Eastern Oregon Flooding, Feb. 11

Through its emergency mobilization plan, the Office of State Fire Marshal (OSFM) has activated eight members of a Type 2 Incident Management Team to support the ongoing response to flooding in eastern Oregon by Umatilla County Emergency Management, the Oregon Office of Emergency Management, the Oregon State Police, the Oregon Department of Transportation, other state agencies, and affected counties. On Friday afternoon, Gov. Kate Brown declared a state of emergency for Umatilla, Union, and Wallowa counties, all impacted by rains, snow melt, and flooding. As of this morning, the National Weather Service (NWS) forecast for the Pendleton area indicated that a colder front was moving in with drier weather expected through Thursday this week. The NWS reported a flood warning was in effect for urban areas and small streams in northwest Umatilla County through this afternoon. High water remains across much of this area along the Umatilla River. The river is receding and water levels reportedly will continue to decrease through today. The OSFM’s eight team members will be assisting the Umatilla County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) with support in functional areas including conducting community damage assessments, developing a plan for disaster recovery operations, ordering supplies and other logistics, and organizing financial records. The OSFM operates three IMTs that provide comprehensive incident command to manage ongoing emergency operations. The teams respond with resources mobilized by the Governor for a conflagration, natural disaster, or other all-hazard emergency that exceeds the control and resources of local emergency responders