With the ice from last week’s storm mostly melted away, and with fewer and fewer people still remaining without power, local leaders are beginning to examine their response to the region-wide emergency.
Some are already calling on the government to make improvements for next time. Those include a cadre of volunteers who served at emergency shelters in Eugene and Springfield.
The Egan Warming Centers were one of the few safe havens for people experiencing homelessness, or whose homes were no longer safe because of power outages or other storm damage.
The sites are normally only open on evenings when overnight temperatures dip below 30 degrees. Volunteers are prepared to work four hours at a time, offering a warm bowl of soup and a few cold weather supplies.
Charlotte Helmer, a volunteer who leads the morning shift at the Springfield site, said during the storm, some worked up to 18 hours at a time. She said the team ran out of beds and blankets. And even as supplies dwindled, the number of people seeking a warm indoor space increased.
Helmer said volunteers called every local government official they could think of to ask for help.
“The realization has struck us that our emergency response plan, whatever it is, includes nothing for people who are unhoused, or people who become unhoused during an emergency,” she said, “That is a huge gap.”
Fran Munkenbeck, a volunteer member of the Egan medical team, said the shelter took in people with medical complications that made it unsafe to stay in a cold, dark home.
She said the team had to call 911 because some new arrivals were seriously ill.
“I think on Tuesday, I sent two in one ambulance to McKenzie, and one was very ill,” she said. “We couldn't find [their] blood pressure and neither could the paramedics. Although this patient was still managing to talk.”
Helmer and Munkenbeck are among a group of volunteers who have reached out to the cities of Eugene and Springfield, as well as Lane County, to ask for a review of their storm response, and a plan they can roll out in future emergencies to ensure everyone has shelter.
“We really will need the public, and we need our representatives and leaders to know that this happened,” Helmer said, “and be prepared to work on it together so that it never happens again.”
Leaders at Springfield and Lane County said they did allocate resources before, and during the storm, including additional funding for St. Vincent de Paul which oversees Egan Warming Centers. Lane County also worked to clear over 1,200 miles of county roads, set up a non-emergency call center to free up 911, delivered propane and fuel to fire stations and warming sites in outlying communities. A community resource center was also available starting Saturday in Springfield and Eugene.
Officials say the widespread need caused by storm damage and disruption overwhelmed local governments, which is why both the county, and state, declared a state of emergency.
Laurie Trieger, chair of the Lane County Board of Commissioners, told the community at a commissioners meeting Tuesday that many employees were without power or internet themselves, and were dealing with situations more severe than anything they had ever experienced.
“We learned a lot about what it looks like to respond to a county-wide emergency,” she said. “We've responded to other emergencies of similar intensity, but never so geographically widespread as this."
Several commissioners, including Ryan Ceniga, who represents West Lane County, said the county will review its response to the emergency and look for ways to improve.
“What if this was an earthquake?” he said. “We knew the weather was going to warm up, it was going to melt away. If we make it through that, we survive. And we had noticed that we had weather coming, we had no idea it was going to be this intense of course. But an earthquake doesn't give you notice.”
Niel Laudati, assistant city manager for Springfield, said the city did prepare for the storm. But he said many employees also struggled with water, power and internet issues while trying to mount an emergency response.
He said the city is planning to look for ways to improve its response, and support the organizations and volunteers it works with.
"I think we're all in a pretty exhausted state,” he said. “As power gets turned back on and people can get back to work, and a more normal life, we'll have time to look at how we responded, and build a better way to respond in the future. And I think that would include the Egan site as well."
Eugene Springfield Fire saw over 3,000 dispatches last week. The agency said at one point, there were 38 calls waiting and no ambulances available.
Both Springfield, and Lane County are both still under a state of emergency, which may help local groups and governments be reimbursed for expenses and damages caused by the storm. Springfield’s State of Emergency has been extended until late February, although they can choose to end that early.
Meanwhile, Lane County officials are already warning residents to be prepared for the next possible round of severe weather: an atmospheric river that could bring a fresh set of flooding, high wind and power outages next week.
Reporter Nathan Wilk contributed to this report.
