The Yurok Tribe of California is working with federal and local agencies to improve its emergency response plan.

The reservation was hit by a major flood in late December 2005. It affected the water supply, caused mudslides and damaged fish-monitoring equipment.

"We were caught off guard," Labecca Nessier, the tribe's emergency services coordinator, told Government Technology.

It took weeks for the tribe to respond due to its isolation and lack of resources. But now the tribe is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Homeland Security and local agencies to improve and coordinate services.

"It was a learning curve for all of us to figure out how the Yurok tribal government and local governments were supposed to work together," Nessier said. "Not all counties know how to work with tribes and not all tribes know how to work with counties, and I think it needs to be brought forward a little more."

Get the Story:
California's Yurok Tribe Collaborates With FEMA After Flood (Government Technology 2/4)