, including representatives from Unisource Energy Services, Mohave Electric Cooperative, the American Red Cross, Fort Mojave Mesa Fire District, Mohave County ARES (amateur radio), and the County Division of Emergency Management volunteer communications unit. Another 13 county employees participated at the Public Health operations center, and there were numerous participants at the tribal and city EOC’s.
The exercise results emphasized the catastrophic nature of a power outage lasting even a few days, whether the outage is caused by severe storms, as in this exercise, or by terrorist or technical malfunction incidents. Most businesses, including food markets and gas stations, do not have backup power and would be unable to conduct business. Some water and wastewater systems would be affected, and most radio stations and cell phone towers would be able to maintain operations for a few hours at most. If the outage is statewide, it would take some days for outside assistance to reach smaller population counties within the state. If it occurs during an extreme heat period, deaths and illnesses from heat related causes would be significant and would overload the health care system.
According to officials, the best way to prepare for such a situation, as with other potential disasters, is for individual families to develop and maintain a disaster plan, emergency procedures for maintaining contact and communications with family members, and an emergency supply kit that includes sufficient water and non-perishable food for at least 5 days. Suggestions for family preparedness and emergency supply kit items can be found at www.ready.gov.