HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-04-24 Public Comment - M. Campanelli - Disaster response lessons from HeleneFrom:Mark Campanelli
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Cc:Daniel Carty; Shawn Kohtz; Nicholas Ross; jveltcamp@bozeman.net
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Disaster response lessons from Helene
Date:Wednesday, October 2, 2024 6:20:25 AM
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Dear City Commission and Staff,
I’ve been observing the aftermath of hurricane Helene in communities like Asheville, NC.FEMA is apparently overwhelmed, which is very telling. Our community should think
carefully about what could happen to Bozeman if, say, the storm that hit Yellowstone Park afew years back were to directly hit the Bozeman Creek and Hyalite Creek watersheds. It seems
that we could easily find a situation where many structures and most of our drinking watersupply are wiped out simultaneously.
The City has irresponsibly allowed growth far beyond capacity of many of our services, and
so I am even more concerned that this will severely affect our community’s ability to respondto and recover from a major weather-related disaster event. Does the City ever “war game”
such scenarios to practice and test our response capabilities?
I’m looking forward to the next update on the Bozeman Creek engineering study, and I reallyhope that the City’s disaster planning does not simply assume that the Federal Government
will swoop in to the rescue because Bozeman has let itself become so overgrown andunderprepared.
Sincerely,
Mark Campanelli
421 East Story StBozeman