We haven't paid much attention to natural disasters so let's start by looking at possibilities for planning for a hurricane. I am writing this 8/24/11 with an impending hurricane which has a good probability of passing close to or through our region. What do we need to consider in advance of such a storm? Various types of incidents requiring our direct response? Possible sheltering and feeding of area residents? Extended period of power loss with use of generators? Members needing to attend to their own situations which may cause a reduction in firefighting staffing?
Hurricanes are severe tropical cyclones with sustained winds of at least 74 miles per hour which generate extended periods of heavy rainfall on the order of 6 to 12 inches or more. The Hudson Valley has experienced few direct hits since hurricanes generally lose their power once they make landfall but the area around New York City has had nine in the last century with a Saffir-Simpson rating of category 1 or higher.
When a hurricane loses power it could become a tropical storm or extratropical storm. It may lose the strong winds but the flooding rains with gale force winds may still cause problems as it continues on its path. Secondary hazards include tornadoes, utility disruptions and other problems like flash floods.
Concept of Operations
The activities in preparation for a hurricane event will take several days for large government organizations but since the Greenport Fire Department is a rather small and agile organization and our overall concerns equally small, we should be able to accomplish our activities in less than three days. Then we could probably divide the event into three phases:
Awareness Phase – Begins when we are aware that the track of an impending storm may pass to within 100 miles of any of our area. This phase will begin 48 to 72 hours prior to the arrival of the storm and gale force winds of 32 - 63 MPH.
Preparation Phase – Begins 36 to 48 hours prior to the arrival of the storm and gale force winds. Tropical storm watches will probably have been issued.
Response and Recovery Phase – Begins 24 to 36 hours prior to the arrival of the storm and gale force winds, continues with post-storm recovery activities and ends with the termination of emergency activities. Hurricane watches and warnings will probably have been issued.
We created a hurricane plan which was an appendix to our Emergency Operations Plan at the Bridge Authority. The following table was created to help us respond to the various phases when a hurricane was approaching. Click on it to get an idea of what we should be doing prior to, during and after a hurricane incident.
Hurricane Response Timeline Checklist.pdf
The following were some planning considerations that we should consider as part of our hurricane preparedness:
Some Planning Considerations:
The following concerns have been voiced by various organizations and should be considered when planning for this event. These items are not meant to be all inclusive since there may be other concerns to consider that may only present themselves in the lead-up to any particular storm.
Flooding within the town – be aware of all areas that have flooded in the past. These storms are typically big rain events that could dump 6 to 12 inches of rain in a 24-hour period.
Rock/mud slides – Some areas may have high rock walls or high angle sloping ground, which could be susceptible to slides during large rain events.
High winds – Sustained winds in excess of 60 MPH could be present causing debris to fly through the area, knocking trees and wires down and causing problems with traffic.
Does the Bridge Authority have a high wind phase where they allow no traffic to cross the Rip Van Winkle Bridge when sustained winds reach 60 – 65 MPH?
Power outages – Some areas will lose streetlights and traffic signals. Residents should expect extended periods of no electricity and even with generator power, phone lines could be down, including those that serve cell sites, meaning our only communications may be with two-way radios.
Communications disruptions – When the phone lines go dead, we lose our ability to easily communicate with our members and the outside world, and we may be left with only our radio system for communications between our companies, our members through pager monitoring and Columbia County 911.
This event may require us to call in or otherwise schedule a small crew of members at each station early in the event. Those members should be sure that their families will be prepared prior to reporting to their station.
Consider the things with which the Greenport Fire Department should be concerned. Send suggestions to gfdtraining25@yahoo.com
The following should be monitored as long as we are able:
National Hurricane Center (http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/)
Various "X" (Formerly Twitter) accounts (http://twitter.com/#!/ny_columbia , http://twitter.com/#!/NYSEMO and others)
NY Alert (http://www.nyalert.gov/ where you can log in and have alerts emailed to you)
Facebook is a newer way of getting information out. The following sites do not require the user to have a facebook account so they are open to the public:
Greenport Fire Department Emergency on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/GFDEmergency)
Columbia County 911 Center on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/columbiacounty911)
Columbia County Emergency Management Office on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/columbiacountyemergencymanagementoffice)
and any other sites that could provide information in times of large scale incidents.