Hurricane Exie slams Portsmouth (with virtual winds)

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Portsmouth officials review evacuation plans in the Emergency Operations Center.



When the Portsmouth Emergency Operations Center (EOC) started monitoring Hurricane Exie, it was a Cat 2 storm some 350 miles east of Brunswick, GA, but four days later, it was battering Rhode Island with sustained winds of over 100mph registered at Town Hall.

Fortunately, Hurricane Exie was a only a simulation.

But for the leaders of town departments who convened for a "tabletop" exercise at the Portsmouth fire station today, it seemed very real.

Chiefs and assistants from the Police and Fire Departments, the head of DPW, the Town Administrator and finance director, a representative from Portsmouth Water, and two EMA volunteers watched as Portsmouth Emergency Management director John King ran the Hurrevac software that marched the slow-moving storm up the coast. King rolled the simulation forward in six-hour increments and chaired "EOC meetings" as the town worked through its response.

It rapidly became obvious that a significant concern of everyone in the room was the north end.

"Almost 15% of the Town's population is in Island Park and Common Fence Point," said King, as participants surveyed FEMA flood maps and evacuation charts. With Island Park, the risk of storm surge and flooding is direct, King noted, but even the higher ground of Common Fence Point comes with a risk. "It effectively becomes an island."

And so, 48 hours ahead of the arrival of tropical-storm-force winds, the group began to consider evacuation plans. The official time projection for evacuating Newport County built into the software was 7 hours, King said, but noted that Portsmouth only takes about five. Still, with the time required for communication and mobilization, that puts the decision point well ahead of the arrival of the storm.

The group shared their obvious concerns. "It's been so long since we've had a major storm that people won't get out," said Town Administrator John Klimm. "Look at other locations around the country," said Police Chief Lance Hebert, citing North Carolina and Florida. "Even there, the majority of people only leave 12 hours before." One of the volunteers noted the added communication challenge presented by the events surrounding Irene last year.

"Studies show that a resident has to hear about the evacuation from three different sources before it really sinks in," said King. "Public education is our best tool to let people know we've dodged a few bullets but really bad things can happen in those two areas."

With the installation of the Town's new CodeRed "reverse 9-11" system — which should be operational soon — and a new Facebook page and web site set to be rolled out for Emergency Management, the group hoped that some of the need for advance information could be met. For those not as comfortable with technology, the non-emergency lines at both the Police and Fire departments would be staffed, ready to handle the anticipated influx of calls.

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Portsmouth EMA Director John King surveys the track of Hurricane Exie.

And as the simulation rolled forward to the day before the hurricane, the group made the decision to put out the evacuation order. "Effective at 6am tomorrow, unless you hear otherwise," said King. "We need to tell people to keep their eyes and ears open."

The group discussed the logistical challenges posed by Gaudet School in Middletown being designated as the new consolidated Red Cross shelter for Aquidneck Island. Unlike the shelter at PMS, the Red Cross will not allow animals at this location. "Pets are the number one reason people don't evacuate," said King. "I don't know how we address that at Gaudet." With less than 12 hours left on the clock, the group planned their internal communication options, discussed the 24-hour staffing of the EOC, and ticked off the touch points needed with the state and non-governmental organizations.

Then Hurricane Exie arrived. It seemed that the team had made a good call, as the storm tracked slightly east of earlier projections, bringing the area of strongest winds into line with Aquidneck Island. By the time the evacuation was complete, Rhode Island was beginning to experience tropical force winds. They picked up throughout the afternoon, knocking out telephone and internet and closing the bridges off the island.

"Where are the utility trucks?" asked Klimm.

"There are a half-dozen pre-staged at Turner Avenue," said Hebert.

Throughout the night, the storm continued to intensify, eventually knocking out even the public safety microwave links to the RIEMA headquarters. King noted the importance of having ham radios as backup.

After battering the island with 100+ mph winds for three hours, Exie began to drift off. With traffic lights out, and Hebert said they could ask for help from the National Guard, pre-positioned at the State Police Headquarters, as the DPW crews headed out to begin the cleanup. Although there was substantial wind damage across town, the hurricane's track meant that the storm surge missed the Sakonnet, and once again, Island Park and Common Fence Point escaped serious impact.

As the simulation wrapped up, the group was scribbling notes and planning next steps and additional meetings to finalize preparations.

Klimm called the session "really helpful." King expressed a note of cautious optimism. "It points out that we have a lot of work to do," he said, "But we have some action items."

Full disclosure: I am one of the EMA volunteers, and was a participant-observer in the exercise.