Stephen Willoughby, director of Emergency Communications, Preparedness and Response and city emergency management coordinator, briefed the Public Safety Standing Committee on the city’s response to a winter storm that prompted a state declaration and a boil‑water advisory after the water treatment plant lost power and flooded.

Willoughby said the city activated its emergency operations center, opened inclement‑weather sheltering and began water distribution the evening the plant lost power. The boil‑water advisory was activated January 6, Willoughby said, and lifted on Jan. 11; the Office of Emergency Management shifted the EOC from full activation to monitoring and then toward normal operations over the following week.

Willoughby said the Office of Emergency Management has four staff and that the city engaged Hagerty Consulting to assist with an incident response assessment and to develop a post‑disaster recovery plan. Hagerty’s project manager, Aymar Marino Mazza, told the committee the planned deliverables include a citywide disaster recovery plan framework, an incident‑specific annex for the 2025 winter storm, and a cost‑recovery plan to help document expenses and pursue reimbursement where eligible.

Mazza said the planning process will review existing documentation and practices, conduct stakeholder interviews and a public needs survey, convene an advisory group and working groups (organized by recovery support functions such as housing or critical infrastructure), and validate draft plans with city leaders and implementers. She said Hagerty’s team would also help the city identify potentially reimbursable costs and advise on documentation for cost‑recovery requests.

During committee questions, council members criticized the timeliness of public notification early in the incident and raised concerns about 311 access during the emergency. One council member said residents — particularly seniors — reported not receiving timely alerts and described personally coordinating water deliveries to vulnerable constituents. Willoughby acknowledged problems with the city’s older mass‑notification system and said a new Richmond Ready Alert system is scheduled to go live Feb. 3; he said the new system will allow targeted cell‑phone alerts and routine use to ensure readiness.

Willoughby said Hagerty’s work is focused on the city’s response and recovery planning, not on the technical investigation into the water plant failure. He told the committee Hagerty began by providing emergency operations center staffing support and stakeholder outreach and will next develop the recovery plan and an incident assessment. Committee members were invited to participate in interviews and a citywide survey to inform the recovery plan.

Clarifying details: the Office of Emergency Management has four staff; Hagerty began immediate support for EOC staffing and is preparing an incident response assessment, a post‑disaster recovery action plan for the winter storm, and a cost‑recovery plan. Willoughby said the boil‑water advisory began Jan. 6 and was lifted Jan. 11; the Richmond Ready Alert system is scheduled to go live Feb. 3.