Flood rescue in Southern California
At the start of the year, Southern California experienced intense flooding. Barry D Smith examines what it takes to alert, inform and rescue people at short notice from extreme weather events
California has always been a land of weather extremes. Years of drought can be broken by record rainfall. The winter of 2022–2023 was one of those years, with many areas of the state breaking rain and snowfall records that had stood for over a hundred years. The mountainous terrain of Ventura County, located northwest of Los Angeles, received unprecedented amounts of rain during the month of January, 2023. The Ventura County Sheriff / County Fire Department Aviation Unit consequently faced some of the most challenging rescues in its history.
Ventura County has a population of almost 850,000 people with an area of 2,200 sqmi. Over 50 per cent of that area is National Forest land. The highest point is approximately 8,800ft (2,680m) above sea level and has a coastline with the Pacific Ocean of 43mi (70km). The aviation unit is an all hazards unit that responds to fires, search and rescue missions, and medical emergencies with advanced life support capabilities. It comprises two Sikorsky HH-60L Black Hawk helicopters that have been converted into Firehawk helicopters by United Rotorcraft. The unit also recently took delivery of a new Bell 412EPX. They also operate two Bell 205 Hueys and a Bell 206L LongRanger.
“The rain event started on 5 January 2023,” explained Lee Chapman, a Senior Deputy / Helicopter Crew Chief for Ventura County. “On that day we had eight rescues out of various rivers in the county. On 9 January, we received our first call into Matilija Canyon with a house that was inundated by mud. The rain had continued and completely saturated the ground. The canyon is very steep and runs east/west with a small stream that is active most of the year. At the most, only a few hundred people live in the area. The canyon itself is fairly remote. There is only one road in and out of the canyon with steep walls on all sides. This is not an area we typically see flooding events. However, the canyon got almost 17in of rain within 24hr. This turned into a multi-day rescue and evacuation event.
“Initially, our calls in the canyon were for houses being flooded due to the rising river. We started getting calls for rescues for trapped individuals. As the river continued to rise and more rain fell, it began to become apparent that everyone in the canyon was in danger. The access road was cut in multiple locations as well as being blocked by several landslides. So, the people in the canyon were trapped and unable to leave by ground vehicle. That began a county-wide response with the aviation unit working with the Ventura County Office of Emergency Services.”
It began to become apparent that everyone in the canyon was in danger.
Once this began, the unit flew up the canyon and dropped off helicopter crew chiefs who went from house to house to check on residents to see if they needed to be airlifted out. They set up a landing zone in the canyon near the homes that was well away from the river but within walking distance for the residents. They printed and distributed fliers for the residents to let them know when and where to go for evacuation.
Swift response to swift water
“It was almost like a bus service,” recalled John Burt, another Senior Deputy / Helicopter Crew Chief. “We used both of our Firehawks as well as some of our Bell Huey medium ships. Over about a week, we evacuated 71 people by helicopter. On the other end, we set up a landing zone at a high school in the town of Ojai to receive the evacuees. They then were provided with housing or transportation to relatives.”
The weather continued to be bad throughout the evacuations. It seemed most of the rain was occurring at night. So, they had a couple of nights with swift water rescue missions in their coastal region. The overall weather was marginal visual flight rules (VFR) conditions. There were several calls for assistance that they could not respond to because the weather was too bad to safely complete the mission.
“This is something we train for and our procedures seemed to work well,” commented Chapman. “We do daily and weekly weather briefings and look at potential flooding situations during the winter. We were already gearing up for a major event when the flooding in the canyon happened. We had decided which aircraft to use and how they would be equipped and crewed.
We are very lucky here in Ventura County in that the aviation unit is allowed to do a lot of training throughout the county
“We are very lucky here in Ventura County in that the aviation unit is allowed to do a lot of training throughout the county. We work closely with our county public works department, which has rain gauges and river monitors spread out all over the county. This can give us a heads up about any areas that are potentially going to flood. We fly members of the public works department to allow them to examine the watershed and look for any issues that might affect people downstream. This also allows the aviation unit to look over potential trouble spots and preplan for flood events. In addition, as part of our normal training, we are always looking for potential landing sites in remote areas throughout the county. For any potential major events, whether it is a fire or flooding situation, the unit can staff extra helicopters as needed. On any given day, there is enough staff at the hangar to respond to two calls for service at the same time.”
The unit will fly reconnaissance missions before and after severe weather events. They can use the public address system to tell people on the ground that a weather event is coming and they need to move to higher ground. This is especially important for the homeless population that live around the riverbeds. There are also ground-based deputy sheriff personnel who are assigned to check in with vulnerable populations, such as the homeless, on a regular basis. They are a great resource for information about people living in areas where flooding could be an issue as well as providing warnings when significant weather is approaching.
“There are many aviation rescue agencies in southern California,” stated Burt. “We have a good working relationships with the units surrounding Ventura County, for both aerial firefighting and rescue work. We will often exchange information on equipment and techniques as well as lessons learned from training and actual missions. When we got our Firehawks, we went to Los Angeles County Fire Department who have been operating this type for decades to learn from them. We flew with them and evaluated their training programs. We take any chance we can to network and fly with these other agencies and they come to fly with us and observe our practices.”
We have a good working relationships with the units surrounding Ventura County, for both aerial firefighting and rescue work
The urban areas of southern California are not immune to flood events. Within the city limits of Los Angeles, there are over 400 linear miles of flood control channels that are a combination of creeks and streams that feed into concrete-lined channels, with both vertical and angled walls. These lead to flood control basins that slow the water and eventually lead to the ocean. It is not unusual for these channels to be dry at certain times of the year and may not flow much water for several years. People use them for recreation as well as to live in for people experiencing homelessness. Once significant rainfall occurs, these people can be caught unawares by the sudden forceful flow of water.
“Within the Los Angeles City Fire Department (LAFD), we have ground-based swift water rescue teams with a very comprehensive air operations swift water rescue plan,” explained LAFD Chief Pilot Scot Davison. “Both ground and helicopter swift water rescues involve standardized procedures and recurrent training. Our swift water program has been around since about 1990, which involves approximately 60 ground-based swift water rescue personnel as well as the air operations unit.”
The procedure for a dynamic or moving water rescue involves lowering the rescuer on the cable into the water downstream of the victim until the rescuer is about ankle deep in the water. The rescuer has a capture strap that he can quickly put around the victim to secure them to the hoist cable. As the victim approaches the rescuer, the helicopter places the rescuer directly in the path of the victim. About five to 10ft before the victim arrives at the rescuer, the hoist operator lowers the rescuer completely into the water. The hoist operator then instructs the pilot how to keep pace with the victim in the water, to match the speed of the water, and keep the helicopter directly over the victim and rescuer. Once the rescuer captures the victim, which usually only takes a matter of seconds, the rescuer and victim are slowly hoisted out of the water until they are only ankle deep. This procedure basically creates a static hoist situation with moving water that puts no extra load on the rescuer and victim, and no side load on the helicopter. The unit has been using this procedure for swift water rescues for almost 30 years.
When air operations are dispatched on a swift water rescue, we respond with a package of three helicopters
“On any day that meets criteria for the possibility of a swift water incident, our air operations unit staff two hoist rescue ships with two pilots and three crewmembers in the cabin,” said Davison. “When air operations are dispatched on a swift water rescue, we respond with a package of three helicopters.
There are two Leonardo AW139 hoist ships and one, smaller, command and control helicopter. The first hoist helicopter will respond to the location where the victim was last seen in the water. The second hoist ship will respond several miles downstream from that point based on the water speed and other factors. Both of these aircraft will then begin a coordinated search for the victim.”
A coordinated response
The command and control ship, known as the HELCO, stays outside the search area and controls the air space around the rescue as well as coordinating with the ground incident commander. Once the victim is located, HELCO coordinates with the incident commander to determine if the rescue will be ground-based or performed by the helicopter. LAFD recently purchased two Bell 505 helicopters for use as HELCO ships. This allows the hoist ships to focus on finding and rescuing the victim. The HELCO also coordinates the myriad of news helicopters that are attracted to these situations.
These flood control channels are crisscrossed with many wires that require a high degree of concentration for the helicopter crews.
These flood control channels are in an urban environment and are crisscrossed with many high tension power cables, telephone lines, and other wires that require a high degree of concentration for the helicopter crews. The crews are trained to look for clear areas from which they will be able to safely use their hoist. It only needs to be about 100–200yd in length with the ability to hover at about 50ft to accomplish the rescue. It can be a challenge to find those spots.
“We perform rescues 24 hours a day,” Davison explained. “On any given day, we typically can staff two rescue helicopters. When the weather forecast calls for severe weather conditions, we will call in more staff to crew extra hoist helicopters. Whenever we fly night missions, we fly with two pilots. Typically, one pilot will be using night vision goggles and the other is not. Obviously, the risks are greater at night, but we have a very good, comprehensive risk management system in place.”
While there might be years between flood events in southern California, the aviation rescue units in the area are well trained with comprehensive tactics and procedures.
June 2023
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We find out about attracting the best staff; what is being done to improve sustainability; how tiltrotors compare with conventional aircraft; how rescue services approach sudden and extreme flooding; and the challenges facing MRO supply chains; plus all of our regular content.
Barry Smith
Barry Smith has been an aviation and emergency services writer/photographer for over thirty years. He has published over 250 magazine articles and six books. He has also worked in emergency services as a paramedic, volunteer firefighter, and member of search and rescue teams for over 40 years.