Cowlitz County public works weighs mass-notification tools after storm and I‑5 closures

Savannah Clement, public works, told the Cowlitz County Board of Commissioners on an agenda item that county crews relied heavily on Facebook during a recent weather event and on I‑5 closures and are now researching a mass-notification system to reach affected residents faster.

Clement said the county saw local roads become congested when navigation apps rerouted nonlocal drivers and semitrailers onto unfamiliar side streets after freeway closures. "One of the reasons I wanted to bring it up is, we're trying to, every time we have an event, we really try to look at what was the good, the bad, the ugly," she said, adding the county is exploring ways to notify mapping services and limit through traffic on local roads.

The proposed system would use geofencing to send alerts to people within a targeted area and include an option for reverse-911-style emergency messages under FEMA guidance when a qualifying emergency exists, Clement said. She also described a facility-focused use — notifying building occupants of power outages or an active-incident shelter-in-place — and a public-facing work-order feature so residents could text photos of hazards that would create a work ticket for crews.

Clement described the county's existing reliance on Facebook during the event: staff posted frequent updates, gained about 700 new page likes overnight and a video posted by road crews received roughly 20,000 views. She said public comments and photos sent to the page helped the department learn about incidents they did not observe directly.

Commissioners and staff discussed practical limits: emergency management ("DEM") already has a notification system with a contractual limit on the number of messages per year, and geofencing can send un‑opted messages only within federal/state rules. "The geofencing would hit everybody within that fenced area," a commissioner said. Clement noted that emergency geofencing for certain incidents does not require opt-in but that localized service interruptions (for example, a water outage) would likely require opt-in under FEMA guidelines.

County staff said they will present quotes and demonstrations to other departments and return to the board in coming weeks with a proposal for a system to be in place before the next high‑risk season or construction season.

The discussion was framed as planning and procurement work; the board did not take any formal action at the meeting.