Hurricane Response Annex Overview Introduction

TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION I – HURICANE RESPONSE ANNEX OVERVIEW ............................................................... 2 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................. 3 PLANNING ASSUMPTIONS ................................................................................................................................... 4 COMMUNITY IMPACTS ........................................................................................................................................ 4 SECTION II – CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS ........................................................................................ 5 DEFINING THE HAZARD ...................................................................................................................................... 5 Tropical Cyclones ..................................................................................................................................................... 5 TIMELINES ........................................................................................................................................................... 6 HURRICANE SEASON ...................................................................................................................................... 6 RESPONDER REENTRY HOUR ......................................................................................................................... 7 SECTION III – ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES ...................................................................................... 8 LSSIMT ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES ................................................................................................................. 8 SECTION IV – COMMODITY DISTRIBUTION MANAGEMENT ....................................................... 9 SECTION V – CATASTROHPIC DEBRIS MANAGEMENT .............................................................. 10 SECTION VI – INITIAL REENTRY ASSESSMENT TEAM .................................................................. 17 SECTION VII – SEARCH & RESCUE .................................................................................................. 15 SECTION VIII – JOINT INFORMATION CENTER ............................................................................ 19 SECTION IX – EMBARKATION HUB ............................................................................................... 20 APPENDIX A – LSSIMT COMMODITY DISTRIBUTION PLAN ................................................. …A-1 APPENDIX B – LSSIMT VEGETATIVE DEBRIS BURN PLAN ....................................................... B-1 APPENDIX C – INITIAL REENTRY ASSESSMENT PLAN .............................................................. B-2 Texas Commodity Distribution Plan RECORD OF CHANGES CONTENT CHANGED Change # Initials Date Entered Section I – Hurricane Response Annex Overview Introduction The LSSIMT Hurricane Response Annex sets forth a set of standardized expectations and responsibilities, as agreed upon by the Lone Star State Incident Management Team Coordinating Council (LSSIMTCC) and in response to Tex. Education Code § 88.122 Incident Management Teams. This statute directs the Texas A&M Forest Service (TFS) to train, maintain, develop, and mobilize Incident Management Teams to provide incident support for state, disaster district, or local jurisdiction operations. As subject to this code, “an incident management team maintained under this section may consist of Texas Forest Service employees and other state, local, and volunteer responders.” The LSSIMT Hurricane Annex is designed to be integrated with the LSSIMT Standard Operating Guide, and other Texas Division of Emergency Management plans and annexes and subordinate appendices or attachments to the State of Texas Emergency Management Plan. Finally, the State of Texas Emergency Management Annex (ESF 5), defines TFS’ role with regard to IMTs, “The mission of IMTs is to provide additional state direction and control and response resources to assist DDC Chairpersons in carrying out emergency response and recovery operations in areas impacted by a major or catastrophic disaster. The Texas A&M Forest Service (TFS) has organized several IMTs composed of experienced NIMS/ICS personnel that can be deployed as needed to either manage or assist in the management of emergency response operations. TFS IMTs manage wildfires in coordination with the DDC Chairperson. The IMT is under the operational control of the DDC Chairperson when mobilized for all-hazard incidents. TFS is also responsible for developing Regional Incident Management Teams (RIMTs) which are staffed by personnel from state agencies and local emergency responders. These teams are developed to assist in the handling of disaster-type situations at the local, regional and state level. These teams can be used for local response without activation by the state. With the exception of TFS IMT response to wildfires, state activation of all IMTs requires approval by the Governor following a request by the Chief, TDEM. A Delegation of Authority or Letter of Expectation will be provided to the IMT that is activated by the state. This document will clearly state the expectations for the team in addition to the operational authority, restrictions and reporting requirements.” Section I – Hurricane Response Annex Overview The Hierarchy of Authoritative Documents, related to this document are as follows: • National Response Framework • State of Texas Emergency Management Plan Hurricane Annex • State Operations Center (SOC) Hurricane Playbook • Lone Star State Incident Management Team Standard Operating Guide • Lone Star State Incident Management Team Hurricane Response Annex o Appendix A: Lone Star State IMT Commodity Distribution Plan o Appendix B: Lone Star State IMT Vegetative Debris Burn Sample Plan o Appendix C:Initial Re-entry Assessment Plan This document is intended to provide guidance and is not prescriptive nor comprehensive. Please use your best judgement and discretion to determine the most appropriate actions at the time of the incident. Situation Texas is no stranger to hurricanes; as any 50-mile segment of the state’s coastline may expect a hurricane with the relative frequency of one every 6 years. Effects from these storms are magnified by the increasing population that the state experiences. In addition to tourism attractions, these coastal communities are strewn with residential, commercial, and industrial enterprise. These include oil refineries, chemical plants, liquid natural gas terminal, manufacturing centers, nuclear power plants and strategic oil reserves. Planning Assumptions During the response phase, the LSSIMT will place priority on saving lives, stabilizing community lifelines, protecting property and natural resources, and meeting basic human needs after an incident has occurred. Operational Coordination will be the primary core capability that the LSSIMT provides to local jurisdictions and the state of Texas. This core capability spans across all mission areas and all Emergency Support Functions (ESFs). Section I – Hurricane Response Annex Overview Community Impacts Historical Mission Assignment (MA) requests suggests that the probability of these requests will come in the form of impacts to Safety and Security; Food, Water, Shelter; and Transportation Lifelines (Figure 1). In order to help stabilize these community lifelines, an IMT’s MAs may include (a) Commodity Distribution, (b) Debris Management, (c) Initial Reentry Assessments, (d) Joint Information Center Establishment, (e) Search and Rescue, (f) Embarkation Hub Management, and (g) Continuity of Government (DDEOC/SOC Support). Figure 1 - Impacted Community Lifelines and potential IMT Mission Assignments to enhance stabilization of impacted lifelines. Section II – Concept of Operations Defining the Hazard Tropical cyclones are large-scale, relatively slow moving rotating storm systems that originate over tropical or subtropical waters. They are characterized by a low-pressure center, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain. Tropical cyclones include hurricanes, tropical storms and tropical depressions. Hazards from tropical cyclones include storm surge, wind, tornadoes, inland flooding, wave action and rip currents. Impacts of these hazards vary greatly depending on the location of landfall, direction of travel, size, forward speed, barometric pressure, wave setup, tides and wind intensity of the storm. Although hurricane-force winds can cause significant damage to coastal communities, it is important to remember that storm surge inundation is almost always the deadliest threat associated with hurricanes. Other life-safety hazards, such as flooding and tornadoes, may continue to occur as a storm moves inland and the hurricane is downgraded to a tropical storm or tropical depression. Remnants of hurricanes can cause high wind, tornadoes and catastrophic flooding in any part of the State of Texas. Even though response and recovery requirements differ for each incident, the strategies contained in this document may be used to respond to any tropical cyclone. The three types of tropical cyclone are designated by sustained wind speed. Tropical Cyclones Table 1 lists each type of tropical cyclone with one-minute average maximum sustained wind speed in miles per hour (mph). Table 2 lists the categories of cyclones and provides the damage estimation, due

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