The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) conducted a grant effectiveness case study with Snohomish County, Washington in 2023 to better understand how the Puget Sound Region used the fiscal year (FY) 2019 Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program (RCPGP) award to
build capability related to logistics and supply chain management. FEMA conducted an on-site visit to Snohomish County, Washington to meet with key stakeholders at the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management (DEM) and partner jurisdictions that worked together on the FY 2019 RCPGP grant. Stakeholders from the Puget Sound Region then shared their experiences with the RCPGP award process. This case study identified the following key takeaways:
- The Puget Sound Region’s proximity to the Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) has had a direct impact on its jurisdictions’ preparedness strategies and priorities, particularly relating to providing life-sustaining commodities to remote or isolated populations.
- Capability gaps identified in the Cascadia Rising 2016 (CR16) Exercise aligned with the Puget Sound Region’s efforts to use the RCPGP award to plan for population islands, contiguous areas isolated by roadway damage and bridge outages, and the provision of life-sustaining commodities during a catastrophic event.
- The Puget Sound Region’s approach to integrating jurisdictions into RCPGP-funded projects by using a tiered system of product development and review allowed for continuous collaboration across jurisdictions with varying resource availability and staffing levels to ensure an integrated, regional approach to building capabilities to address catastrophic events.
- Data-driven strategies and tools such as the RCPGP Community Point of Distribution (CPOD) Prioritization Tool and revised CPOD Siting Methodology have enabled the Puget Sound Region to better identify vulnerable populations and engage in cross-jurisdictional dialogue regarding mutual aid and emergency-planning efforts.
- Building partnerships with private sector and maritime partners through RCPGP-funded efforts has helped bridge knowledge gaps between the maritime and emergency management communities and helped validate planning assumptions across the region.
- Tailored products, such as community playbooks, provide volunteers with actionable next steps to establish operational communications and identify sources of life-sustaining commodities, such as potable water, during emergency incidents.
This case study is part of a series of case studies that seek to better understand the implementation and use of RCPGP awards. Case studies within this series explore the efforts of RCPGP grant recipients to improve regional collaboration, communication, trust, and stakeholder relationships, in addition to grant recipients’ efforts to improve regional capability in areas targeted by the RCPGP. These case studies also review trends in RCPGP investment decision-making.
Throughout this case study, FEMA analyzes the experiences of Snohomish County and the Puget Sound Region during the FY 2019 RCPGP period of performance. The Background section of this study describes the Puget Sound Region and the unique challenges it faces because of its proximity to the CSZ. The Regional Collaboration Section outlines regional collaboration and stakeholder engagement strategies to better illustrate the Puget Sound Region’s approach to preparedness. The Key RCPGP Investment section highlights specific RCPGP-funded projects throughout the Puget Sound Region during FY 2019 and describes the experiences of jurisdictions, their communities, and project stakeholders. This case study concludes by highlighting the Puget Sound Region’s experiences with the RCPGP award process and best practices for future RCPGP awardees.
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