Government Response to Hurricane Sandy - דף הבית · Government Response to Hurricane Sandy. ... The six-alarm fire in Breezy Point Rockaway exemplified the plight of firefighters

Information & Knowledge Services Policy and Stratigic Planning Division

Ministry of Public Security

P.O.B. 18182 Jerusalem, Israel 91181 www.mops.gov.il

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Government Response to Hurricane Sandy

By Eliot Kaough

Information and Strategic Planning Fellow

Ministry of Public Security, Israel

30 January 2013

The Information and Knowledge Services Unit specializes in collecting data from a variety of sources in Israel

and abroad, and managing them for the purpose of creating the groundwork for policy and strategic planning.

This paper is the result of research regarding the immediate response to Hurricane Sandy. There may be additional

information not included in this paper. Furthermore, the views expressed in this paper are those of the author, and

do not represent the opinions of the Ministry of Public Security of Israel.

http://www.mops.gov.il/




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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Sandy -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Page 03

Federal Government-------------------------------------------------------------------Page 03

Local Government/First Responders-----------------------------------------------Page 05

Volunteer Support ---------------------------------------------------------------------Page 07

Official Statements---------------------------------------------------------------------Page 08

Communication during the Storm--------------------------------------------------Page 08

Communication with First Responders--------------------------------------------Page 09

Communication between Federal and Local Governments -------------------Page 11

Fuel----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Page 12

Power -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Page 12

Sewage------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Page 13

Situation Rooms------------------------------------------------------------------------Page 13

Elections----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Page 14

Overview of the Federal Emergency Management Agency -------------------Page 15

Command Control Centers ----------------------------------------------------------Page 16





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SANDY:

After wreaking havoc in the Caribbean as a category 2 hurricane, Sandy made

its way up the United States' eastern coastline. Combining with a low pressure winter

storm system, Sandy made landfall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on October 29th 2012

as a category 1 hurricane with an unusually large wind radius of 500 miles, carrying

with it a 13-foot storm surge. These factors, combined with high tides as a result of

the full moon, led to catastrophe for low-lying areas in New Jersey and New York.

Effects of the storm included billions of dollars in damage, tens of thousands

of homes around New York, New Jersey and Connecticut with flooding and storm-

related damage, thousands of people without power for several weeks, and over 100

people killed. This report will discuss the government and community response to the

storm, including recovery efforts made by the federal, local and state governments.

The report will focus on the New York area and the efforts of first responders like the

New York Police Department and Fire Department of New York.

Federal Government

The Federal Government's response to the storm began with the President

declaring a state of emergency in Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut,

Massachusetts, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Rhode Island, New Hampshire,

West Virginia, Virginia and Pennsylvania. This allowed the states to receive federal

funding and assistance in advance of the storm. After declarations of emergency were

made, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), led by Administrator

Craig Fugate, became the leader of the recovery effort. FEMA teams moved into

areas in the storm's path, delivering supplies and positioning equipment before the

storm hit. After the storm made landfall and moved inland, FEMA was on the ground

conducting search and rescue missions and providing logistical support to local

authorities.





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Disaster Recovery Centers were set up around hard hit areas. A Disaster

Recovery Center is a readily accessible facility or mobile office where people can go

to receive information about FEMA and disaster assistance programs. At these

centers, victims receive guidance regarding disaster recovery, clarification of written

correspondence received from FEMA, housing assistance, answers to any questions,

referrals to appropriate agencies, and status reports of applications being processed by

FEMA. Thirty of these centers were present in New York while 23 were present in

New Jersey. FEMA, along with the State-Led Housing Task Forces, offers housing

assistance, which includes transitional sheltering assistance programs and housing

rental assistance. Community Relations Specialists from FEMA also went door to

door in hard-hit areas delivering information about the different types of assistance

available and how to register and receive assistance. FEMA works closely with

corresponding state government organizations like New York's Office of Emergency

Management in the NY Department of Homeland Security in order to ensure

cooperation between the federal and state governments involved in recovery efforts.

The US Department of Health and Human Services was also on the ground

deploying more than 1,000 personnel and providing public health and medical

assistance in New York and New Jersey. These people work in medical shelters and

augment hospital staffs at the request of states and cities. The Disaster Medical

Assistance Teams include mental health specialists, and a toll-free multilingual

National Disaster Distress Helpline is available for people impacted by the storm.

The Department of Defense and the National Guard also provided logistical

support to victims of the storm. National Guard personnel monitored the response

spearheaded by the states. In Connecticut they provided evacuation security and

provided support and high-wheeled search and rescue missions. In Massachusetts the

National Guard Civil Support Team was on stand-by for a possible hazardous

materials response. Around 4,000 troops and 13,000 trucks and Humvees delivered

2.5 million emergency meals and 150,000 blankets to victims in New York while





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refueling more than 13,000 city vehicles. National Guard personnel provided fuel to

the New York City government and the Long Island Power Authority as well. The

U.S. Transportation Command within the Department Of Defense offered hundreds of

power restoration vehicles along with hundreds of technical personnel from all over

the country. The Air Force also delivered over 3,000 tons of cargo and flew over 200

sorties, carrying supplies such as blankets, generators, water pumps and utility trucks.

The Marine Corps also contributed to the relief effort, deploying pump teams in the

19th Engineering Battalion, which pumped water out of basements in Queens

immediately after the storm.

Local Government/First Responders

The local response began with the arrival of New York Police Department

(NYPD) and Fire Department of New York (FDNY) first responders who worked

throughout the night of the storm and continued to provide assistance for the

following months. The NYPD worked in areas such as Staten Island and Queens

during the storm to rescue people in low lying areas where severe flooding had

occurred. They also escorted military vehicles that brought food and water to

distribution centers. The NYPD Critical Response Vehicles, which are usually

involved in counterterrorism, assisted the military and continued to deliver supplies to

those in need.

During and after the storm, police used flashlights at intersections where

streetlights were out to ensure the flow of traffic. Police also deployed light towers

and floodlights around powerless neighborhoods. Other police departments donated

tens of thousands of flares to ensure that the NYPD had enough to go around. Police

worked 12 to 16 hour shifts and many slept at police stations during the storm and its

immediate aftermath. The military also delivered military rations to police stations. In

addition, the NYPD worked to prevent looting in more rural parts of Brooklyn and

Queens where looting posed a danger to local residents and businesses.





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The FDNY worked throughout the night of the storm, dealing with fires,

collapsed cranes, electrical explosions and severe flooding. Prior to the storm,

Commissioner Salvatore Cassano deployed an additional 500 firefighters and more

than two dozen rigs to vulnerable areas of the city to augment support in the periphery

of New York. Available units who are usually at 90% were at 9% the first night of the

storm. Available units are Fire Ladders who are in the fire station ready to respond to

a call. During the night of the storm, even with the extra personnel available, an

average of 91% of units were constantly in the field.

The six-alarm fire in Breezy Point Rockaway exemplified the plight of

firefighters during the first night. Other efforts during the storm saw fireladders battle

through flooded neighborhoods while attempting to put out fires. Once there,

firefighters had to wade through high water levels, sometimes chest-deep, to locate

hydrants and hooke up hoses. Working in flooded areas led to the destruction or

damage of 91 FDNY vehicles.

Fire Ladder 149 was stretched out, working all night covering dozens of miles

because of the lack of available trucks. Ladder 149 was able to respond to several

fires including one in Sheepshead Bay where the firefighters evacuated people

trapped in a fire-engulfed house. The recovery effort included operations like

Operation Breezy Gut and Pump where hundreds of volunteers, many of them off-

duty firefighters, gutted and tore down storm ravaged homes in Breezy Point, New

York.

The municipalities in Long Island, including Suffolk and Nassau Counties,

received personnel and logistical assistance from various police and fire departments

from upstate New York and other states like Delaware to augment their fire, rescue

and emergency services. New York State Police also deployed units throughout Long

Island to assist smaller police forces.

Emergency Medical Services teams, run by the New York State Department of

Health (and other states' Emergency Medical Service teams), sprang into action





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before the storm hit. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie requested ambulances from

neighboring states to assist local responders. Eventually paramedics from as far away

as California and National Guard medical personnel were flown in to assist local

forces. These men and women helped conduct search and rescue missions while

providing logistical support to other first responders.

Volunteer Support

The American Red Cross was on the ground from the onset of storm recovery

operations. Around 9,000 Red Cross personnel were deployed in the northeast; most

of them working in New York and New Jersey. They set up 16 shelters in New York

and New Jersey and delivered more than six million meals and snacks and over two

million hygiene kits.

The New York community has come together since the storm hit to support

victims of the disaster. The New York Community Food Truck Association sent

vendors to hard-hit neighborhoods to donate hot food. The Tunnel to Towers

foundation helped those on the New Jersey and New York coastline. The City Harvest

delivered food to Coney Island, Staten Island, and the Rockaways. The Mayor's Fund

also contributed to the relief effort, supplying food, water, and hygiene supplies in

New York.

Official Statements

Official storm reports and information for survivors and victims were made by

FEMA and the correlating state agencies. Local governments in places like Nassau

County, New York issued statements in coordination with state officials like

Governor Cuomo, who was in constant communication with FEMA officials. High

levels of cooperation between FEMA and state officials and later cooperation between

state officials and local officials ensured that people on the ground were receiving

consistent information. Town meetings in Nassau County usually involved state





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officials, and Governor Cuomo made numerous visits to hard hit areas around Long

Island providing information from FEMA.

Communication During the Storm

One of the greatest obstacles that first responders had to overcome during and

immediately after the storm was finding a means of communication. Without power

or internet it became extremely difficult for people in hard-hit areas to communicate

their needs to first responders, and it was also difficult for first responders to

communicate with each other and with other levels of government. People without

power had to rely on cell phone networks and 3G capabilities and word of mouth.

Martin Oliner, mayor of the Village of Lawrence, said that initially, there had not

been good communication with higher governmental officials. The Long Island

Power Authority had no alert system to keep customers updated on power conditions.

Their mobile user website was also inoperable for several days. Later, information

provided by the website was inaccurate. People turned to radios for information, but

the information provided was often too general and did not address needs of specific

communities.

The main tool used to overcome this problem was twitter. Payphones and

landlines also worked (where power was present); and amateur radios (HAM) were

used. News writers and editors relied on Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter to post

information and communicate with each other. BuzzFeed also relayed news and

switched to a cloud server to help it get back online. Con Ed used Twitter to update

customers on operational statuses. The MTA also used Twitter. FEMA encouraged

the use of Aerial Advertising to communicate with coastal communities. Regroup, a

leading provider of emergency notifications and group messaging services assisted

communities in staying in touch with students, employees and families via SMS and

Facebook/Twitter at no cost.





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Communication with First Responders

At the FDNY, Emily Rahimi, an employee in charge of the Twitter account,

responded to thousands of tweets as Sandy made landfall. Since emergency lines were

backed up with thousands of calls, Rahimi used Twitter to relay calls of distress to

first responders. She also tweeted alerts to her 53,000 followers. There were more

than 20 million sandy tweets made on the night of the storm, so Twitter created a

special page for them, with tweets from organizations like FEMA, NYPD, and FDNY

given prominent places on the page.

Example Tweets:

Riz Sindh

@FDNY my sis family at 78th St…Howard Beach Queens NY 11414, water risinig

12 ft need help, 1st floor drowned, kids scared

FDNY

@RSindh Please keep trying to call 911. I will try to reach dispatchers now.

Riz Sindh

@FDNY Thank you , water resceding but help required many many kids in

neighborhood very scared & stranded …78th st, Queens 11414

FDNY

@RSindh I understand. Dispatch was notified. I know it's difficult, but please be

patient. Units working to respond to all calls safely.


https://twitter.com/FDNY

https://twitter.com/RSindh


https://twitter.com/RSindh




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@FDNYPLEASE NOTE: *Do not* tweet emergency calls. Please call 911. If it is not

an emergency, please call 311. #NYC #Sandy

@LouiseASL @FDNY Pls advise where there are shelters that are deaf friendly- use

sign language- have interpreters?? THANK YOU

@FDNY @LouiseASL You can find information about shelters on nyc.gov:

google.org/crisismap/2012…

@FDNY There is much misinformation being spread about #Sandy's impact on

#NYC. You can get reliable info from @NYCMayorsOffice, @NotifyNYC & us.

Ultimately, first responders were able to use twitter and other social media

networks to communicate with victims and relay information to officials in FEMA

and the National Guard and request supplies and logistical support to those in need,

and conduct rescue missions.

Communication between Federal and Local Governments

Communication between organizations on the local and federal level was

important to ensure that agencies involved in the recovery effort were working in the

most efficient manner possible. The Defense Logistics Agency Center in the

Department of Defense added shifts and personnel in the period leading up to the

storm, and during the storm to aid in immediate recovery and to improve

communications. Liaison officers from the agency worked with other groups such as

FEMA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Northern Command. This

communication was vital for information sharing and ensuring that hard-hit areas

were located and the correct amount of services and equipment was delivered. The



https://twitter.com/search/%23NYC

https://twitter.com/search/%23Sandy

https://twitter.com/LouiseASL



https://twitter.com/LouiseASL

http://t.co/MVLQVQCN

http://t.co/Rb8WAYxH


https://twitter.com/search/%23Sandy

https://twitter.com/search/%23NYC

https://twitter.com/NYCMayorsOffice

https://twitter.com/NotifyNYC




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agency was also responsible for delivering fuel and food to soldiers in Afghanistan

during storm recovery.

FEMA's organizational structure is localized to some extent with regional

coordinators. Mike Byrne is the New York Coordinator for FEMA. He works closely

with local officials to map out FEMA strategy in specific areas. Close coordination

with the NY Office of Emergency Management ensures that the latest information on

shelters and housing assistance can be obtained from either FEMA or the NY State

government.

Fuel

The Department of Energy estimated that 24% of gas stations in the New York

City area did not have gasoline available to sell on November 5. At this time, 55%-

60% of stations in New Jersey were operational as were 50%-55% on Long Island.

Prices for gasoline also went up by 3-7 cents in New Jersey and New York in the days

following the storm. Refineries in New Jersey that were damaged by the storm took

some time to become operational again. Until they began running, Governor Chris

Christie of New Jersey ordered rationing of gasoline. During this time, the National

Guard and FEMA worked to deliver fuel to New York and New Jersey.

Power

At the height of the storm, 8.5 million people were without power in 10 states.

Most of these people without power were in New York and New Jersey. Con Edison,

the chief utility in New York City, was delivered an unexpected hit during the storm

when its power station in lower Manhattan exploded, knocking the power out below

midtown Manhattan. The majority of customers served by underground power were

without electricity for around four days while most customers with overhead power

lines were out of power for around a week. However, other customers could not

receive power until their internal equipment was repaired, tested, and certified.





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The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) failed to bring power back to all of

its customers, as tens of thousands were still without power several weeks after the

storm. Customers made several claims about the LIPA as to why they were not able to

handle recovery. They claim that the LIPA was under-budgeted for responses to

large-scale outages. They also claim that the LIPA outage management system was

outdated. Additional claims state that call centers could not and did not handle

complaints and their online maps showed incorrect information on power outages.

Sewage

Three water treatment plants were damaged during the storm in Nassau

County, leaving many homes uninhabitable. Several ruptured sewage lines caused

sewage water to flow through dozens of houses in certain areas. In addition, clean

water was unavailable and sewage was not being pumped out of much of Nassau

County for several days. Partially operational treatment plants were somewhat

restored several days after the storm, but many residents were still left without

running water.

Situation Rooms

The White House Situation Room is where the President convenes with his

team, which includes members of the Department of Homeland Security, Office of the

Vice President, Chief of Staff, National Security Advisor, and Director for

Intergovernmental Affairs. They receive information from FEMA, the National

Hurricane Center, the Department of Homeland Security, the United States Northern

Command, the Department of Defense, the Department of Transportation, the

Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Energy and others,

depending on the specific meeting.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York opened a situation room in the

Office of Emergency Management in Brooklyn prior to the storm's arrival. The





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FDNY Commissioner met with the top brass in the Fire Department Operations

Center in Brooklyn where they discussed strategies for disasters, planned after

September 11. Although FEMA has no local situation room, they set up a

headquarters for long term recovery in the Forest Hills Tower in Queens.

Elections

The storm had exceptionally poor timing for many American citizens wanting

to vote in the November 6 presidential elections. Coming a week before elections, the

storm damaged many buildings that serve as voting stations and displaced many

potential voters. New York Governor Cuomo issued an executive order allowing

displaced residents to vote by a provisional ballot at any polling station in the state.

New Jersey Governor Christie ordered authorities to allow displaced voters to vote by

email and fax, but officials ruled that those voters would also be required to submit a

paper ballot.

Some residents reported problems with officials who would not accept their

provisional ballots. Others tried to vote by email. The deadline for doing this had been

extended by three days. Some municipalities like Bay Head had to fight for the right

to have polling equipment delivered. Their mayor, William Curtis, fought and won

the battle to receive polling booths, which were brought to a local firehouse.

Residents in other hard hit areas traveled by public transportation, which was up and

running in most areas, to local polling stations. In Sea Bright, New Jersey, residents

were moved to Fair Haven to vote. National Guard personnel brought provisional

ballots to relief workers still in the field days prior to Election Day so that they would

be able to vote. Other provisional polling sites were raided by looters, with generators

and tables stolen. However, workers at one site improvised and set up makeshift

stations in tents on school playgrounds in Queens.





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The storm definitely limited some people’s abilities to vote, but the turnout

was high with only 60 out of 1,350 polling sites being unusable and voters having the

ability to vote anywhere.

Google

Google's Public Alerts tool provides authoratative emergency information

through partnerships with government agencies and other authoratative information

providers. Google works with federal agencies as well as the National Weather

Service and Geological Survey to relay relevant alerts to Google users. Crisis Map is

another tool that was used during Hurricane Sandy to provide storm related

information including wind speeds, storm locations, and evacuation zone data,

footage from live webcams and information about shelters. Google receives this

information from the NOAA’s National Hurricane Center and NYC Datamine. Crisis

Maps had 15 million visits during the recovery period with 80% of the traffic being

referred through third parties, either shared by users or put on other sites.

Crisis Map used crowdsourcing to deliver additional information like locations

of available gas and open filling stations. This allowed individuals to contribute data

to Google who then used the data on tools like Crisis Map. Crowdsourcing allows

individuals to update and correct data as they collect new information on the ground.

Other organizations also used crowdsourcing to provide good data. Dr. Wansoo

mobilized a group of volunteers to collect information from local gas stations in New

Jersey and see which ones were open and if gas was available. After collecting data

from over 1,000 stations, they put the information into a KML layer (a machine

readable format) and updated it from mobile devices as new information was

collected. The KML layer was automatically fed into Crisis Map and through user

commenting, people were able to correct and update the data. The Department of

Energy referenced data from this map to people who contacted their call centers.





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Person Finder is another tool that was used during Hurricane Sandy and its

aftermath. This tool uses an open data standard, allowing press agencies, NGOs and

others contribute to the database and receive updates. This tool uses a common format

that allows different sites to update missing person lists automatically. Person Finder

can also be integrated into other websites, resulting in more complete lists of missing

persons.

Overview of the Federal Emergency Management Agency

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) exists within the U.S.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as of March 1, 2003. As of October 8,

2011, FEMA had 7,4,74 employees across the U.S. at central Headquarters, the 10

regional centers, the National Emergency Training Center, the Center for Domestic

Preparedness/Noble Training Center, and other locations. The FEMA team works

with partners on the federal, state, tribal, and local levels in addition to NGOs, non-

profits, and faith-based groups. FEMA’s mission is to lead the U.S. to prepare for,

prevent, respond to, and recover from disasters. The National Disaster Recovery

Framework is a guide that enables effective recovery support to disaster-impacted

states, tribes, territories and localities.

The National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP) was created in 2008

to combat the problems that arise from communication difficulties during

emergencies. The NECP aims to build on recent key developments in the area of

communications including: the consolidation of federal programs supporting

emergency communications within the Department of Homeland Security, the

Statewide Communication Interoperability Plans in all 56 states and U.S. territories,

and the existing policies for interoperable communications that exist in the 75 largest

urban areas.

The SAFECOM Interoperability Continuum is widely used by the emergency

response community. It calls for collaboration across disciplines and serves as an aid





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to the emergency response community on all levels to make sure that they address

critical elements for success. These elements include standard operating procedures,

technology, training and exercises, and the use of interoperable communications.

FEMA is creating Regional Emergency Communications Coordination (RECC)

working groups in its 10 FEMA regions to coordinate state and local level

cooperation and improve interoperability of communications at the regional level.

Command Control Centers

The National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) is FEMA’s situation

room, a multiagency center that coordinates support for major disasters. Participants

in the center may include the President, Vice President, White House Chief of Staff,

United States Northern Command Commander, Secretary of Homeland Security,

Transportation Secretary, Health and Human Services Secretary, Department of

Energy, Defense, Housing and Urban Development Secretaries, and the National

Security Advisor, in addition to private sector representatives. The FEMA

Administrator activates the NRCC in anticipation of or in response to an incident. The

NRCC can establish an alert level with “1” being the highest level of alert. The center

is staffed 24-hours a day in an alert situation, working with regional, state, local, and

tribal partners who have responsibility for coordinating local efforts. In the case of

Sandy, the NRCC activated all emergency support functions (ESFs) critical to Federal

response efforts. The ESFs are the primary mechanism for grouping Federal functions

frequently used in emergency situations, including transportation, energy

housing/human services, and firefighting. As the regional response efforts are

underway and begin to stabilize the situation, the NRCC will downgrade its status and

eventually deactivate and demobilize operations.

FEMA also runs the Regional Response Coordination Center (RRCC), another

multiagency center located in the 10 regional FEMA offices. These centers are run by

Regional Response Coordination Staffs (RRCS) which are the focal point for regional





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resource coordination. The Regional Administrator activates the RRCS, which

includes FEMA personnel, Emergency Support Functions and other personnel, which

includes private sector representatives. The RRCS maintains communication with the

State Emergency Operations Centers, and all relevant federal and state emergency

personnel. The RRCS will scale down operations and ultimately stand down after the

Federal Coordinating Officer (FCO) assumes control, and the Joint Field Office is

established. The Joint Field Office assumes responsibilities of the RRCC after it is

operational.

The Unified Coordination Group (UCG) is comprised of senior state and

federal officials in addition to local and private sector representatives. The UCG

consists of the Federal Coordinating Officer, the State Coordinating Officer and

senior officials from other agencies and organizations. The FCO is the primary federal

official responsible for coordinating and integrating Federal response activities in

support of regional and local actors.

The Department of Homeland Security Office of Operations Coordination and

Planning operates on a daily basis to prevent terrorist acts. It is headed by the Director

for Operation Coordination. The National Operations Center (NOC) is where more

than 35 federal, state, territorial, tribal, local and private sector agencies meet to

coordinate incidents and response activities regarding terrorism.


Documents

Government Response to Hurricane Sandy - דף הבית · Government Response to Hurricane Sandy. ... The six-alarm fire in Breezy Point Rockaway exemplified the plight of firefighters