Category Archives: Disaster Preparedness

When Your Commute Becomes Derailed

Posted on by

Just yesterday I remarked to my husband that my train, the Hudson line, has been amazingly stable and almost always on time. Especially when you consider that there have been major derailments of the Connecticut (May 17) and the Long Island (June 17) lines of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA).

I should have known better. Just when you think you can take a breather, something is bound to happen, as it did this morning. Normally I would have been listening to the news and traffic report, but I was spending some time with my puppy before rushing to the ferry station. Once there I waited, but no ferry, and the few people who were there didn’t seem to know why. Annoying.

I called my husband and asked him to drop me off at the train station across the Hudson (parking is impossible there). On the train platform, however, I quickly learned that there was a big problem—the derailment of 10 CSX garbage train cars on a narrow portion of track used by the Hudson line. There were no injuries, but that is a whole lot of cleanup, not to mention the two tracks that need to be replaced, according to the conductor I talked to. He estimated it would take at least the weekend to repair the damage.

I have to say that I was impressed with the MTA’s contingency planning. The MTA gets a lot of flack, but it’s worth mentioning that they did get it right this time. What I expected to be a nightmare of delays and standing around waiting—on one of the hottest days of the year—wasn’t bad at all. The MTA train took us to Yonkers, just north of the derailment area, where we were quickly led to waiting busses. The busses transported the train’s passengers to a large subway station where we were ushered through a special turnstile, and our train passes were honored. The subway ride took a while, since it was a local covering more than 200 blocks. But a fellow passenger gave me an idea of the subway route and at what stop I should get off. Happily, I had only a block to walk to work.

Research shows that the MTA has an enterprise risk management plan in place. I found a 93-page document online that outlines significant business processes for the MTA bus company, bridges and tunnels, individual train lines and much more. It also notes which business processes have been reviewed. Under the listing of Maintenance of Equipment for the Long Island Railroad, for example, items that have been reviewed include locomotive daily inspection and diesel locomotive periodic inspection, rolling stock inspections and equipment surveys.

From what I have read, however, some passengers last night weren’t as lucky. They were told to wait for busses which didn’t arrive. That was right after the derailment, however, and it takes some time to put a major plan into action.

So, lessons learned:

• Listen to the traffic announcements on the radio every morning

• Don’t be too complacent when things go well

• Roll with the punches, occasionally things do work out

• Take time to play with the puppy, no matter what, even if you’re a little late for work

Disaster Planning for Magical Rabbits

Posted on by

I have a pet rabbit at home. His name is Boba Fett, named after the popular bounty hunter character in the Star Wars movies, and he’s a pretty laid-back little guy, as far as pets go. He’s not the type of animal that requires a ton of maintenance and he definitely doesn’t need a formal risk management plan. But according to a recent article in the Washington Post, not all rabbits get off so easily. Evidently not only does the U.S. Department of Agriculture require certain rabbits to be licensed, but their owners must also have a written disaster plan for what they will do with their rabbit in case of emergency. It sounds crazy, but bureaucracy often does, I guess.

According to the article, some years back Marty Hahne, otherwise known as Marty the Magician, got a notice from the USDA that based on a law that requires licenses for “animal exhibitors,” the rabbit Marty used in his magic act needed to be licensed. Marty complied. And then, this summer, the USDA informed him of a new rule from the agency’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS):

APHIS published a final rule requiring all dealers, exhibitors, intermediate handlers, carriers, research facilities and other entities regulated by the Agency under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) to take additional steps to be better prepared for potential disaster situations.  They are required to develop a plan for how they are going to respond to and recover from emergencies most likely to happen to their facility, as well as train their employees on those plans.

Basically, Marty the Magician had to come up with a disaster plan for his rabbit. The letter outlined the areas the plan had to cover, including a list of 21 potential disaster scenarios, training requirements for any of Marty’s employees and how to prepare for an evacuation. According to the law, all plans had to be completed by July 29.

Now, a lot of people, would have rolled their eyes at such absurdity and did nothing. One magician quoted in the article joked that his plan would be a piece of paper that read, “Note: Take rabbit with you when you leave.” But Marty seems to be an agreeable sort of person and actually got a disaster planning expert named Kim Morgan to put together what ended up being a thorough, 34-page emergency management document for his rabbit that addressed all of the USDA’s applicable concerns. Overkill? Maybe, but at least Morgan wrote the plan for free.

In time, hopefully common sense will prevail. The USDA has said that it plans to review the rule as it applies to small operations like Marty’s, but for now the rule stands. And Marty Hahne probably has the safest rabbit in the country. So at least there’s that.

 

Crowdsourcing Asteroid Detection

Posted on by

http://youtu.be/rzOHVQA4dqA

Back in February, space rocks made headlines in dramatic fashion when Russian motorists filmed a meteorite exploding over Chelyabinsk. Coincidentally, this came on the same day that a larger asteroid came within a mere 17,000 miles from the Earth, becoming the closest asteroid ever observed. This activity got the attention of government officials who began to look into ways to eliminate these threats from space.

This is, of course, easier said than done. While 95% of near-Earth objects one kilometer in diameter or more – the kind that could end civilization if they collided with the planet – have been detected and determined to not pose a threat any time soon, they same cannot be said for the smaller city-killers. There are simply too many of them. According to NASA officials, it will take much more time and money to get a similar handle on every space threat in our celestial neighborhood. And in the meantime, who knows what could be headed our way.

buy apixaban online abucm.org/assets/jpg/apixaban.html no prescription pharmacy

So as a result, NASA and the White House have decided to bring in reinforcements by asking the public to help in the search. The project will be part of the Obama Administration’s “Grand Challenges” in which the government enlists public/private partnerships, sometimes with financial incentives, to help reach certain ambitious goals. Other Grand Challenges include projects that center around research into the human brain, solar energy and electric vehicles. The asteroid project will also complement NASA’s Asteroid Redirect Mission, which intends to redirect an asteroid into a stable lunar orbit so that astronauts can visit and study it.

buy oseltamivir online abucm.org/assets/jpg/oseltamivir.html no prescription pharmacy

The idea to basically crowdsource asteroid detection is reminiscent of the programs like the X Prize, which have offered financial incentives to the public to do things like create private spacecraft or a fuel-efficient car that gets 100 miles per gallon. The fact that some of these challenges have been successful despite their initially daunting premises could bode well for our future in the cosmos.

buy nizoral online abucm.org/assets/jpg/nizoral.html no prescription pharmacy

After all, we’ve all seen the movies and I’m pretty sure we all will agree that the apocalypse is better left on screen.

2013 Hurricane Season: Active Storms Ahead

Posted on by

Saturday, June 1, marks the beginning of the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season. Forecasters from Colorado State University predict 18 named storms for the 2013 season, with nine of those forecasted to become hurricanes and four expected to be major hurricanes. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center warns there could be even more storms to hit the Sunshine State — up to 20, in fact, compared to the average of 12. If these and other predictions are right, Florida will see its share of storms this season.

But Floridians are not oblivious to these stats. As the the June issue of Risk Management states:

Regardless of the predictions, many Floridians were already expecting to be hit. The state that is geographically most vulnerable to Atlantic storms and has the longest coastline among the lower 48 (1,350 miles) has been spared each of the past seven years. Hurricane Wilma, one of seven major hurricanes that made landfall in the United States during the historic 2005 season (the year of Katrina), was the last storm to punish Florida.

With 2013’s predictions being far worse than those of 2012, businesses should begin preparing now. According to the Insurance Information Institute, 15 to 40% of businesses fail following a natural disaster.

Of those businesses that recover, on average, it takes about 11.5 days for them to become fully operational. This is a recipe for serious revenue and customer loss.

Bob Boyd, president and CEO of Agility Recovery, a provider of business continuity and disaster recovery solutions, provides the following advice for businesses in the path of hurricanes (or any natural disaster, for that matter).

Before the Storm

  • Ensure you have tested and activated your crisis communications plan prior to the storm’s approach. Even if the storm isn’t on a direct path to your location, activating this part of your plan will ensure reliable communications with your stakeholders.
  • Backup all data on servers and personal computers, and ensure you are able to remotely access and restore the data to an alternate site without delay.
  • Move vital records, equipment, supplies and inventory to a safe or fortified location.

    Postpone any future deliveries or shipments until the storm passes and transportation routes are passable.

  • Fill fuel tanks of generators and all company‐owned vehicles, and ensure employees are familiar with your emergency transportation plan for critical staff. Plan ahead for interruptions including curfews, law enforcement roadblocks, mass transit shut-downs, and impassable roads and bridges.
  • Enable remote access to your company’s website and social media channels to ensure constant communication with stakeholders. Contact the media ahead of time to make sure they know how to reach your leadership and spokespersons.

During the Storm

  • Ensure employees are away from wind and flood hazards and know the company policy regarding inclement weather. Take into account the fact that coastal flooding and storm surge are the most destructive and deadly forces during a hurricane.
  • Establish teams working on a 24-hour schedule to monitor any equipment that must consistently remain on line.
  • Preemptively shut off any unnecessary electrical switches to prevent surges or electrical shorts and accidents before the necessary checks are completed post-landfall.

After the Storm

  • Watch and listen to local news and online media channels for damage reports, transportation outages, lingering flooded areas and other potential dangers prior to assessing your facilities.
  • Establish and follow company policies for limiting access to your facilities until the area has been declared officially safe by local law enforcement, inspectors or company officials.
  • Begin contacting employees, suppliers, critical partners and other stakeholders to ensure their safety and ability to return to work.
  • Begin salvage as soon as possible to prevent further damage to facilities, inventory and assets. Begin work to restore any critical business functions that have been interrupted by the storm.

As we saw with the last two major hurricanes (Katrina and Sandy), preparation is paramount. In the New York area, Governor Cuomo marked this past week as Hurricane Preparedness Week — asking the state’s residents to review their preparations for the upcoming season. With 2013 predictions well above the seasonal average, this is advice every Atlantic coastal state should take seriously.