2007 Northwest Missouri Ice Storm

Northwest Missouri Ice Storm of December 2007: Lessons Learned

Sagging power lines - Pinterest

By John Fisher

In the ice storm of December 2007 almost 59,000 homes and businesses were without power in the Northwest Missouri area which included the towns of St. Joseph, Maryville, Savannah, Tarkio. Ice ranged from more than a half-inch in St. Joseph to 2 inches farther north, said Tom Kelley, Aquila's regional manager. More than 1 million people were without power from Oklahoma to Illinois ("We've never...", 2008).

"From my perspective, we've never had a storm like that hit our entire system," Kelley said. The electric utility and weather services sent out press releases to warn people to be ready for the storm, but no one was really prepared when the storm hit Tuesday, December 11.

At Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville 7000 students were preparing to take exams. About 90 percent of the students were from outside the region and were anticipating going home for the holidays. Almost 2000 students lived in campus housing, while the remainder rented apartments in Maryville. A smaller number commuted on a daily basis.

Fortunately, at the University power never did go off. However, classes were cancelled. It was dangerous to walk across campus, not only because trees blocked the sidewalks, but the walkways were so icy no one could stand up.  After a couple of days highways and roads were sanded and salted so that students could go home. In the meantime, food supplies ran low in the town and the campus cafeteria.

Northwest Missouri State University photo

A shelter was set up in the National Guard Armory on the west side of campus. Guardsmen went door-to-door throughout the community and rural area checking on people and helping those without resources, mainly older people, to move to the shelter.

My wife and I lived in Maryville, where I taught for the university. We never lost our telephone land-line, but our electric power was off for four or five days. With temperatures well below freezing, the house soon became chilly inside. We slept in our family room where we had a gas fireplace. From a call to my wife’s brother in West Virginia, we learned how to by-pass the electric switch in order to light the gas.  We had plenty of can goods in the basement, but didn’t have a way to cook food – not even a camp stove. We were concerned about the food in our freezer and fridge. Thankfully, power came back on before we had to move the freezer food outside. On the second day, we were able to get to the campus, where members of our church gathered for the next three or four evenings in a classroom for potlucks and movies.

The electric utility learned from a December 1994 ice storm where 15,000 homes and businesses lost power from up to a quarter-inch of ice. In 1994, the electric utility didn't appear to fully grasp the extent of the damage on the first day, when it said they would have power on within a day. In fact, it took six days. Aquila Light & Power brought in about 180 linemen, most in from other area utilities.

Kelley described the 1994 response as "more reaction instead of being ready." In 2007 the utility was somewhat better prepared.

In 2007, Aquila issued a press release in the hours leading up to the storm that it had 90 electrical workers and 85 tree trimmers en route to Northwest Missouri from other areas. Within three days, Aquila had 275 tree trimmers and 667 electrical workers involved in the recovery effort in Northwest Missouri, including 454 contract electrical workers from other companies. Still it took over a week to get power on in some areas.

The major reason for power failure is tree limbs falling on power lines. Also, power lines sag and break because of extra weight. The electric utility has a 4-5 year rotation where they clear limbs 8 feet around power lines, mostly so trees don’t grow into the lines. This is not enough to prevent damage from falling trees or limbs in an ice storm.

When I talked to the campus police chief afterwards, he admitted that the University was “just plain lucky.” If power had gone off on the university campus, if temperatures were lower, and the ice storm had been longer, conditions could have been very bad for students and the community. University officials had deliberated about sending students home, when they were warned about the ice storm. They had a window of about three hours when they could have done that on Tuesday morning, but they hesitated and their indecision meant students would have to stay on campus for two or three more days while they waited for road conditions to improve.  As it happened, exams were cancelled and had to be re-scheduled in the new year.

A side effect to the university was damage to the trees on campus. The Missouri State Legislature named Northwest the official state arboretum in 1993. The Northwest campus features more than 1,800 trees and more than 150 species. In the ice storm of December 2007, 40 perecnt of the trees were damaged or destroyed. Students, employees, alumni and community members purchased 275 new trees to be planted on campus (Roush, 2015; Northwest, 2018).

Lessons learned

Officials and the public generally underestimate the possible severity of weather conditions. Typically communities are unprepared, underfunded, and lack resources for major emergencies and disasters. In Superstorm Sandy, it took two to three weeks for stores to reopen and utilities to get services back online. Government officials seem to be unwilling to make the tough decisions to prepare our nation, states, and communities for disasters. Also, the public has a feeling of malaise or apathy. This won't happen to me, they say. If something does happen, the government will take care of me. They have an attitude that first responders will always there to help. 

We can prepare for and mitigate to handle natural disasters like floods, wildland fires, storms, and even earthquakes, but it requires hard decisions like not building or living in the path of disasters. In the case of ice storms, we need to put all power underground or cut down all trees near power lines. Every municipality needs reserves of sand and salt and the equipment to keep roads clear and maintained. Every state, every municipality should have funds in reserves to deal with catastrophes.  And they need to do a better job of working with the private sector to deal with and mitigate against disasters.  

Such was the case in the ice storm of December 2007. Officials underestimated the severity of the storm. The city of Maryville (with a permanent population of 11,000) had a budget of only $25,000 for the entire year for street maintenance. Most of it was used in the ice storm (LeCerf, 2008). The city has no reserves for these kind of contingencies. This is typical for other communities and municipalities throughout the country. Reserves in terms of money, personnel, and equipment should be available in every municipality, even required. Training of community members (using courses like CERT) should be pushed, because first responders cannot help everyone in major emergencies and disasters.  Debris clean-up is another matter that has long-term impact on the people and the resources of the community.

University officials were derelict in their responsibility for students under their care during the 2007 ice storm. Rather than focusing on the impact of having no exams, they should have considered the possible impact of a major ice storm on their students. Planning and exercising for these kinds of situations would prepare university officials to make these hard decisions. Since 2007 Northwest Missouri State University has closed its cafeteria, turning food services over to fast food vendors. The university no longer has a way of taking care of the food needs of their students over a long period of time.  Training and exercises needs to be a part of the regular routine of staff, faculty, and students at universities and colleges.

As a family, we were unprepared for an ice storm. Fortunately, after four days the electrical power came back on. Had the effects of the storm lasted longer, we would have been in trouble. While we have a food supply, we had no water surplus; no way of cooking food, nor keeping really warm. We would have suffered if the storm had lasted a week or even longer. As families, we need at least three weeks of food and water on hand. We also need to have a way of keeping warm and cooking if we have to shelter-in-place. We would do well to practice for handling catastrophes. A three-day camp out at home in the midst of winter, with no power or gas or water or cell phones, would be a great way to test our resources and resiliency. A 72-hour disaster supply kit is not enough if a disaster happens.

References

LeCerf, M. (2008, January). December Ice Storm: Overview and Clean-up Efforts. Retrieved from http://www.maryville.org/docview.aspx?docid=28687

Roush, C. (2015, August 4). Northwest Arboretum makes "Top 50" list. Maryville Forum. Retrieved from http://www.maryvilledailyforum.com/news/article_7eeac5d0-3ab1-11e5-88ab-3b6bc32bc783.html

Northwest Missouri State University. (2018). Welcome to the Missouri Arboretum.. Retrieved from https://www.nwmissouri.edu/arboretum/index.htm

"We've never had a storm like that": Lessons learned from '94 storm helped shape Aquila's efforts. (2008, January 6). St. Joseph News Press. . Retrieved from http://www.newspressnow.com/news/we-ve-never-had-a-storm-like-that/article_199dda26-f34e-52de-b951-6da4666287aa.html

Can a tsunami hit America?

Tsunami map in Seaside, Oregon

Since 1933, 31 tsunamis have been observed in Crescent City. Four of those caused damage, and one of them, in March 1964, remains the "largest and most destructive recorded tsunami to ever strike the United States Pacific Coast," according to the University of Southern California's Tsunami Research Center.Mar 11, 2011

Noah, T. (2011, March 11). Tsunami City, USA. Slate. Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history_lesson/2011/03/tsunami_city_usa.html

Position Paper and MEMO

Use the following template to do a position paper in MEMO format.

Humanitarian Relief Core Standards

By Wesley Lefevre

Here are some questions you can ask yourself when evaluating an infographic.

Why use an Infographic?
What message doe the infographic communicate? Does it communicate the message effectively? To communicate a message.
Does it present large amounts of information in a compact and easy to understand way?
Does it reveal the data, discover cause-effect relations, and identify relationships among data?
Does it help monitor and show changes or trends in data?

Discussion questions
What is useful about putting information in this format?
Why would this be better than just showing the formulas or using just a bar graph?
What different pieces of information are included on this poster?
What information was included in this poster that allows lay people to understand the content?
Write an abstract about what it is about (two or three sentences that highlights the purpose of the infographic.)

Consider the following for each:
Look at these examples and identify what you like/don't like about each one.
How are colors used differently in each one? Are some colors more powerful than others?
How are objects displayed on each one? Do sizes of the objects matter in showing the intended information?
How could colors, sizes, and kinds of objects be used to mislead people away from the data?
Make notes about what you notice and like/don't like about the infographics. These notes will remind you of what you visually like to see and will serve as a starting point for you.

References:

Evaluating Infographics. (2018). Retrieved from http://room233.wikispaces.com/Evaluating+Infographics (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. 

Humanitarian Charter Core Standards

New Associate with the Institute of Emergency Services and Homeland Security

Dr. Iryna Vyshnevska-Cherkas

Dr. Iryna Vyshnevska-Cherkas has joined the Institute of Emergency Services and Homeland Security as an Associate. She will serve on the publication board of the International Journal of Public Services and post links to her research and publications on the Institute's Research webpage.

Dr. Vyshnevska-Cherkas serves as a diplomat at the Ukrainian Embassy in Norway. She has a PhD (2015) from the Institute of International Relations, Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University. She authored the book “USA-China: congagement strategy” (Kyiv, 2016), and was co-author of the book “The foreign policy of the Russian Federation: Selected aspects of relations with Poland, Ukraine and Belarus” (Krakow, 2010) and has written more than 80 scientific publications in Ukrainian and foreign editions. She previously worked as a diplomat in the NATO division of the Directorate General for International Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

Advancing her knowledge and skills, Iryna studied at the Swedish National Defence College (Stockholm), NATO School in Oberammergau (Germany), Royal Military Academy in Brussels (Belgium), and Peace Support Operations Training Centre – Partnership Training and Education Centre in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina).

Hurricane Harvey Recovery

House damage in Port Aransas, Texas

UVU students meet Macedonian firefighters

UVU Students with members of the Struga, Macedonia fire department

TOP 10 BEST TORNADOES

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Cyber Storm VI: National Cyber Exercise

The Cyber Storm exercise series is the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) national, biennial distributed exercise entirely focused on cyber incident response. Mandated by Congress, these exercises are part of the Department’s ongoing efforts to assess and strengthen cyber preparedness, examine incident response processes, and enhance information sharing among federal, state, international, and private sector partners. Each Cyber Storm event builds on lessons learned from previous exercises and real world incidents, ensuring that participants address relevant and timely challenges.

Cyber Storm exercises give the cyber incident response community a safe venue to coordinate and practice plans, response mechanisms and recovery tasks, as well as to build and maintain relationships. Most importantly, the exercises provide the community with the opportunity to identify strengths and areas for improvement, incorporating those lessons into operations to help reduce cyber risks to the nation.

The high-level objectives of Cyber Storm VI include:

• Exercise the coordination mechanisms and evaluate the effectiveness of the National Cyber Incident Response Plan (NCIRP) in guiding response.
• Assess information sharing to include thresholds, paths, timeliness, usefulness of information shared, and barriers to sharing both internally and externally within the cyber incident response community.
• Continue to examine the role, functions, and capabilities of DHS as the Department coordinates with impacted entities during a cyber event.
• Provide a forum for exercise participants to exercise, evaluate, and improve the processes, procedures, interactions, and information sharing mechanisms within their organization or community of interest

Cyber Storm VI is scheduled for Spring 2018. The exercise will focus on the critical manufacturing and transportation sectors, with participation from the information technology and communications sectors; law enforcement, defense, and intelligence agencies; state, local, and territorial governments; and international partners. For more information, email cyberstorm@hq.dhs.gov.

To review the final reports from previous Cyber Storm exercises, visit https://www.dhs.gov/publication/cyber-storm-final-reports.

Public sentiment and discourse about Zika virus on Instagram

The Aedes aegypti mosquito spreads the Zika virus, as well as dengue fever and chikungunya.

Instagram can be used to identify incorrect information about health issues and help health professionals correct misleading or incomplete information. University of Pennsylvania researchers in the September 2017 issue of Public Health showed how using keywords or hashtags public health professionals can get real-time information about public preparedness and response to diseases.

The researchers used the keyword #zika to identify 500 images posted on Instagram from May to August 2016 about public sentiment on the Zika outbreak. They found that 60% of relevant posts included misleading, incomplete or unclear information about the virus and many images (51%) expressed fear and negative sentiment.

Of the 500 images tagged with #zika, 342 (68%) contained content actually related to Zika. Of the 342 images, 299 were coded as ‘health” and 193 were coded as ‘public interest’. 

Health images related mainly to transmission (43%) and prevention (48%). Transmission-related posts were more about mosquito-to-human transmission rather than human-to-human transmission. Mosquito bite prevention was more of a concern than safe sex prevention. The most targeted audience were women (36 of 38 images).

Images were coded by three reviewers who collected contextual information about sentiment, image type, content, audience, geography, reliability and engagement.

Reference: Seltzer, E.K., E. Horst-Martz, M. Lu, R.M. Merchant. (2017). Public sentiment and discourse about Zika virus on Instagram. Public Health. Vol. 150, pp. 170-175. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2017.07.015  Retrieved from http://www.publichealthjrnl.com/article/S0033-3506(17)30244-5/abstract

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/zika-virus-what-canadians-travellers-need-to-know-1.3424064 

Preparedness tips for a wildfire and for people with disabilities

Prepare Your Home for Wildfire

Where there is smoke, there could be fire! Wildfires can occur anywhere, any time of the year, and destroy homes, businesses, and natural resources. According to the National Fire Protection Association’s Firewise Communities Program, more than $1.9 billion was spent on wildfire suppression in 2016. However, you can prepare yourself, your business, and where you live in the event you may experience a wildfire emergency. Get started by: ·         Watching the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s wildfire animation – When the Fire Starts. ·         Reviewing your homeowner’s or renter’s insurance policy to ensure you have the adequate coverage for your property and personal belongings. ·         Removing flammable items, such as firewood piles and portable propane tanks, within 30 feet of all structures and discarding any dry or dead vegetation from up to 100 feet around your home. ·         Learning and practicing evacuation routes from your home or business to an area that is not affected by the wildfire. The best action to protect yourself and your family is to evacuate early and avoid being trapped.   Wildfires can occur any time of the year, but are especially prevalent during the dry season. Make sure you prepare ahead of time by checking out Prepareathon's How to Prepare for a Wildfire Guide.

Preparedness for Parents

Have you heard? National Parents’ Day is Sunday, July 23. In observance of this occasion, we encourage family members to help parents prepare for emergencies. Prepareathon and the Ready Campaign highlight several ways to prepare for the unexpected. Some of these actions include:  ·         Creating a family emergency communication plan - Your family may not be together when disaster strikes, so it is important to plan for how you will connect with each other. ·         Preparing infants and young children for emergencies - Learn the emergency plans for their daycare or school. ·         Getting college-age kids Campus Ready - Gather information on the emergency procedures for their school or dorm. ·         Practicing your emergency response plan - Making emergency plans is great, but practicing your plan by conducting drills will help your family’s response time when seconds count.  Disasters can be stressful for kids. Try to make emergency planning fun for children in your family. Visit www.ready.gov/kids for exciting games, quizzes, and other resources to help young children and teens understand the importance of emergency preparedness.

Preparedness for People with Disabilities and Others with Access and Functional Needs

The 27th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act is Wednesday, July 26. Individuals and caregivers for people with disabilities and others with access and functional needs are encouraged to evaluate their necessities in the event of an emergency and create an emergency plan unique to them. The Ready campaign shares several easy ways to create an emergency plan tailored for specific needs: ·         Collect information – Create a paper copy of the contact information including phone, email, and social media information for your family, friends, caregivers, neighbors and other important people or service providers. ·         Share your emergency plans – Tell your employer and trusted people in your support networks where you keep your emergency supplies, what you need, and how to contact you if the power goes out. ·         Practice Your Plan – Dedicate time to practice your emergency plan with your support network, just as you would with a fire drill. For more great information on how to make your emergency plan, visit Ready’s Individuals with Disabilities page.  This information is from the FEMA's Individual and Community Preparedness e-Brief  for July 20, 2017.

HSDL Critical Releases in Homeland Security [July 2017]

Every two weeks, the Homeland Security Digital Library identifies a targeted collection of recently-released documents of particular interest or potential importance. [Login to the HSDL is necessary to open some documents.*]

·         Bad Bots: The Weaponization of Social Media College of William and Mary; Project on International Peace and Security ·         Big Data: A Twenty-First Century Arms Race Atlantic Council of the United States. Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security; Thomson Reuters ·         Fentanyl: A Briefing Guide for First Responders United States. Drug Enforcement Administration ·         How Do Education and Unemployment Affect Support for Violent Extremism?: Evidence From Eight Arab Countries Brookings Institution. Global Economy and Development ·         How al-Qaeda Survived Drones, Uprisings, and the Islamic State: The Nature of the Current Threat Washington Institute for Near East Policy

The Homeland Security Digital Library (HSDL) is the nation’s premier collection of homeland security policy and strategy related documents. It supports local, state and federal analysis and decision-making needs and assists academics of all disciplines in homeland defense and security related research. The HSDL provides quick access to thousands of important U.S. policy documents, presidential directives, and national strategy documents as well as specialized resources such as theses and research reports from various universities, organizations and local and state agencies. *If you received this message and do not have an HSDL account, you may request one. Those with access are automatically subscribed to Critical Releases in Homeland Security.

Prepare your family financially for a disaster

Is Your Family Financially Prepared for a Natural Disaster? Developing plans and participating in drills are essential emergency preparedness activities. Taking steps to be financially prepared for an emergency is a critical activity in any planning effort. The Emergency Financial First Aid Kit (EFFAK), a joint publication from Operation Hope, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, contains information for you to prepare now for a financial emergency. The guide includes information on obtaining insurance, planning tips and resources to help you manage your finances, and accessing important records to help you recover more quickly should you be affected by a disaster. Financial Preparedness Resources ·         The EFFAK in English, Spanish, and a reader enabled English version that is fillable online. (2015 version) ·         An EFFAK overview slide presentation in English and Spanish. ·         EFFAK checklists and forms in standard and reader enabled/fillable versions. ·         Find out how prepared you are with the Disaster Financial Recovery Score from Operation Hope. ·         Watch this video from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau - Saving for Financial Shocks and Emergencies. Financial preparedness is one of the many ways to participate in Prepareathon. Register your preparedness actions today at www.ready.gov/prepare. Get Tech Ready How would you find out if there was an alert in your area? While watching television or listening to the radio may be effective, mobile technology and the Internet have become one of the quickest and most popular ways for Americans to receive emergency information instantly.  Smartphone alerts and warning apps can make it easier than ever for families, businesses, and individuals to effectively prepare for and recover from disasters. Visit the Ready Campaign’s Get Tech Ready page for tips, such as: ·         Sign up to receive preparedness tips from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) text message program: text PREPARE to 43362 (4FEMA). ·         Download the FEMA App to access disaster preparedness tips, obtain weather alerts for up to five locations, and look for open Disaster Recovery Centers along with open shelters.  ·         Store your important documents such as personal and financial records on a secure flash or jump drive that you can keep readily available. Take care of yourself and your loved ones by having preparedness at your fingertips. Learn more at www.ready.gov/get-tech-ready.   Prepare for Flash Flooding Flash floods happen quickly; it is important to recognize whether or not you live in an area prone to flash flooding and how you can prepare in advance. According to the National Weather Service, the causes of flash flooding include heavy rain, ice or debris jams, and levee or dam failure. These floods exhibit a rapid rise of water over low-lying areas. In some cases, flooding may even occur away from where heavy rain initially fell. Follow these tips from Ready.gov to make sure you, your family, and your home are prepared for a flash flood: ·         Know your flood risk. ·         Make a flood emergency plan. ·         Consider buying flood insurance. ·         Familiarize yourself with local emergency plans. Know where to go and how to get there should you need to get to higher ground, the highest level of a building, or to evacuate. ·         Stay tuned to your phone alerts, TV, or radio for weather updates, emergency instructions, or evacuation orders. For more flood safety information, download Prepareathon’s How to Prepare for a Flood guide. Important Dates to Remember ·         July 23-28: National Association of School Resource Officers Safe School Conference ·         July 31-August 1: Campus Safety Conference West ·         August 1: National Night Out Disclaimer: The reader recognizes that the federal government provides links and informational data on various disaster preparedness resources and events and does not endorse any non-federal events, entities, organizations, services, or products. Please let us know about other events and services for individual and community preparedness that could be included in future newsletters by contacting citizencorps@fema.dhs.gov.