Battle Tested – One Year, Two Major Storms

Last October, I posted about facing Hurricane Matthew and the uncertainties that were present leading up to the storm. While my professional role includes creating and implementing Emergency Action Plans for my workplace, I raised the question; “just how well do such plans work”? After all, until you actually have an emergency to respond to, you are simply taking a guess (an educated one, mind you) at how it will perform to get you through the event. The expectation is that you have thought this through enough so as no one gets hurt, your product or service is not disrupted, and financial impact is minimized effectively.

             So, my post (https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/hurricane-matthewhow-did-we-do-dennis-little/) described how well things went with Hurricane Matthew and that I was relieved to know we were ready to face such a challenge. Jacksonville is unique in its location. If you study a satellite view, you notice that Jacksonville seems to be in a “cove” on the western Atlantic. It is actually further west in Longitude than Cleveland, Ohio! The Florida peninsula actually slants to the southeast as it juts out to divide the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. This geography and terrain serves to protect Jacksonville from major hurricane strikes. For a whole litany of reasons, it is very impractical that a hurricane could be of major strength when it gets here. I grew up here and had never been in a hurricane before Hurricane Matthew.

For comparison sake, let me say that I once spent three months living in Portland, OR. I was there late October to early January. Whenever I met local residents, telling them I was from Florida, I always heard the same thing…”Oh, Florida? I could never live there, you have all those hurricanes”! During the time I lived there, Portland was hit by four major (See reference data from Oregonlive.com below) “Pacific Storms”; bringing high winds, driving rains, flooding, massive power losses…sound familiar? So, my reply to these people would be “If you survey any rooftop or huge tree, winds of 105 mph feel the same. Just because you don’t name your storms doesn’t make them any less than a hurricane and you have lots of them”!

"Dec. 11-12, 1995: High winds included gusts of 119 mph at Sea Lion Caves, 107 mph at Newport and low pressure readings at Astoria equaled a Category 2 hurricane. Although some wind gusts matched or even exceeded the Columbus Day Storm, the storm did not track as closely to the coast, sparing western Oregon heavy damage."

So as we entered the 2017 Hurricane Season, I felt good about our chances should we ever face any challenges with hurricanes, Matthew was a pretty big test and we passed.

Hurricane Irma was just coming off the African coast when Hurricane Harvey reformed in the Gulf of Mexico. Harvey had developed below the Yucatan Peninsula and broke apart as it passed over. Once back over open water, Harvey quickly became a Category 4 hurricane as it made landfall just north of Corpus Christi. Harvey is historical in its impact. What makes the impact so much greater has little to do with the wind speeds and even storm surge. Technically, Harvey is not among the greatest storms to hit the Texas coast in those categories. But, Harvey lingered, literally dying as it sat over the Texas/Louisiana border. More than four days of tropical rain dumped biblical rain totals on the area. That is what makes Harvey historical.

Hurricane Irma was a classic “Cape Verde” storm, a low pressure wave passing off the Western African coast and hitting the ultra-warm waters of the tropical Atlantic that travels in the trade winds across to the Caribbean. In Jacksonville, as the weather people documented the tragedy occurring in Texas, they were warning us about Irma.

As the National Hurricane Center began spinning out the “Spaghetti Models” to indicate the potential track of Irma, I began making preparations at work. Topped off the generator fuel tanks, walked the property to assess potential threats for items that may become missiles or otherwise endanger persons or property.

Early tracks had Irma performing a “Hook” as she approached South Florida and then running up the eastern coast, this scenario looked much like Matthew. Forecasters were speaking about the potential for Irma to become a major hurricane. The models took into account she was going to be travelling over open water that was ultra-warm because no other storms had crossed over it this season and the prevailing winds would keep her on that path.

As Irma neared the Caribbean islands, the forecast track firmed up and still showed a ‘Hook’ in the vicinity of Florida. As she strengthened to the largest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Basin, with 185 mph sustained wind speeds making her the second highest ever recorded (Hurricane Allen in 1980 with 190 mph sustained is first), tenants and customers began to bring supplies to the site. The sales team was fielding calls from businesses asking about options for Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity offerings.

As Irma crossed over the U.S. Virgin Islands and just to the north of Puerto Rico, maintaining her Category 4/5 strength, I worked to accommodate tenants and their families (including pets). I hired electricians to wire up some cubicles we were offering for DR space in case it was needed.

The facility was ready, regardless of what Irma did. One of the things I focus on is comfort for customers during such trying times. Fear bubbles just under the surface, you can sense it, it is palpable as everyone works at a more urgent pace. I make sure to demonstrate a calm confidence to customers, I think that helps people who are new to this type of event feel better. In that vein, we ordered a hot dog roller so we could be rolling hot dogs like a convenience store while the winds howled and the rains pelted outside.

When Irma approached Florida, the focus became all about the ‘Hook’. The NHC spaghetti models were tightening up, but the consensus path kept wobbling. The path shifted from turning directly into Miami, to continuing across the Keys and turning up the west coast of Florida toward the Big Bend area south of Tallahassee.

With each wobble, the perceived fears shifted. With a path up the east coast, there was a sense of knowing, simply because it would look very much like Matthew, there was some prior knowledge from that storm that made the impact more predictable. But a shift to the west made Irma more unknown regarding the impact. If she turned and ran up the peninsula that was actually more favorable for the Jacksonville area, because she would weaken more rapidly as she passed over land. But a shift further west would be worse because the eye would be out over the warm gulf waters and fuel her strength.

I activated the Emergency Action Plan at work when the first hurricane watch was issued on Friday, September 8th. I made sure my home was secured for the storm and returned to work Sunday morning as the storm approached southern Florida. With most tenants safely onsite, I focused on the storm, closely monitoring the track and forecast.

When Irma finally made the ‘Hook’, she turned into the middle Keys and made landfall on the mainland of Florida near Naples. The ‘Hook’ had occurred and the path was going to remain over land but would pass to the west of Jacksonville, the question now was how quickly would Irma weaken? The northeastern quadrant of a hurricane is generally deemed the most destructive. Jacksonville was going to be in that quadrant.

By late Sunday night and early Monday morning, the eye of Irma was passing near Gainesville, hurricane force winds were being felt along the northeast Florida coast, but twelve miles inland, the data center was experiencing tropical storm strength winds with near hurricane force gusts. The maximum wind speed recorded in the area was 68 mph. The rain gauge recorded 12 inches of rain from Friday evening until Monday night. Once again, with a major hurricane bearing down, we never lost power at the data center.

Irma’s approach from the south and passing to the west brought a different set of risks to the area. Matthew passing to the east had the most impact on the immediate coast. At the data center, we had sub-hurricane force wind gusts and about 15 inches of rain for the 12 hour duration of the storm. By moving up the peninsula, Irma drove water up the St Johns River basin and caused massive amounts of water to overflow the banks in downtown Jacksonville, where the river narrows and bends at two right angles. The wind-blown river surge caused the most flooding in Jacksonville history.

In comparison, both Matthew and Irma had major impact on the Jacksonville area, both will be considered the most destructive to hit this region. Both caused damage in different ways. In contrast, the damage caused by Hurricane Harvey in Texas is more devastating in terms of cost to property and human lives. Harvey lingered, Matthew and Irma moved through quickly. It could be stated that Hurricane Maria caused more damage. Even though it never struck the U.S. mainland, it essentially destroyed Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Jacksonville, due to its unique geographical location, has endured two major storms in a year and suffered relatively less damage than many other storms that have struck the U.S.

Further, these two storms have tested my facility, my ability to prepare and my Emergency Action Plan with no severe impact. I feel much more confident because I have passed two major tests. I also know that I work in one of the best facilities in the region. We’ve been challenged twice in the past year, I’m ready, my facility is ready, my customers and tenants are in good hands, and we are Battle Tested!