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Cowlitz County emergency-management director reports increased alert reach and flags river-sediment, FEMA uncertainties
Summary
Director Scott Meads told commissioners the county's public-alerting systems reached about 56,000 residents across seven incidents in 2025, described drone mapping that shows sediment and island growth in the Cowlitz River, and warned that FEMA funding and hazard-plan work remain uncertain.
Scott Meads, director of Cowlitz County Emergency Management (DEM), told commissioners the office used HyperReach plus wireless emergency alerts (WEA) and the Emergency Alert System (EAS) to reach about 56,000 residents during seven incidents in 2025. He said most alerts were for missing persons and police activities and that 2025 incident counts were lower than in 2024.
Meads described DEM's drone mapping of the Cowlitz River from the Toutle confluence to the Columbia River, saying imagery shows islands gaining vegetation and, in some places, trees. He emphasized that drone imagery is a visual tool: DEM does not have bathymetric lidar to measure riverbed changes and that hydrology experts and the Army Corps of Engineers would be the technical authorities on how sediment affects channel capacity.
On evacuation planning, Meads said the county does not have a countywide evacuation plan; only the cities of Kalama and Castle Rock have formal city evacuation plans. He explained technical limits and risks in public alerting: WEA/EAS messages are limited in length (about a 400-character count per message currently) and can reach adjacent metro areas (for example, Portland), so message content and timing must be carefully managed. DEM is working to expand the character capacity and to use multiple messages when necessary.
Meads listed 2026 priorities: completion of the THIRA (threat-hazard identification and risk assessment), publication of the comprehensive emergency management plan (to return to the commission for review), an update of the hazard-mitigation plan, commodity-distribution planning (CPOD) and continuity planning. He noted grant funding uncertainty with FEMA: DEM has secured roughly $52,000 in Homeland Security Region 4 funds and anticipates an EMPG award of about $53,000, but timing is unclear while FEMA systems and processes remain in transition.
Commissioners asked about lidar and local interpretations of sediment impact; Meads reiterated that drone imagery shows visible island growth but that detailed hydrology and bathymetry are required to determine impacts on flood capacity. He also said DEM will coordinate with Tacoma Power and Light and other partners as inundation mapping is updated.
