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Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management Crisis and Emergency Management Newsletter Website |
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December
2006
Volume
11 - Number 3 |
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By Tay Johannes I opened my eyes. In the darkness the telephone rang out again. I fumbled for the phone, and though groggy I heard my operations dispatcher say, “Major, you better get here quick—we’ve just been hit by a tornado!” I am the public works operations chief at an Air Force base in Florida, and its Presidents Day 2003. Experienced through numerous drills, I went through my mental checklist of directing notifications, recalling special teams, and checking for additional relevant details. No injuries, the squall had passed, and the forecast was improving. Thinking about the weather brought a sense of irony to me. We had made it through last hurricane season with only one near miss, but this was our third tornado in two months. The previous tornados hit remote, undeveloped areas, but this time was different. Lines were down; power was out; everything was dark. The route from the main gate to our operations center was clear of hazards, but not much else was certain. My wife told me to be careful as I grabbed my uniform and gear. I quickly checked my equipment to make sure I wasn’t forgetting anything. I paused at the refrigerator for some juice and a snack…no telling when I would eat again. I downed the minimal breakfast on the short 12 minute drive to the operations center. The route looked clear, but I couldn’t see much from the road. Sunrise was about an hour away, and without street lights the area was too dark to see very far. The guard (a mixture of worry and relief on his face) at the main gate informed me that a funnel touched down about 100 meters away. I took a little pride in my response time—38 minutes from a sound sleep. The team leaders and I started organizing our assembly point. Step one was personnel accountability—we checked to see if everyone made it in. Step two we checked the status of our assets to verify the vehicles, tools and buildings were OK. Step three we activated our damage control center—the key to disciplined, coordinated information flow. Every detail, decision, and response was recorded in the event log. With about a half hour to go until sunrise, we reviewed the damage assessment pre-designated routes, checked radio and communication links, and covered safety issues. The whole process worked like a well-oiled machine. Damage assessment information flowed into the control center, was documented, and then passed along to the planning section. The planning section crunched numbers and set up follow-up site visits to complete the repair cost estimates. Our steady updates to the base command post anticipated most of their questions. By mid-morning we were well into recovery. The final assessment amounted to about $85,000 damage to the electrical distribution system, about 10 roofs had $225,000 damage, and roughly $80,000 to landscape, equipment and vehicles. We sent our higher headquarters a request for funding plus material reimbursement for the temporary repairs. We escorted our photographer to all of the damage sites for documentation. The pictures were also made available to about a dozen people that suffered damage to their privately owned vehicles. Public affairs had several requests for news releases to the local media organizations including one taped interview on-scene. After completing the initial response, I reflected on how smooth and efficient our response was. The professionalism of the personnel, the confidence built during exercises, and preparation for worst-case scenarios made our minor disaster seem easy. The praise from the senior leaders reinforced the feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction that proper planning is worth the effort. |