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LA Councilwoman Nithya Raman. | Photo courtesy of the city of Los Angeles
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Los Angeles should have a “clear understanding of how to respond to major weather events,” according to Councilwoman Nithya Raman, who filed a motion Friday seeking to create a comprehensive storm response system across all city departments and council offices.
A once-in-a-quarter-century storm event could put up to 1,700 city residents at risk for flooding impacts and create up to $85 million in property damage, according to the motion Raman submitted.
“I know that our hillside communities here in District 4 and throughout the city are especially vulnerable to the impacts of severe rainstorms, with effects including extreme erosion, mudslides and road degradation,” Raman said. “We saw this firsthand in January and expect to again with this weekend’s anticipated storm. It is critical that before, during, and after these major storms, we are able to swiftly share information, distribute resources and address damage to minimize their impacts.”
Raman’s motion calls for the council to instruct the Emergency Management Department to report within 30 days on the city’s current response plans, lessons learned during the storms in January and adjustments from the response to those storms.
It also calls for a “clear delineation of responsibilities for preparing for and responding after an emergency, and an identification of channels for the communication of critical safety information between city departments, council offices and residents.”
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