Planning and Disaster Recovery The Vermont Experience Northern New England Chapter of the American Planning Association October 4, 2012 Annual Meeting Joe Segale, P.E./PTP Vermont Agency of Transportation Policy and Planning Manager 1
Presentation 2011: A Wake-up Call Planners Role in Disaster Response & Recovery Planning for Resilience Summary 2
2011: A Wake-up Call At Burlington International Airport, it was the wettest year on record with 50.92" of precipitation. Burlington also had its 3rd snowiest winter on record with 128.4". March 6-7, 2011 Winter Storm April 13 - June 19, 2011 Lake Champlain Record Flooding May 26-27, 2011 Flash Flooding and Severe Weather August 28, 2011 Tropical Storm Irene 3
IRENE 13 isolated towns 2,000 Road Segments 300 Bridges Rail line and telecommunications 800 Homes and Businesses 4
ROUTE OUTE 107 S 107 STOCKBRIDGE 5
Jct. of VT 100 and VT 73 Pre and Post- Irene 6
COVERED BRIDGE DAMAGE Quechee Rockingham Bartonsville Bridge 7
VT RAILR BRIDGE 114 CHESTER 8
HAZMAT AZMAT & D & DESTRUCTION 9
Response Non-traditional role for planners but all hands-on-deck Planners offered: Local knowledge and local contacts Communication skills Dt Data source and GIS skills 10
ICS ~ (INCIDENT COMMAND SYSTEM) The ICCs are operated by a Unified Command (UC) in Montpelier. The UC role was to set priorities, provide overall management through directives, and take the lead on communication and public information. The UC was given direction by the Secretary s Office. Director of Operations & Director of Program Development Dummerston Northern Regions Rutland 11
Safety Officer Incident Commander Information Officer Liaisons Operations Planning Logistics Administration District Garages Utilities Communications Time Resident Engineers Inspectors Supplies/ Equipment Procurement Contracts Private Contractors RPCs Facilities Compensation Claims Bills Staging Areas Environmental Hazmat Food Basic Needs Records National Guard Town Crews ICC Commanders Dummerston: Joe Flynn Rutland: Gil Newbury Northern: George McCool 12
Recovery: Operational Lessons Learned 13
Recovery: Policy Lessons Learned January 2012 14
PLANNING FOR RESILIENCE Wetter Trends The wettest days are wetter 15
Since 1927 Vermont has experienced a large-scale disastrous floods once every 14 years. From 1973-2011, Vermont has ssuffered edapproximately ey 25 disastrous floods of regional-scale as depicted on this map. Data Source: VT DEC Rivers Program
Resilience Planning Initiatives Long Term Flood Recovery and Statewide Resiliency Planning Project Vermont Economic Resiliency Initiative Focus on Floods-VT Transportation System Resilience Plan Resilient Vermont Project Agency of Commerce and Community Development Agency of Natural Resources Agency of Transportation Recovery Office 17
Resilience Planning Vulnerability Assessment Watershed Based Risk Assessment Adaptation Strategies Implementation Actions
Risk Assessment Example
Planning s Role Phase Response Recovery Adapt & Rebuild Roles Place in Incident Command System Local Knowledge Multi-jurisdictional environment Information Communication Assessment and lessons learned Strategic Direction Priorities Applying lessons learned Innovate & Collaborate Systemic Approach 20
APPENDIX 21
Resources VTrans Employees: To date approximately 700 have been assigned to IRENE recovery tasks Hundreds of National Guard Troops: Vermont 200 people, numerous equipment Maine 220 people, p numerous equipment, Command & Control function for out-of-state troops Illinois - 145 troops, 8 aircraft, 23 vehicles Ohio 93 people, 29 pieces of equipment New Hampshire 8 people, 2 aircraft South Carolina 51 people, 23 pieces of equipment West Virginia i i 30 people, 10 pieces of equipment Virginia 16 people, 6 pieces of equipment DOT Partners Maine 150 people, 145 pieces of equipment New Hampshire 75 people, 60 pieces of equipment Over 200 Private Contractors and Consultants Approximately 1800 people from the private sector, primarily from Vermont Medical Assistance from LA, ME, AR, MO, NH, ID and FL EOC, RPCs, Red Cross Church groups, Fraternal Organizations, and many individuals 22
In The First 30 days Summary of State Highway Roads and Bridges August 28, 2011 State Road Segments Closed = 146 ~ 531 miles Bridges Closed = 34 September 28, 2011 State Road Segments Closed = 6 ~ 13 miles Bridges Closed = 6 ***************************************************** December 31, 2011 State Road Segments Closed = 0 Bridges Closed = 0 23
Municipalities Local Highway Asset Damage September 30, 2011 Road Segments Damaged = 2,260 Road Segments Closed = 175 Bridges Damaged = 289 Bridges Closed = 90 Culverts Damaged = 963 Culverts Closed = 335 December 7, 2011 Road Segments Closed = 89 Bridges Closed = 52 Source Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission 24