One disaster; two responses

At home, leaving for your office in Jacksonville, FL. Your two kids 8 & 10 are running around gleefully because their teenage cousin is watching them for the day. School is out. It’s hot and very muggy. Your wife is planning on running some errands and grocery shopping later in the morning.

Driving southward to work you are again stuck in traffic because the major 95 overpass is under construction. It is down to one lane and traffic is snarled for three miles. Why can’t they do this at night?

Hurricane Rose has been staying out to sea and will largely miss Jacksonville. Unfortunately, it looks like the Carolinas will be hit again. It has been a rainy season and some complacency exists from light hurricane seasons over the past 4 years. Few remember that over 60 were lost in 1999 Hurricane Floyd and the $9.8 billion (in 2016 USD) in damages.

Upon arriving at the office, north of the Jacksonville Loop the strategy meetings are already underway. VOIP systems are in full force, risk managers from around the country are on high-alert. Carrier Disaster teams are gearing up. By 10 am the adrenaline from the staff is taking its toll.

At noon the alert escalates. Like Hurricane Katrina, Rose has made an un-modeled/unexpected shift westward and will make a direct hit on Tybee Island/Savannah, GA and track towards Augusta. You realize that this track now puts your office in the mid-zone of the storm. And, your family is 22-miles closer to the center. While the sustaining winds won’t likely be much of a problem, the tornado zone is on the back-side of the storm. You meet with senior staff and decide to evacuate and send everyone home. The severe part won’t probably hit until 3 pm or so, so there should be ample time. You shift your operations to other parts of the country and the office is abuzz as people are gathering their umbrellas and closing down their computers. There are tension and excitement – almost like a snow-day up North. You call your wife and let her know that the weather is going to worsen and that she should consider wrapping up her errands and head home. She agrees.

At 12:45 pm you know you will be one of the last to leave making sure that everyone is on the road and you call your babysitter. She is anxious because the power went out. You told her to keep calm and keep in touch, and she said that she only has one remaining power bar on her phone. You suggested she use the laptop to charge it, but the cord is incompatible. You tell her to turn off the phone and you will call back in 30-minutes. She argues that she wants to post to Instagram. You strongly tell her to conserve power but are not sure if she will listen. Your wife calls and reports heavy traffic is lowing her down.

At 1:30 pm you realize that the office is coming back alive. You walk out of your office to see what is going on and are told that all the traffic around the office is completely gridlocked. There was a pileup including fatalities near the construction site and the only lane available is now closed indefinitely. The Southbound lane into Jacksonville is crawling. You call the sitter and she answers. It is scary, you can hear the wind howling in the background. She tells you that a tree fell across the front yard and she doesn’t know if any neighbors are around. You tell her that your wife should be home soon.

By 2 pm people are trickling back in, but you know that dozens are stuck in the traffic snarl between the office and freeway. People are gathering and watching the computers for the latest news and traffic. Time begins to drag as the storm begins to rage outside. Lightning and thunder are almost constant. Your wife is nearly home while battling congestion by using the neighborhood streets.

At 2:30 you call the sitter. After several attempts, there are three broken words and her phone dies. You try to remember neighbors to call and are unsuccessful. The cell towers are jammed.

STATUS-QUO (Non-BERT trained business)

At 3p the support staff has gathered in the center area and cheers begin erupting. A Pokémon has been found in the parking lot! Knowing that that game consumes huge amounts of power, and being mindful of your kids and Instagram, you tell everyone to shut off all non-essential smartphone apps. It would be well to find flashlights. The power shuts down. The place is silent as you realize how pitch-black the inner rooms have become. The Emergency lights come on, but you know that they are rated for double the minimum requirement of 1.5 hours. What’s going to happen by 6p, you ask yourself? People have abandoned their cars and walked a ? mile back to the office.

At 4p you begin counting heads and working to resurrect who tried to leave the office and when, who has returned, who is still out there? You find your emergency plan binder and begin meeting with your managers to discuss how to handle overnight shelter-in-place. That is not a required section and there is a scant discussion. The binder goes on the closest table. It is too late to learn what has been written and largely ignored. You realize that several who are texting and you realize that the SMS system is robust and will work, albeit slowly.

You think of home and your family. Will my wife know what to do? Where is she? Is everyone safe? You try texting your wife and the sitter…

Same scenario, PEOPLE PREPARED – (BERT Trained)

At 3p you send out a “Population Request to the entire team asking for their immediate status and location. People from the traffic jam begin to respond and give the gravity of the evacuation situation. Fortunately, no one appears to be hurt or in danger, but you reply to encourage them to return to the office, even if they must abandon their vehicles.

Your BERT team leaders have begun gathering their individual teams, and assigning jobs while taking inventory of the available supplies. The Building Emergency Action Plan (BEAP) on each employee’s smart-phone or tablet is opened from the Emergency PDF’s on the app. The plan is briefed by the Operations Manager to the BERT Team Leads. No issues noted and the full plan will be utilized. The focus will be on the Severe Weather and Natural Disasters Section of the BEAP with emphasis on Tornados, Flooding and Hurricanes. Scribes are identified and assigned to the team leads. After asking if there are any questions, the Operations Manager releases the BERT Team Leads to position and brief their teams.

Team leads have been in contact with their families and family emergency plans are being executed. This brings a calm to the team leads as they are now able to focus on safeguarding the business and employees. At 3:30 pm, the operations manager uses the intercom to pass information to the employees that weather and mishaps have combined to force a shelter-in-place mindset until the storm passes. Regular updates will be passed and the BEAP is being followed by the BERT Team Leads. No more than 5 employees and a scribe are being assigned to each team leader.

At 4 pm, an update is passed. Employees are asked to refrain from cell phone calls and encouraged to use SMS/text messaging. Your wife texts that she is home and executing the family plan by hunkering down in the main hallway without windows until the storm passes. You are relieved.

BACK TO THE SCENARIO

At 4:08 you hear the freight train coming – your heart leaps into your throat because you know that there are no tracks anywhere around. You have never experienced a tornado, but you are aware that everyone who has describes it like a freight train. The emergency signals from the NWS start on the cell phones. The operations manager makes the intercom call that a tornado has been sighted, to find a safe spot under a table, and hold on. The power goes out, the building shakes and windows start breaking.

NON-BERT-TRAINED BUSINESS

At 4:20 pm, the violence subsides, and the building stops shaking. Lights are down, windows are broken, power is out and there is water everywhere. You can hear some screaming in the distance and realize there are injured people. You hear car alarms from the parking lots.

By 4:30 pm, you are starting to organize search teams to fan out and try to assess injuries and damage. You try to conduct a roll call of employees, but unsure of who stayed, left or may be trapped somewhere on the property. The best you can do is try and react to what you think to be true and wait for help to arrive.

By 5 pm, you realize you are one of many businesses, families, or individuals requiring assistance with no way of contacting first responders. The voice circuits are overwhelmed and you have no idea of whom to text. You do the best that you can to ensure the ones you know are comforted while waiting for help to arrive.

By 6 pm, people are hungry and thirsty. You are not sure whether the tap water is safe to drink. The vending machines have been broken into and contents removed. The bottles of drinking water in the break rooms are all gone. You wait for help to arrive.

At 7 pm, an engine from Station 12 North Jacksonville Fire Department arrives. The crew is mobbed by people from both inside and outside the business seeking help, food and medical attention. The scene is one of panic and chaos as the fire personnel tries to determine what a true emergency is and what is not.

A generic app has been uploaded. People begin chatting amongst themselves using text and mission-critical messages are buried well inside long message strings. People are becoming heroes and pulling debris off of people putting themselves and others into great risk exacerbating the problem. People are panicking and inconsolable. Others are sobbing and appear to be in a mental haze and are meandering around. Others are taking charge and bossing people around causing great consternation and frustration.

PERSONNEL PREPARED – (BERT Trained) At 4:20 pm, the violence subsides, and the building stops shaking. Lights are down, windows are broken, power is out and there is water everywhere. You can hear some screaming in the distance and realize there are injured people. You hear car alarms from the parking lots.

The BERT Team Leads take action. The BEAP is followed to the letter. The Teams take their pre-briefed positions fanning out across the business to assess injury and damage. The TitanHST application is being used to geo-reference other team members and to pass critical status information back and forth. A question arises about alternate muster location since the primary location, the north parking lot is under about 12 inches of water. A BERT Team Lead pulls up the BEAP from the PDF file stored on the application and requests a shift to the alternate muster point, south parking which is the higher lot. The operations manager approves and sends the communication out to all BERT Team Leads via the app.

A Triage location is announced in the cafeteria which is the primary location in the BEAP. All personnel requiring medical assistance are brought or escorted to the Triage location to receive first aid.

At 4:30, you receive a text from your wife that the power is out, but that the house and family are safe. The storm seems to be subsiding. All is well with the family and that the neighbors are now trying to help neighbors who were not so lucky. People are complaining about cell phones dying, while your spouse has been intermittently charging hers from the car battery. Thank goodness that she filled the tank based on the family plan. The Team Leads report major damage, but minor injuries which were mostly bruises and lacerations. The headcount was 37 of 42 employees, but the 5 missing were thought to be on travel and vacation. The Operations Manager uses the PDF telephone list on his TitanHST smartphone to text the line managers of the 5 missing to confirm the status of the 5 missing.

By 4:45 pm, the BERT Team Lead overseeing Triage reports that the first aiders are seeing to the injured. Most are up and walking around. The scribe is jotting down a list of resources that are needed from the stock room and makes the run. Two-line managers have reported that 4 of the 5 missing have been accounted for – either by leave or on travel. Efforts are underway to find the sole missing person.

At 5 pm, the Operations Manager uses the EMERGALINK system to contact other locally trained businesses and advise the first responders and the Florida State’s Disaster Management Office of your situation. As well, you give them access to your emergency PDFs that include specific damage assessments so that they are not delayed in acting when they arrive. At 5:30 pm, the final person is mustered after returning to the business on foot.

By 6 pm, a BERT Team-Lead opens the supply locker to break out 10 cases of water, 50 MREs and blankets while waiting for first responders to arrive, and roads to clear. 4 of the other 5 BERT Team Leads have surveyed the facility and using their TitanHST cell phones to document damage using the geo feature. Scribes are documenting damage. Unsafe areas are taped off. Electronic equipment is moved to dry areas. Security patrols of 2-person teams are roaming the perimeter.

At 7 pm, an engine from Station 12 North Jacksonville Fire Department arrives. The crew is met by a security patrol and the engine chief is escorted to the Operations Manager inside. The Operations manager quickly provides a situation briefing to the engine chief. The engine chief asks if the triage team can be augmented with first responders and used to treat people outside of the business. Also, the connectivity demonstrated by the BERT Team Leads and the TitanHST application is generating situational awareness that the first responders would like to leverage. Could the facility be used as an area command post? The Operations Manager agrees and from that moment on, resources (food, water, medical, security) surged to the facility for community use.

Fast-forward 48-hours. The damage is done, all people in your sphere of influence have been accounted for and the business of business begins. Since portions of your building have collapsed, alternative operations have opened in two rooms of a nearby hotel. Reimbursement from the carrier is paramount and FEMA financial support is hot on its heels. Staff begin showing at the hotel and excitement and pandemonium are throughout as each is excitedly sharing their experiences with each other. You are trying to get everyone paper to begin resurrecting what happened and when. Some are verbose and some write three sentences. Your team now begins to identify resources and supply chain broken links are being found as they arise.

Your emergency plan is predicated upon a three-level scenario: First level is to report to work, the second level is to report to an alternative facility, and third is to report from home. You have activated level three. Your primary scribe is downloading and compiling all of the communications through the app and time-sorting them. In one hour, the entire raw incident report is submitted to corporate.

-THE END - (Or the beginning?)