ARE YOU PREPARED?

5/25/2022 (Permalink)

Satellite imagery of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico before it makes landfall in Louisiana.

With spring storm season here and hurricane season approaching, the question becomes, are you (Emergency Managers), your staff, and your community prepared to respond and recover from whatever mother nature throws your way? Spring storm season 2022 is upon us, with forecasts revealing the jet stream pattern over the North Pacific and the Atlantic to be influenced by the weakening La Nina while a high-pressure system in the Pacific will define the dynamic weather over North America.Hurricane season starts June 1st and continues through November 30th. That is 182 days or roughly one-half of the year that a hurricane could impact your community. Early predictions indicate a  65% chance of an above-average hurricane season for 2022 with 13-18 named storms (winds of 39 MPH or higher), 6-11 of those grow to be hurricanes (winds of 74 MPH or higher), and 2-5 develop to be major hurricanes (winds of 111 MPH or higher). 

With this in mind, now is the time for Emergency Managers and communities in tornado-prone areas and areas along the coastline and inland communities to prepare to respond and recover.

Hurricane Names for the 2022 Hurricane Season

Here is a possible top 10 list of preparedness items you should have already discussed and made specific plans for your community.

1-      Redundant communication systems. Ensure that your Emergency Responders have more than one means of communication. Depending on the size and severity of the storm, typical means of communication may not be available. It is paramount that you, as an Emergency Manager, can communicate with your field staff, local elected officials, first responders, and any possible mutual aid that may be assisting in the response phase of any operation. Additional options are satellite phones, two-way radio, citizens band radio, amateur radio operators, and social media if internet access is available.

2-      Identify major routes for Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Fire, and Police Department use. It is essential for emergency personnel and first responders to get to local medical facilities and other emergency services without delay in a storm. By having pre-identified these routes, you can plan to clean and open the critical roads as quickly as possible and as soon as it is safe for emergency personnel after the storm passes. Ensure that your stand-by contract has a cut-and-push plan established and that you have communicated with your debris removal contractor before landfall. 

3-     Estimate your community's worst-case scenario for a minor and major hurricane.  How much debris could impact your community in each situation? By being prepared with estimates, you can communicate these estimates to your debris contractor, who can secure enough equipment and personnel to respond to your community. It is vital to make your debris removal contractor and monitoring firm part of your Debris Management Plan and your planning process.

4-     Have a stand-by contract for both your debris removal contractor and your removal monitoring firm. We have mentioned stand-by contracts previously; however, [I can't emphasize enough the importance of this step in your debris management process]. Proper contracting can be a long process. Preparing a Request for Proposal (RFP), publishing the RFP and soliciting bids, scoring incoming submissions, and ensuring that you have complied with federal procurement procedures, laws, and regulations found in 2 CFR §200 can be an overwhelming task, especially for small jurisdictions. It is less stressful to get this step done in peacetime before any post-event efforts.

5-     Personnel Identified, trained, and in place to promote a rapid response. This should be part of your Debris Management Plan. Personnel may be inaccessible post-landfall, and communications may be spotty at best.  It is imperative to have these folks identified, trained, and in place to respond to any event quickly. Ensure their phone numbers are available for the information sharing and reporting necessary for any response operation.

6-     Identify Temporary Debris Storage and Reduction Sites (TDSRS). You can save a significant amount of time by having these sites pre-identified. Additionally, pre-identify the permanent landfill or final disposition sites. This information will be needed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) if the event becomes a declared Emergency or Major Disaster. Note from 2021; different states have different Environmental and Historic considerations for temporary debris sites. Ensure you know the latest guidance for your state's Department of Environmental Quality and State Historic Preservation Officer.

7-     Request approval from your State Department of Environmental Quality for your TDSRS. As soon as it is safe for emergency personnel post-event, ensure that you make the call to your State Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to get approval for your TDSRS. Typically this is necessary regardless if the event becomes declared or not. The DEQ contact and phone number handy will make this step a breeze in the hectic post-event environment. 

8-     Identify methods of debris reduction. With landfill capacity becoming an issue throughout the United States and worldwide, we must plan to reduce storm debris by any means possible. Having this step decided will make your debris operations more efficient and shorten the time to completion. Vegetative debris methods include chipping (65%-75% reduction in volume) or burning (90% reduction in volume). Wood chips are valuable as most landfills will accept them for cover at no charge to your community. Construction and Demolition (C&D) debris can be compressed and then transported to its final disposition in a landfill that accepts C&D debris. 

9-     Plan for the transition from response to recovery. Debris operations typically consist of two phases. The response phase includes the initial cut and push to open emergency routes and the recovery phase, where debris moves from the right-of-way to the TDSRS or final disposition. These are two different and distinct steps, and you must plan accordingly. The response phase is much shorter, while the recovery phase could take up to a year, depending on the event's severity. Having this plan in place will lessen the stress while in emergencies.

10-  Estimate your completion date.  What does your completion look like for your community? How many passes will you allow? What will be the last date you will allow storm debris to come to the curb? How will you communicate this to your citizens? By understanding these questions, you can move forward to completion much quicker than planning under emergency conditions. 

With these ten tips, you will be better prepared to handle any event that might come your way this year and years to come. If your jurisdiction had a well-prepared Debris Management Plan, your work would be 99% complete. A comprehensive Debris Management Plan will be a valuable part of your Emergency Management toolbox with yearly updates. And to round out your planning, stand-by contracts will relieve the stress that is always part of any disaster response.

Tony M. Furr, retired FEMA Emergency Management Specialist and Region 6 Debris Subject Matter Expert (SME), wrote this article. Mr. Furr has taken a position with DRC Emergency Services and serves as Director of Technology Assistance and Training at 110 Veterans Memorial Blvd. Suite 401, Metairie, LA 70005.