EMERGENCY OPERATION CENTER — The Northridge Earthquake might have lasted only a few seconds, but it has taken more than 120 months of meetings and countless hours of work by city officials and emergency responders to learn lessons from the disaster.
Ten years out, Santa Monica officials still meet regularly with FEMA and the state’s Office of Emergency Services over the status of ongoing rebuilding projects. The Disaster Recovery Group, formed shortly after the quake, has been meeting monthly since Jan. 17, 1994, to monitor the status of funding, repairs and reconstruction. And the city’s own emergency operation center team — which includes a representative from nearly every department in City Hall — meets monthly. The city’s team of public information officers also meets monthly with every department.
“Everybody has a role to play and is ready to perform,” said Paul Weinberg, the city’s emergency services coordinator. “The more you practice, the better you are able to respond.”
Although he didn’t work in Santa Monica during the quake, Weinberg realized immediately when he started on the job more than a year ago that the city had an unusually strong handle on disaster recovery efforts.
“This is one of the most disaster-aware cities I’ve ever seen,” he said. “This city has kept its eye on the ball for 10 years.”
Officials continually discuss how they can better respond to natural disasters. What they’ve learned is that property retrieval is critical — in 1994 city officials recovered property from 81 red-and yellow-tagged buildings in about 1,800 units. They also learned that equipping residents with knowledge on how to prepare for an emergency — such as knowing how to turn off utilities and recover their own property — is vital.
The city offers a free, one-day class, “Disaster Assistance Response Training,” three times a year for residents to better prepare themselves in case of an emergency. The next one will be scheduled for February or March.
“It helps because if they are prepared, it takes some of the burden off emergency responders,” Weinberg said.
Local officials also have learned how key communicating with each other, the public and dignitaries can be in getting the proper resources pumped into the community. Capitalizing on the media and the Internet and holding public meetings help keep residents informed on the city’s progress in responding and recovery efforts, Weinberg said.
Elected officials and city workers recognized that the governmental steps they take immediately after a disaster can tremendously help residents and business owners get back to normal. Days following the quake, the City Council passed a series of laws and policy changes that enabled residents to repair their buildings without the usual red tape frequently experienced in City Hall. The fees for repairs were waived; “one-step permit centers” were set up so applying for demolition was made easier; a local funding mechanism was created to rebuild within the city; building permits were easier to obtain, and the City Council instituted ordinances designed to prevent price gouging by contractors.
Beyond meeting regularly to fine-tune its preparedness plan, the EOC team now has a new command post from which to operate that is safer and more efficient than what was used in 1994. Directly after the quake and during its aftershocks, city and emergency workers operated out of the basement squad room in the old police building. A new emergency operation center was built in the recently opened Public Safety Facility, which now houses police and fire departments under one roof.
“It was the basement jitters,” Weinberg said. “You don’t want to be in a basement with no windows during aftershocks.
“It is a much more conducive environment now,” he added. Officials also learned in the past decade how vital keeping meticulous records is when trying to recover money from the federal government, as well as tracking costs, Weinberg said.
Over the past decade, City Hall has made changes to the building code to help lessen the extent and amount of damage to structures within Santa Monica when another quake strikes. The City Council also enacted comprehensive seismic retrofitting codes to make buildings safer.
Today, the city is better equipped to handle terrorist situations, as well as HAZ MAT emergencies and natural disasters.
“It’s a multi-hazard preparedness strategy that includes natural and man-made disasters,” Weinberg said. “Our response has improved due to federal funding...
“When a disaster happens, it is less important on what the disaster is than what the training is,” he added.
While plenty of lessons were learned from the Northridge Earthquake, city officials are quick to remember what was done right.
“The city is a ringing success story because of the will of the residents and city staff to get Santa Monica back to normal and presentable as soon as possible,” Weinberg said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 17, 2004. Read the original PDF.