MINNEAPOLIS RESPONDS

Bridge Collapse

Rocco FortéEmergency Preparedness Director

City of Minneapolis

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The Interstate 35W BridgeAugust 1, 2007 – 6:00pm

Opened in 1967 More than 1,900 feet

long Main span - 458 ft Deck 116 ft. above

water River 390 ft. wide Water depth 9-15 ft Average daily traffic:

140,000 vehicles

104 Vehicles – 190 people

3August 1, 2007

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Today we will talk about . . .

Response

EOC

10 Emergency Management Disciplines

Planning & Training Prior to Aug. 1st

After Action Lessons Learned

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Multiple Jurisdictions Federally funded bridge

Owned and maintained by

MnDOT/State of

Minnesota

Fell into river with County

jurisdiction.

River banks are City

property.

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Initial Incident TimelineAugust 1

6:05 p.m. – first 911 call received

6:11 p.m. – first emergency units on scene

6:20 p.m. – Emergency Operations Center (EOC)

activated

– Unified incident command

established at scene

7:55 p.m. – All survivors rescued from

scene

13 victims still in water

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Multiple IncidentsWithin One Disaster

Collapse structure rescue (bridge) Federally funded bridge Operated and maintained by State River belongs to County River bank is City property

Haz Mat scene (rail car leaking unknown substance)U of M Building - 900 lbs. mercury & nuclear material

Fires, extrication (Collapse Structure Team) EMS (emergency medical services), ambulance (triage,

treat and transport) – total of 121 victims Water and land rescues Potential crime scene – secure perimeter of scene

(land and water)

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Fire

Response

(Mutual Aid)

Road to Nowhere

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Emergency Medical Service•Triage

•Treat

•Transport

121 Victims

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Emergency Medical Service/Health Care

24 Ambulances on Scene

• 12 from HCMC

• 6 from Allina

• 6 from North Memorial

12 more staged outside incident perimeter

Mutual aid from other areas to cover service response areaAmbulances transported patients to

- HCMC

- U of M

- North Memorial

- Abbott-Northwestern Hospital Compact

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Minneapolis Police Dept- Potential Crime Scene- Perimeter Security

- Evidence Preservation- Safety of Divers- Protecting Families/Dignity of Victims

Law Enforcement

MPD weapons

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Hennepin County Sheriff Dive Team- Water Rescue- Victim Recovery

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Navy Mobile Diving & Salvage Unit 2 out of Norfolk, VA

14Army Corps of Engineers – 4-5 ft

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Setting up for divers

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Based on ourEmergency Operations Plan

Immediately activated EOC Implemented NIMS Made immediate contact with IC for each discipline and

made sure they were on board with organizational structure of event (Incident Action Plans)

Representatives from all 10 disciplines in EOC (even if we were not sure we would need them) County and State representatives U of M emergency management Elected officials Department heads Red Cross

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Bridge CollapseAugust 1, 2007

EOC Command

Planning LogisticsOperations Finance

Incident CommandFire Department

CollapseStructure Team/Heavy Rescue

Haz MatFire

SuppressionEMS

Hennepin County SheriffMinneapolis Police

Crime ScenePerimeter Security -

LandWater Rescue

DiversPerimeter Security

- Water

Unified Command

Emergency Management

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Opened at 6:20 p.m. Ran 24 hours/day for first four days. 12 hours/day until closing on Aug. 10. EOC stayed in “ready position” until last body recovered

on Aug. 20.

Minneapolis Emergency Operations Center

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10 Disciplines (NIMS)

1. Emergency Management

2. Law Enforcement

3. Fire Service

4. Haz Mat Responders

5. Public Works

6. Health Care

7. Emergency Medical Service

8. Public Safety Communications

9. Public Health

10. Government Administration

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Emergency Operations Center

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EOC Activities

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Incident Command/Transfer of Command August 1st – 6:05 pm – Minneapolis Fire Dept.

Fire/Rescue Operations

August 2nd – 4:00 pm – Minneapolis Police Dept. Perimeter Security

August 10th – 4:00 pm – County Sheriff Recovery operations. Perimeter security by Mpls.

Police Dept. and State Patrol

August 20th – Last victim recovered from river MnDOT operations became debris removal

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Public HealthFamily Assistance Center

Holiday Inn Metrodome

Augsburg College Si Melby Hall

Victim & Family Needs – Psychological 1st Aid

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Public Safety Communications

EOC

114,000 radio pushes in first 6 hours

Cell phone system crashed

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Public Works

• Traffic Management

• Equipment Needs - generators, lights, etc.

• Fencing/Perimeter Security

• Engineers/Damage Assessment

PW Crew mounting cameras

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Pre-planning/Gap Analysis Process

Integrated Emergency Management Course (IEMC) in Mt.

Weather, VA.

Minneapolis selected to participate in FEMA sponsored

course in March 2002 under leadership of Mayor Rybak.

Approximately 80 top city officials attended 4-day city

specific course.

Purpose – to test City’s EOP & identify weaknesses

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Mt. Weather Scenarios Mini chemical spill concurrent with multiple public safety

events and tanker rollover on 35W

Many people taken ill at Convention Center - later

determined to be plague, terrorists responsible

People continued to get ill throughout City - hospitals

closed, temporary hospitals opened

High rise fire

Broken Water Main

Tornado strikes in 3 locations in City with multiple deaths,

injuries and destruction

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Mt. Weather

Excellent training experience for the Minneapolis

Emergency Preparedness Team

Came back and evaluated work plans

Set up work teams within disciplines of Police,

Fire, Public Works, and Communications to

strengthen their ability to respond

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Gap Analysis Results from Mt. WeatherJuly 2002

1. Communications

2. Emergency Dispatch System

3. Emergency response readiness for structure collapse,

hazardous materials & bomb squad

4. Security of infrastructure for city’s water supply

5. Lack of pharmaceutical cache in event of biological release

or pandemic

6. Insufficient training of ICS and for WMD

7. Lack of continuity of government planning

8. Shortage of personal protective gear for 1st responders

9. Security of City Hall

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Actions taken since Mt. Weather – 5 Year PlanJuly 2002 – July 2007 ($65M-$55M)

1. Communications - new 800 MHz radios ($20M). Mpls rated one of

top 6 cities in National Report Card on Tactical Interoperability

Communications Plan.

2. Emergency Dispatch System - $5.2M invested in state of art

computer aided dispatch system. Includes AVL that maps

location of all emergency response vehicles utilizing GPS

technology.

3. Emergency response readiness for structure collapse, hazardous

materials & bomb squad – City now had 3 response teams trained

to respond: Fire Dept Haz Mat, Fire Dept. Collapse Structure,

Police Bomb Squad ($8M investment). These 3 teams rated #1

strength in State Response Plan.

4. Security of infrastructure for city’s water supply – Thousands

invested in computerized monitoring equipment for

contamination, security cameras and equipment.

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Actions taken since Mt. Weather

5. Lack of pharmaceutical cache in event of terrorist attack - Now have

comprehensive plan to stockpile pharmaceuticals.

6. Insufficient training of ICS and for WMD – All responders & city

leadership trained in NIMS. Public Safety responders trained for

incidents involving WMD.

7. Lack of continuity of government planning – Now have Continuity of

Government Operations Plan in place.

8. Shortage of personnel protective gear for 1st responders – All first

responders now have state of the art personal protective

equipment.

9. Security of City Hall – Now have security cameras in place to

make our City Hall (a public building) as safe as possible.

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Areas we are still working on Emergency Operations Center Implementation of Corrective Actions from

Lessons Learned Report

We continue to seek funds from: Urban Area Security Initiative State Homeland Security Grant Program Metropolitan Medical Response System Fire Act Grant Port Security

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What worked well at this incident?

Immediate activation of EOC using NIMS and our Emergency Operations Plan

Mutual Aid Partners Response successful due to good

Relationships Communications Planning Equipment Training

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Key Factors for Managing EOC CFLOP Unified Command Emergency Operations Plan Mutual Aid Plan, train, practice Finance tracking all costs for future

reimbursement (FEMA or Federal Highway Admin.)

Hope for the best, plan for the worst!

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Where are we now??

“Hot Wash” after action debriefing of EOC staff conducted August 23rd

After Action Report – Department of Homeland Security’s Lessons Learned Information Sharing has agreed to fund comprehensive After Action Report. Report just released – 11 problem areas & 18 best practices identified

FEMA Process – Minneapolis submitted approximately $4M in reimbursement from FEMA and 98% of that awarded

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EOC Hot Wash

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Debris Site

Debris Management Plan developed based on Tornado Scenario at Mt. Weather

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Government Administrative

Presidential Declaration - Category B Emergency

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Saturday, August 4, 2007 at Bridge Site

Left to right: Senator Amy Klobuchar, President George W. Bush, Jan McDaniel, CEO-Red Cross Twin Cities Chapter, Rocco Forté, Director of Emergency Preparedness for City of Minneapolis, Tim Turnbull, Director of Emergency Preparedness for Hennepin County

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Thank you

Rocco.forte@ci.minneapolis.mn.us