Author: Brian R. Haines
State, federal, local and tribal partners participated in a statewide exercise last week that included more than 66 state agencies, 50 local agencies, representation from private sector partners, voluntary organizations active in disasters (VOADs) and others. These different agencies converged on the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) in Raleigh from across the state either in person or virtually. All of these entities are part of the North Carolina State Emergency Response Team (SERT) and worked through the convergence of three major events in a two-day statewide exercise.
The Scenario
In this year’s exercise scenario, fictional Tropical Storm Ruby moves up from the Gulf dumping up to 10 inches of rain in some areas, inundating the mountain communities of Western North Carolina, causing flooding, mudslides, collapsed buildings, damaged infrastructure and more. The fictional storm caused 53,000 power outages at its peak and restoration efforts were ongoing. North Carolina’s Swift Water Rescue Teams and Urban Search and Rescue Teams were wrapping up life-saving efforts in the area and preparing to deploy east for the next incoming storm.
Meanwhile, in its wake Ruby damaged oil refineries across the U.S. Gulf Coast, leading to expected disruptions of the pipelines that are the primary source of petroleum to North Carolina’s supply terminals. Fuel shortages in the state were occurring, while at the same time Tropical Depression Sophie was churning out in the Atlantic, gathering strength as it moved to strike the North Carolina southeast coastline in five days. The storm was likely to impact the entire eastern and central regions of the state as a hurricane, bringing widespread damaging winds, heavy rainfall and flooding, life-threatening storm surge to the coast and tornadoes.
Talk about a three-pronged disaster, right? Think this confluence of disasters only happens in the movies? In the fall of 2016, North Carolina saw record flooding in the east from Hurricane Matthew, wildfires that burned 55,000 acres and civil unrest in Charlotte and other areas. Managing multiple events is nothing new to the North Carolina SERT.
The Response
Instead of a lone movie star swooping in to rescue thousands of people with some wild scheme that only they can make happen, it’s the people and organizations partnering together through the SERT, working with NCEM’s three Regional Branch Offices to provide response and recovery support to communities in the mountains and foothills, while simultaneously working to mitigate cascading impacts from the statewide fuel supply disruption, and coordinating and communicating preparations for Tropical Depression Sophie’s landfall.
Resource orders are developed to move heavy equipment teams to affected areas in Western North Carolina so the laborious task of removing debris can begin. In addition to the county-led shelters, the state opens two shelters. The Red Cross distributes supplies in Haywood County and Baptists on Mission operate feeding sites, showing how the state’s Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (VOADs) help during large scale events.
This is all happening on day one of the exercise, which would be impossible if not for the strong collaborations and partnerships built over the years across the state.
On day two of the exercise, preparations for Sophie, now 3 days out, are in full swing. The potential impacts of Sophie are much clearer and include winds up to 105 mph, along with saturated soil which will lead to downed trees and powerlines across eastern and central parts of the state. Heavy rainfall is expected across much of the state, and flash flooding and major riverine flooding is also likely; this includes up to 15 inches in the southeast when Sophie makes landfall.
Across the eastern and central regions of the state, county emergency operation centers are activating in response to the storm and are coordinating with the SEOC. Structural engineers and assessment teams, along with swift water rescue and urban search and rescue resources are being deployed to key areas to respond as soon as it’s safe to do so after the storm hits. NCEM’s Human Services Branch is working to ensure shelter operations are being prepared. The state’s Business Emergency Operation Center is communicating with the state’s private sector partners and VOADs to ensure their readiness and capabilities to assist. The Logistics Section is working to ensure there are needed supplies such as meals, water and cots and procuring other needed resources. The Operations Section is coordinating those resources, while the Planning Section puts information and data together in an actionable format for decision making.
This exercise is just one of the many ways NCEM tests the preparedness levels of its teams, partners and resources. Like real disaster response, during these drills hundreds of people work in unison to ensure the safety of lives while also working to help others recover. It is a meticulous and closely coordinated process, but this is the work of the State Emergency Response Team to wrangle chaos through coordination.