2. What is mass
destruction?
• Occurrence of widespread, severe
damage, injury or loss of life/property
• The affected society undergoes
severe disruption
• Occurring in a relatively short time
• Exceeds the affected society’s ability
to cope using its own resources
3. Man-Made vs Natural Events:
Outbreaks:
• Smallpox
• Ebola
• Yellow Fever
• Whooping cough
Weapons of Mass
Destruction:
oBiological
oChemical
oRadiological
oBombs
Severe weather:
• Hurricanes
• Tornados
• Flooding
• Erosion
4. Hurricane Andrew (1992)
• August 24, 1992
• Category 5
• Landfall Homestead, FL
• $26.5 billion in Damage
• 165 MHP winds
• 43 dead in Florida
• 25,524 homes destroyed
• 5th costliest Hurricane
6. A Little Info About Florida
• 3rd highest populated state
• Average of 107 million visitors per year
• Continues to grow above national average
• “Florida’s growing population and tourism requires
sustained investment in mobility.” ~ FDOT
• Most of the land lies just above sea level
7. Agencies
• 511/Traffic.com
• Alligator Towing
• DBi Services
• Fort Myers Police Department
• Cape Coral Police Departments
• Lee County Sheriff
• Collier County Sheriff
• TMC
• Florida Highway Patrol (FHP)
• ICA
• Medical Examiner
• Fire Department
• EMS
• Dispatchers
• Department of Transportation
• Toll Facilities
• …
8. The big question on Sunday, September 10th,
was:
IS LEE COUNTY READY?
9. Hurricane Irma
• SEPTEMBER 11, 2017
• CATEGORY 4
• MADE LANDFALL IN MARCO ISLAND
• 185 MPH WINDS FOR 37 HRS.
• MOST POWERFUL ATLANTIC
HURRICANE
• 20 FEET SURGE
• EARTHQUAKE SEISMOMETERS
DETECTED
10. Actual view
of CCTV in
Collier
County, as
Irma’s eye
passed
through
collier
county
12. Including:
• 5 deaths of drowning
• 4 deaths carbon monoxide
• 1 death of heat exhaustion
By Counties:
• Palm Beach: 2
• Orange County: 5
• Hillsborough County: 4
Death Toll: 134
13. Damages caused by Hurricane Irma
• Economic Impact estimated
to be between $100 Billion
and $300 Billion
• $1.2 billion in crop damage
• Tomato, green beans, and cucumber
• Shortage of orange juice and sugar
• $67 billion in Tourism loss
• Theme parks closed
14. Severe Disruption• 60% of FL experienced power loss
• 6.5 million Floridians ordered to evacuate
• 77,000 people in 450 shelters statewide
• Schools closed for over a week
• Businesses closed due to supplies shortages
• Millions left unemployed for several weeks,
resulting in loss of income
• Major stores are still closed, including: Target,
Home Depot, Jared and many more
• Last shelter closed on October 17th, over a month
after the storm
16. Traffic Incident Management (TIM) Teams
• Meet in preparations to large events in
the roadways
• Education, preparation and
implementation of evacuation
procedures
• Brings together all the different
agencies working together to maintain
traffic
• Promotes team-work and open
communication for better responses
17. Contraflow
• Original plan
• Turns SB lanes to NB traffic
• Last exercise was in 2006 @
Alligator Alley
• Myths:
• Thought to double flow
• Increases by 33%
18. Cons of Contraflow
• Traffic nightmare
• Harder to organize involved parties
• Increase chances of more secondary
crashes
• Both sides are stopped/slowed by
rubberneckers
• Took 8 hrs after activation to be ready
• Resources drained extensively
• DMS signs are backwards
• Drivers having to look across the
interstate to see traveler information
19. ShoulderUse for EmergencyEvacuations(SUEE)
• Replaced the contra-flow plan
• Safer district takes the lead
• Requires interagency coordination
between FDOT, TMC, FHP, DBI, RR, etc.…
• Issued by the Governor
• Enables the southbound traffic if needed
• 4 hrs. vs. 1 ½ days (contraflow) to
implement
• Intended to be a 24 hr. operation
21. Requirements Needed SUEE
• Quick and effective communication
between Government and responding
agencies:
• FDOT, FHP and DBI
• Several people are involved
• Shoulders need to be “prep-ed” for use
• Debris clean up
• Sweeping shoulder
• Equipment for 1 area:
• Cones: 810
• Portable C Messaging Signs: 9
• Flip Down Sign: 43
• Law enforcement officers: 23
• EAV: 9
22. DeAngelo Brothers Inc.
• History:
• 20 years
• Began with 2 brothers and a pick up
truck
• Has several sectors/specialties
• Nationwide
• Assists RR on a daily basis for
incidents
• Asset management: company
responsible to the maintenance
items that are out in a given area
• Assists in ESUEE
• Does practice partial and full
activations thorough tout the year
• Has all the equipment
24. Survey 1,2,3
• App for Field Data
Collection
• Smartphones, Laptops or
desktops
• Provides easy-to-fill
answers, embedded
audio and images
• Location tagging
• Operations Dashboard
Being used by FDOT For damage analysis
25. Traffic Management
Center (TMC)
• Contracted by FDOT
• Cameras and traffic devices all
along I-75
• Provide motorist information
• Travel times
• Congestion
• Incident response
• Dispatching Road Rangers for
stranded motorists
• Locating events via CCTV
26. Motorists Assistance
• DMS signs and Travel Times
• Road blockage and Congestion
information
• Road Rangers assistance
• Broken down evacuates
• MOT for vehicle crashes
• SUEE
• MOT for abnormal traffic
patterns
• Provide support to LEO
• Florida 511 Services
27. Challenges in Operation• Must operate for 24 hrs. a day
• Employee
• 12 hr. shifts prior and post storm
• High-pace with evacuees
• Device damage
• Inability to perform basic duties
• Inability to inform drivers of debris
and damage to roadway through the
Dynamic messaging system (DMS)
• Inability to track decline in traffic
speeds.
• Inability to properly pinpoint disabled
motorists on the highway.
28. • Established in 1939
• Motion to establish FHP by then Governor Fred P. Cone
• First year of full operation they patrolled 1,938,564 miles of roadway.
• By 2013 FHP has patrolled 31,654,272 miles of roadway and investigated 213,024 crashed.
Florida Highway Patrol
29. FloridaHighway Patrol
Troopers
• Patrolling state highways and
regulating, controlling and
directing the movement of
traffic,
• Investigating traffic crashes.
• Investigating/enforcing laws
pertaining to the offense of
auto theft.
30. FHP Trooper Emergency Preparations
• Supplies gathered and equipment prepared for use for after the storm.
• All Troopers switched over to Alpha-Bravo shifts (12 Hour Rotational Shifts)
Prior the storm and maintained it after the storm had passed. 50 Extra
Troopers brought in from around the state.
• Emergency Shoulder Use Plans reviewed and Troopers briefed in case of
Activation.
• Priority shifted to keeping evacuation routes open by clearing shoulders and
clearing lane blocking events as quickly as possible.
31. FHPTrooperEmergency Preparations (cont.)
• As Storm approached decisions had to made as to how quickly to conduct
a crash scene investigation.
• Troops stationed at each EOC to establish clear lines of communication.
• After the Storm had passed Troopers assisted with escorting fuel tankers,
directing traffic, debris removal and assessing road conditions.
32. FHP Trooper operation complications
during and after Hurricane Irma
• Gasoline was limited.
• Limited gas stations open
with limited gas stayed open
and serviced Priority
vehicles first.
• Storm impacted
communication.
• Accessibility to certain
areas of patrol.
33. Florida
Highway
Patrol
Dispatch
FHP dispatch are those that
takes calls from the public
and other agencies at times
for any incident on the
roadway within their
jurisdiction and assist the
public in matters that relate
to the roadway and dispatch
and communicate with
troopers to provide them with
accurate information.
34. FHP Dispatch challenges prior and after the storm
• Properly briefing all employees
on Alpha-Bravo scheduling
• Gathering all the necessary
supplies needed to house
Dispatchers within the building
for multiple days.
• Communication regarding the
Emergency Shoulder Use plan.
• Communication was a key
issue especially for those in
certain areas.
• Certain areas had high volume
of radio traffic that made it
difficult for dispatchers
handling specific areas.
• Multiple calls for the same
area/event.
• Scheduling adjustments on a
supervisory level.
35. Road Rangers
Road rangers are a group
of men and women patrol
around set beats along I-
75 to assist stranded
motorist, remove debris,
and assist other
Emergency vehicles/Law
enforcement in traffic
accidents as well as other
incidents on the road.
36. Road Rangers
• Road rangers were started in 1995 in Broward and Palm beach
county, Miami-Dade county picked up the program in 1997 and
FDOT with its partners have expanded the program through out
the state.
• A free service provided by FDOT
• Have set routes, dispatched by TMC Via camera finds and FHP.
• One of the main focuses is to provide MOT
• They have limited supplies and are not mechanics or a tow
company.
37. Road Ranger Emergency Preparations
• Vehicle inspections
• Stocked up on proper supplies and extra if needed.
• Operate as normal until storm reaches a certain point then
all RR pulled back for their safety.
• Road Rangers took trucks home to be ready for re-
deployment after storm passes.
38. Road ranger emergency operations and post
operations
• Prior and Post Hurricane Irma and in the event of the activation
of Emergency Shoulder Use activation RR operate as normal
unless directed.
• Only change during this time was for RR to keep shoulders
clear and keep evacuating routes clear.
• Will only focus on certain major events or unless directed by
Supervisor, TMC or FHP.
• Had to wait for FDOT to declare roadway safe for travel.
39. Road ranger Challenges before andafter the storm
• Finding Fuel.
• Increase in disabled and
abandoned vehicles. As well
as debris along Evacuation
routes.
• Communication due to storm
damage to cell towers.
Difficult assessing real time
location.
• Limited Fuel and unable to
operate as normal.
40. Lee County Sheriff’s Department (LCSO)
• Incident Management Team is stationed at
the EOC
• Assist in restoring normalcy to the
community
• Delivering of emergency food and water
Damage assessment
• Continue to respond to crime
• Must find accommodations to shelter their
mandatory staff and equipment
• Send out specialty teams to keep looting to
a minimum
• Hurricane team:
• 20 members
• Selected members and delegated tasks
• Responds after the storm to the backlog
calls
41. Curfew Reinforcement
• Lack of electricity
• Safety of civilians and property
• Prevention of looters
• Protection of property
• Have the right to stop any car, but
requires probable cause
• Can lead to arrest:
• Paper or physical
42. Large Efforts
• Have contracts with other providers for
different services and resources
• Dry cleaning for officer’s uniform
• Food for mandatory staff
• Law enforcement shelter for family
members
• Other responders, like the morgue, fire
and EMS, all rely on law enforcement
and traffic to complete their tasks
• Resilience in the community makes the
it stronger.
43. Conclusions
With a storm of this size on the
way to impact Florida many focus
on what certain agencies are
doing but its always important to
remember how the operation of
one agency affects the other
entities. But not only that but by
sharing information everyone can
have the most up to date
information and decide what is
the best course of action.
44. References
About FDOT. (2017). Retrieved from Florida Department of Transportation:
http://www.fdot.gov/agencyresources/aboutFDOT.shtm
Contraflow Plan for the Florida Instrastate Highway System. (2005, June 6).
Retrieved from Florida Department of Transportation:
http://www.fdot.gov/traffic/traf_incident/pdf/050808_FIHS-Contraflow-
MASTER.pdf
Fast Facts. (2017, February 2). Retrieved from Florida's Department of
Transportation: http://www.fdot.gov/planning/fastfacts.pdf
Hurricane Andrew: 20 Facts You May Have Forgotten. (2012, August 24). Retrieved
from Miami.
Shoulder Use for Emergency Evacuation Standard Operating Procedure. (2017, May
18). Retrieved from Florida Department of Transportation:
http://www.fdot.gov/emergencymanagement/districts/d4/EmergencyMgmtSite/OW
E/I75_SUEE_SOP.pdf
