With more than 3,000 rescues between them, Westlake Volunteer Fire Department, Willowfork Fire Department, Katy Fire Department and Harris County Emergency Services District No. 48 had their hands full during Tropical Storm Harvey. The agencies had help from civilian volunteers, the Texas National Guard and other emergency service agencies. Coordinating hundreds of calls each day of the storm, however, brought challenges.

High-water hazards

Varying water depths and currents throughout the flooding event in late August prompted interdepartmental cooperation, WVFD Fire Chief Mark Palmer said. Chief Jeff Hevey from Harris County ESD No. 48 acted as a liaison between WVFD and KFD. “The first rescue of the [storm] was at [FM] 1463 and I-10, which was our boat,” Palmer said. “That was thanks to Jeff Hevey for calling us and asking if we were available.” When Harris County ESD No. 48 attempted to perform the rescue the evening of Aug. 27, its boat could not navigate the current. That prompted communication between the two departments, the district’s Public Information Officer Simon VanDyk said. Flooding at KFD prevented first responders from using their fire trucks and ambulances to respond to calls, Chief Russell Wilson said.

Equipment limited

Departments said that inadequate vehicles and other equipment were troublesome. WVFD’s boat held 12 people, but Palmer said a 16-person capacity—as well as more high-water vehicles—would have been preferable. Mayde Creek, which overflowed during the storm, cuts through WVFD’s coverage area. This created a problem when transporting patients to hospitals south of the creek, Palmer said. The San Marcos Fire Department also sent two strike teams to supplement KFD’s manpower and equipment supplies. While emergency service agencies are willing to share resources, it was difficult to redirect them outside of the department’s assigned region, Wilson said.

Communication concerns

Another common challenge for all four departments was communication. No department could track its average response time for calls during the flooding. In the city of Katy, KFD’s computer- aided dispatch system went down and the station flooded Aug. 27, Wilson said. He directed response teams from a makeshift command center on the second floor of the fire station and assigned a radio-equipped first responder to each boat. WFD, WVFD and Harris County ESD No. 48 staff doubled up rescues in the field whether the call had come through dispatch, which for the latter two agencies, became overwhelmed. The urgent need meant teams often did not have time to close out one call before responding to another household. “Some calls had very extended response times due to our inability to actually reach the person, coupled by the fact that we had entered into a triaged response plan due to the volume of calls,” said Willowfork Fire Chief Billy Wilson, no relation to Russell. Eventually, Harris County ESD No. 48 ceased radio notifications and opted for its computer-aided dispatch system instead. The notices were bogging down emergency response wavelengths, making radio communication unusable, Lt. VanDyk said. In the meantime, misinformation percolated among the public, he said. People disregarded warnings from emergency services, including evacuation notices, prompting VanDyk to say residents need to understand who their respective agencies and reliable news sources are. “We’ve demonstrated that when we ask people to leave, that it is a serious threat and in the future, we are hoping that they heed that advice,” he said.