Community & RegionalResilience Institute

Community & RegionalResilience Institute

ORNL 2009-G00844/jcn

Southeast Region Research InitiativeCommunity and Regional Resilience Institute

National Security DirectorateP.O. Box 2008

Oak Ridge National LaboratoryOak Ridge, TN 37831-6242

www.serri.orgwww.ResilientUS.org

Creating ResilientCommunities:The Work of

SERRI and CARRI

Creating Resilient Communities:

The Work of SERRI and CARRI

September 2009

iii

CONTENTS

Page

INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................... 1

PREVENT AND PROTECT ......................................................................................................... 3

COMMUNITY RESILIENCE BEST-PRACTICES DOCUMENTS ................................... 4 Engaging Small Business: A Community Resilience Lesson from

Bartlett, Tennessee .................................................................................................. 4 Leading the Way: Increasing the Resilience of Local Government ....................... 5 “I’m Ready” Campaign Prepares Citizens for Various Disasters: A

Community Resilience Lesson from Shelby County, Tennessee ..................... 6

UNIVERSITY- AND LABORATORY-BASED PROJECTS ............................................... 7 Mississippi Groundwater, Surface Water, and Dam Inventory and

Vulnerability Assessment Tools ........................................................................... 7 Real-Time Detection of Chemicals and Biological Pathogens in Fluids ............... 8 Southeast Region Critical Infrastructure Protection Center Initiative .................. 8 Sensorpedia.................................................................................................................... 8 Nanoparticle Reinforced Composites for Critical Infrastructure

Protection ................................................................................................................. 9 Resilient Home Program............................................................................................ 10

COMMUNITY RESILIENCE RESEARCH ........................................................................ 11 Community Resilience: Lessons from New Orleans and Hurricane

Katrina .................................................................................................................... 11 Community Resilience: A Social Justice Perspective ............................................. 11

RESPOND..................................................................................................................................... 12

COMMUNITY RESILIENCE BEST-PRACTICES DOCUMENTS ................................. 13 Outreach, Capacity Building, and Post-Disaster Distribution of Goods

and Services to Low-Income Populations ......................................................... 13 Regional Hospital Collaboration on Disaster-Related Medical Care

Improves Overall Quality of Care ...................................................................... 14 Messages from “Elvis”—the Importance of Establishing a Response

Plan with Defined Responsibilities, Effective Communication, and Logistics ................................................................................................................. 15

Coordination of Volunteers and Donated Supplies in Disaster Response ......... 15 The Value of Text Messaging .................................................................................... 16

UNIVERSITY- AND LABORATORY-BASED PROJECTS ............................................. 17 Rapid Repair of Levee Breach ................................................................................... 17 Disaster Response Intelligent System ...................................................................... 18 Regional Emergency Planning Model for Continuous Disaster

Mitigation Response............................................................................................. 18

iv

COMMUNITY RESILIENCE RESEARCH ........................................................................ 19 Disaster Response: Research Findings and Their Implications for

Resilience Measures ............................................................................................. 19

RECOVER ..................................................................................................................................... 20

COMMUNITY RESILIENCE BEST-PRACTICES DOCUMENTS ................................. 22 Community Resilience and Rapid Recovery of the Business Sector ................... 22 Community Forum Mayors’ Panel: Critical Leadership Skills for

Community Resilience ......................................................................................... 22 Building Local Capacity in Key Disaster Recovery Skills ..................................... 23 Prepare for Rapid Needs Evaluation and Assignment of Resources .................. 24 Getting Nongovernment- and Faith-Based Organizations to the Table ............. 25 Leadership and Mission in Resilient Organizations: Hancock Bank as a

Case Study ............................................................................................................. 25 Local Philanthropic Organization Administers State Recovery Fund ................ 26 Organizational Resilience: Mississippi Power as a Case Study ........................... 27

COMMUNITY RESILIENCE RESEARCH ........................................................................ 28 Comparing Ecological and Human Community Resilience ................................. 28 Resilience in the Face of Global Environmental Change ...................................... 28 The Natural and Built Environments: Understanding the Relationships

among Natural and Man-made Systems in Disaster Recovery ..................... 29 The Importance of Mental Health to Community Resilience ............................... 30 Methods and Measurement in the Study of Resilience ......................................... 30 Recovery Planning and Predictive Modeling ......................................................... 31

Introduction

1

The Southeast Region Research Initiative (SERRI) together with the Community and Regional Resilience Institute (CARRI) have mounted a groundbreaking campaign to understand the dynamics of community resilience and to develop a national framework that will help communities anticipate and mitigate the conditions provoked by disasters, thus affording them a more rapid recovery. No factor is more critical in lessening the impact of a disaster than the speed with which the community recovers, as well as the quality of that recovery. Faster recovery reduces environmental and property damage, economic loss, and most importantly, the negative impact on the lives of humans.

The results of SERRI/CARRI’s work to understand community resilience are available now to assist communities, leaders, and policy makers at all levels in understanding and implementing policies and procedures that protect citizens, communities, and regions against severe disruptions. The following is a summary of SERRI/CARRI work and its potential application to various elements of communities’ risk management actions.

Current Presidential directives, policy documents, the National Preparedness Guidelines, the National Response Framework, and National Incident Management System and operational and implementing documents are consistently built around a continuum of actions which communities may undertake in order to manage their risk: preparation, response, and recovery. Planning and training activities help undergird the continuum at various levels of government—as a nation, we train to it, we exercise it,

and we fund it. We prepare to respond with the inherent assumption that if we are prepared to respond quickly, efficiently, and effectively, then recovery will follow naturally.

This risk management approach has provided the nation with a fairly robust system for incident response and short-term recovery for most disasters that is reasonably well understood and well functioning. However, it is not sufficient to realize the greater community resilience capability that would amplify the impact of effective response and enlarge the preparedness mindset to focus on deliberate preparation for recovery.

This changed view expands and adapts the traditional risk management construct from its emphasis on preparing to respond to a broader paradigm that emphasizes preparing to recover—not just

The results of SERRI/CARRI’s work to understand and improve community resilience are available now to assist leaders and policy makers at all levels in enhancing the resilience of our communities and nation.

Community resilience promotes a broad view of community risk management that emphasizes “preparing to recover”— recovery of the normal rhythms, functions, and capacities of everyday life. SERRI and CARRI encompass a wide range of activities:

• working with partner communities to implement and document community resilience best practices;

• supporting laboratory- and university-based community resilience enhancement projects, and

• sponsoring academic studies of community resilience theory and science.

Introduction

2

recovering functional power and water supplies, for example, but recovery of the normal rhythms, functions, and capacities of everyday life. This expanded paradigm reflects a more complete continuum—prevention (including mitigation), protection, response, and recovery (both short and long term)—and more properly understands “preparedness” as a foundational attitude of every phase of the continuum.

This paradigm envisions community disaster resilience as the outcome of applying this evolved and expanded continuum (Fig. 1).

Fig 1. Community Resilience and the Amplified Risk Management Continuum.

Since forming, SERRI and CARRI have generated significant research, white papers, workshops, resilience enhancement projects, guidelines, and tools to assist communities in self-assessing and working toward a state of resilience in methodical, systematic ways. In addition to SERRI’s national research agenda, CARRI’s direct work in three test communities has provided valuable practical insights about ways to make communities more effective in disaster response and recovery. These insights have been achieved by working in partnership at the local grassroots level in a broad-based manner that is inclusive of all elements of the community fabric—governmental, private business, associational, nonprofit, and faith based—rather than top driven by the federal government.

A selected summary of SERRI’s and CARRI‘s work is presented below, organized by the categories of the risk management continuum: prevention and protection, response, and recovery. Following a brief discussion of resilience in each phase of risk management, we describe what resilience “looks like” in that phase and provide summaries of selected community resilience best-practices documents, university- and laboratory-based projects, and research papers that address issues for that risk management phase. For more complete information on either SERRI’s or CARRI’s work in these areas or for additional information on the projects and papers summarized, please see the websites, Uwww.serri.orgU (SERRI) or Uwww.resilientus.comU (CARRI).

Prevent and Protect

3

Mayor Joseph Riley of Charleston, South Carolina, has observed that effective daily community functions and effective disaster preparedness share a certain intrinsic relationship:

When talking about the full range of disaster possibilities—hurricanes, earthquakes, medical disasters—disasters accelerate trends that are already in place. That is to say that a community that is working to strengthen itself is, without realizing it, preparing for a disaster. Every day a community is working hard to become stronger; it is, among other things, preparing itself to deal with disasters.....You don’t get ready for a disaster the day before.....We must keep sharpening our tools.

The heart of enhanced community resilience is the recognition that activities which can better prepare a community to deal with disastrous events are also activities that increase a community’s daily functional capacity to meet the needs of its citizens, contributing to a higher quality of life. Though unknown events will most likely attend any disaster, many consequences can be anticipated and tools to deal with them sharpened in advance. Thus, in working toward greater community resilience, actions which can prevent and protect take on even greater significance.

Data from research in communities that have endured disasters point to many prevention and protection activities that can be undertaken to eliminate consequences or contribute to a faster recovery. Prevention is defined by the Department of Homeland Security in the DHS Lexicon (as cited in Guide to Emergency Management and Related Terms, Definitions, Concepts, Acronyms, Organizations, Programs, Guidance, Executive Orders & Legislation: A Tutorial on Emergency Management, Broadly Defined, Past and Present by B. Wayne Blanchard, hereafter referred to as Blanchard 2007) as “prescribed actions and measures put in place to impede the success of a natural or man-made disaster from adversely affecting the safety, security, or continuity of the Nation, critical infrastructures, its citizens, and citizens’ civil rights or civil liberties.“ The DHS Lexicon defines protection as “actions or measures taken to cover or shield from exposure, injury, or destruction.” In general, prevention may be used to refer to actions aimed at eliminating the threat or hazard, while protection is applied to more “defensive” tactics which reduce the vulnerabilities of a community, entity, or organization to impact or disturbance.

From the standpoint of community resilience, prevention and protection activities should not be limited to public sector activities or thought of as a solely “government” function. A resilient community will ensure that steps are taken across the entire community to prevent disastrous impacts and to protect the public (insofar as possible). Prevention and protection must include the “full fabric” of the community.

Examples of resilient prevention and protection may include working with local planning authorities to ensure that building and development occur outside of high-hazard flood areas or that protective zoning is used to restrain development in coastal or marshland areas. Resilient communities will also look at preventative measures addressing more resilient structures and infrastructures. A community that commits itself to building resilient homes that can better withstand the particular disasters it

Prevent and Protect

4

confronts will have a much easier time in providing post-disaster housing—a necessity for economic and social functioning.

To help prevent economic loss and protect a community’s economic base, community leaders should carefully plan with the private sector to understand what will be required to keep vital business and industry functioning or return to functioning as rapidly as possible following a disaster. Expanding their awareness of the need for Business Continuity Planning can prevent the community as a whole from enduring unnecessary, anticipatable losses, protecting the community from “cascading” effects flowing from disasters where the lack of understanding of supply chains and need for backup plans can cause several businesses to struggle toward recovery.

Resilient communities will also work with nonprofits and community service organizations to protect the needs of vulnerable populations, allowing the community as a whole to recover in a quicker, less costly fashion. Those that have preestablished agreements with other communities to deal with evacuees will show additional resilience through these protective steps.

CARRI and SERRI have directed academic and applied research to develop tools and processes which enhance communities’ resilience through both prevention and protective strategies. The following sections contain abstracts from selected (1) community resilience best practices documented from our partners, (2) university- and laboratory-based projects that support community resilience, and (3) academic research papers that address prevention and protection aspects of community resilience. More information on each of these abstracted works, as well as additional projects and papers, may be found on the SERRI and CARRI websites.

COMMUNITY RESILIENCE BEST-PRACTICES DOCUMENTS

Engaging Small Business: A Community Resilience Lesson from Bartlett, Tennessee

Planning for the worst can easily make its way to the bottom of a small business’s priority list; in the rigors of day-to-day operations and scarce resources, developing a business continuity plan just doesn’t seem important.

• Disasters accelerate trends already in place.

• Community resilience helps communities bounce back from disasters while also increasing communities’ capacity to meet the daily needs of their citizens, thus contributing to a higher quality of life.

• Protection and prevention must include the “full fabric” of the community (government, private sector, and nonprofits).

Prevent and Protect

5

Many small businesses have learned though that it’s not a matter of IF but WHEN disaster will strike. A well-defined business continuity plan can be an invaluable asset, allowing small businesses to endure disasters and to bounce back quickly with minimal disruption in cash flow.

Business continuity planning is essential for building local economic resilience. By anticipating and planning for potential disruptions, businesses minimize downtime during a disaster, help the local economy, and maximize their ability to contribute to community relief efforts. Though recognized as a critical aspect of community resilience, continuity planning often is not practiced—especially among small businesses. Local chambers of commerce can serve as natural conduits for helping small businesses overcome educational, communications, and networking barriers to implementing effective continuity plans.

Leading the Way: Increasing the Resilience of Local Government Local governments by their very nature are central to community resiliency. With

seats in the epicenter of any given disaster, they are the default first responders. Further, local governments are positioned to take a broad view of their communities. They have a vested interest in thinking beyond the emergency response phase and through the implications of proposed short-term actions on long-term recovery. Long after FEMA officials return to Washington and the Red Cross packs up its tents, local personnel are tending to community wounds that go much deeper than the initial response period.

The Town of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, for more than two decades, has seen local government’s role in disaster mitigation, response, and recovery as being central. They encourage local communities to be as self-sufficient as possible, cautioning against overreliance on federal and other outside assistance. In facing a disaster, the better prepared the community, the quicker and more effective the response, so the community will rebound faster. A well-prepared community is better able to make use of all resources, both internal and external. When outside help does arrive, the community can engage it more effectively.

Senior leaders from the Town of Mount Pleasant offer practical steps local governments can take to help ensure self-sufficiency and readiness in the face of catastrophe, such as sister city mutual aid agreements, donation distribution through existing local networks, and governing under a worst-case scenario plan. They believe that information sharing and networking with peers and others in the field, through venues such as CARRI, are key to helping local governments break the cycle of entitlement and inaction.

• Business continuity planning is essential for building local economic resilience.

• A well-defined business

continuity plan allows businesses to endure disaster(s) and bounce back quickly with minimal disruption in cash flow.

• Local chambers of commerce

can serve as natural conduits for helping businesses implement effective continuity plans.

Prevent and Protect

6

As the necessary first responders to any disaster, local governments must take an active leadership role in improving community resiliency. A resilient community does not wait for outside direction or support in the face of disaster; rather, it proactively takes the necessary steps pre-disaster that will allow maximum bounce-back after a disruption, with minimum dependence on external sources. When seconds count, waiting for the cavalry to arrive can equate to needless loss of life and property.

“I’m Ready” Campaign Prepares Citizens for Various Disasters: A Community Resilience Lesson from Shelby County, Tennessee

In 2006, a study by the American Disaster Preparedness Foundation (ADPF) evaluated the preparedness of the top 20 metro areas in the United States, and Memphis ranked 29th out of 30 markets. The Memphis/Shelby County urban area likely could experience an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.0 or greater in the next 50 years and has already experienced upwards of 200 tremors yearly. Based on the ADPF study, it was clear that the area needed a readiness campaign to help its citizens prepare for a potential disaster.

With the convening help of Assisi Foundation of Memphis, eight mayors from the Memphis urban area reached consensus and clearly recognized that the readiness campaign had to be a community-wide effort, spanning multiple jurisdictions. Research indicated that across socioeconomic lines the community had little, if any, preparedness.

A readiness campaign was officially launched in the fall of 2008 with Sesame Street promotional materials designed to reach out to children and families with children. Other outreach and informational materials that were developed include a website (Uwww.readyshelby.orgU), public service announcements aired by area television stations, a calendar showcasing monthly preparedness activities, and a preparedness kit that

includes a CD and booklet. Following the preparedness launch, a marketing firm, Hemline Creative Marketing, was brought onboard to further refine the “I’m Ready” website and continue developing the campaign objectives with the project team. A follow-up survey will be undertaken to measure the campaign’s effectiveness.

Prevent and Protect

7

A successful readiness campaign to prepare citizens for an emergency must involve all facets of the community—from government to chambers of commerce, to private sector businesses, to nonprofits—with one organization or person keeping the initiative moving forward. It is important to design an emergency response system from the bottom up that includes everyone from children to adults and that employs seasonal, targeted messaging to help people take action and avoid anxiety and fear. Reaching the community in a variety of ways, using clear and simple messages, is the key to an effective campaign.

UNIVERSITY- AND LABORATORY-BASED PROJECTS

Mississippi Groundwater, Surface Water, and Dam Inventory and Vulnerability Assessment Tools

Continued availability of key groundwater, surface water, and dam resources is essential for maintaining the U.S. public health and economic well-being. Risk-based vulnerability assessments of surface water and groundwater resources are required to identify and reduce risks, prioritize resources, develop emergency response plans, and guide disaster recovery efforts.

This research project has developed GIS-based vulnerability assessment tools that can be used to assess risk for dams and for groundwater and surface water resources in the state of Mississippi. Over 95% of Mississippians rely on groundwater for drinking water from over 3,400 public water supply wells and over 60,000 private drinking water wells. Additionally, groundwater and surface water are used for agricultural and industrial purposes.

The vulnerability assessment tools developed by this project for Mississippi can easily be customized and applied to other states. The tools are highly flexible and scalable and can be used to support a variety of applications such as water resource planning and protection; environmental protection; floodplain assessments; emergency response planning; and evaluation and prioritization of vulnerability activities.

Successful Disaster Readiness Campaigns

• Involve all facets of the community—from government to chambers of commerce, to private sector businesses, to nonprofits

• Plan from the bottom up—including everyone from children to adults—and employ seasonal, targeted messaging built on research-based understanding of local needs and preferences

Prevent and Protect

8

Real-Time Detection of Chemicals and Biological Pathogens in Fluids Bacterial and viral agents of natural agricultural or bioterror origin can be easily

transported and widely dispersed to the populations of numerous locations simultaneously. Rapid detection of these threats is of critical importance to food and water safety, public health, and the socioeconomic well-being of the nation.

This research project has developed a field-deployable biosensor capable of detecting specific bacterial and viral agents. The biosensor is versatile enough to examine water and agriculture samples as well as suspensions of suspicious solids.

The biosensor developed through this research has a wide range of applications for multiple homeland security operations and practitioners. It is capable of detecting a broad range of bacteria that cause food- and water-borne illnesses and those listed as potential biological threats. The device can be used to support operations and fill capability gaps in border security, law enforcement, fire and rescue, and other homeland security operations.

Southeast Region Critical Infrastructure Protection Center Initiative The nation’s critical infrastructure is largely dependent on cyber physical systems

which control industrial processes from operator consoles based on desktop computers with traditional commercial operating systems. These systems run commercial software packages known as human machine interfaces (HMI). Effective and reliable cyber security surveillance of these control systems is vitally important to industrial operations and to infrastructure protection.

A unique control system security laboratory has been developed as a key component of the Critical Infrastructure Protection Center to test the security HMI software packages. This laboratory is also designed with the capability to evaluate the overall security of components used in industrial control systems (also known as supervisory control and data acquisition systems, or SCADA systems).

Vulnerabilities discovered in critical infrastructure software are reported to the Department of Homeland Security, Central Intelligence Agency, National Nuclear Security Administration, and to the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team. The project has also uncovered vulnerabilities and serious flaws in an HMI package used to support critical infrastructure functions at the Pentagon. Other HMI packages with suspected vulnerabilities are also being investigated. The research has also been used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to help locate and arrest a hacker attempting to control a hospital HVAC system in Dallas, Texas.

Sensorpedia Getting the right information to the right individual at the right time remains a key

challenge for effective preparedness, response, and recovery. With instrumented measurement and networked surveillance of the national and global infrastructure and

This field-deployable biosensor can be used to support operations and fill capability gaps in border security, law enforcement, fire and rescue, and other homeland security operations.

Prevent and Protect

9

environment growing at a rapid pace, vast amounts of data are being collected. However, with all that these rich data sets can reveal, the problems of interoperability and information within the homeland security community is a challenge.

Sensorpedia combines familiar and commonly available social networking technologies with proven cyber security technologies to simplify sensor interoperability while preserving the integrity, security, authenticity, and provenance of sensor information. It provides a tool for near real-time collaboration among homeland security communities that need to share information for public health and safety, emergency preparedness and response, and general community awareness and outreach. Sensorpedia uses Web 2.0 principles so communities, individuals, and enterprises can find, publish, and subscribe to sensor information online. Sensorpedia consists of web services that are designed to accept and publish data using

established standards such as ATOM and GeoRSS. The Sensorpedia user interface is designed to allow extensions by third parties. Sensorpedia provides easy access to information and improves interoperability among federal, regional, and state agencies that need to communicate quickly and effectively.

Nanoparticle Reinforced Composites for Critical Infrastructure Protection

Protecting the nation’s critical infrastructure and key resources against terrorist attacks and natural disasters is vital to national security, homeland security, public safety, economic vitality, and way of life. There is a need to develop efficient, cost-effective techniques to strengthen, reinforce, and to retrofit existing structures against blasts, fire, earthquakes, and other threats.

The focus of this project is to create nanoparticle reinforced composites for blast and fire protection. The project provides computational tools for the assessment of building damage with or without retrofitting.

These tools can be used for the purpose of planning and demonstrating evacuation strategies during an emergency event. The nanoparticle reinforced composite materials can be used to retrofit government buildings/facilities, bridges, tunnels, pipelines, power and communication transmission and other critical infrastructures. The products of this research will impact preparedness, response, recovery, and resilience in the event of terrorist attacks, natural disasters, and other emergencies.

Sensorpedia

• Combines familiar and commonly available social networking technologies with proven cyber security technologies

• Preserves the integrity, security, authenticity, and provenance of sensor information

• Provides a tool for near real-time collaboration

• Uses Web 2.0 principles

• Provides easy access to information and improves interoperability

Prevent and Protect

10

Resilient Home Program The goal of the Resilient Home

Program is to develop and market a cost-effective national or regional (southeastern United States) certification program to ensure the higher performance of buildings during natural disasters. The overall benefit of such a program is the minimization of spending by federal, state, and local governments; insurance industries; consumers; and others after a disaster. Other key benefits are minimizing property damage; increasing asset value because of a higher performance in disaster; reducing waste to landfills; reducing human suffering; creating healthier and safer living conditions for occupants; minimizing dislocation required from damaged homes; and qualifying for tax rebates, zoning allowances, and other financial incentives.

The information and results obtained from this study will foster the development of best practices in construction and design. These best practices, if followed, will allow homes to earn certificates for certain natural disasters if they meet appropriate “disaster mitigation guidelines.” The developed program will be analogous to existing green building programs such as LEED-H, Energy Star, NAHB Green Building, etc., and will provide a common framework for best management practices for homes, especially those in natural disaster areas. Major elements of our certification program include

considerations for site, location, and land use; foundations, wall systems, and roof systems; and fenestration.

Partners in this program include Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Savannah River National Laboratory, Clemson University, the Army Corps of Engineering Research Laboratory, Tuskegee University, and North Carolina State University. Collaborators include Mississippi State University and Cross Creek High School in Augusta, Georgia.

Prevent and Protect

11

COMMUNITY RESILIENCE RESEARCH

Community Resilience: Lessons from New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina

This report examines the vulnerability and resilience in New Orleans, both throughout its history and after Hurricane Katrina. The study highlights the anticipation of a major hurricane like Katrina and examines the risks that were not addressed, such as disrupted funding to the Corps of Engineers, which left levees incomplete and construction standards for flooding that were not met.

Also examined are the problems that arose during and immediately following the crisis, including disrupted communication and transportation; overwhelmed institutional response and confusion; and the inability of aid and funding to reach those in need. The report also looks at the lessons learned in order to help New Orleans and other communities understand and better prepare themselves for recovery from future disasters.

Community Resilience: A Social Justice Perspective This study addresses the key social factors that make a community vulnerable and

identifies changes which will help them become more resilient. The study shows that issues such as economic status, ethnicity, gender, and education level play a tremendous role in a community's ability to be resilient, and that a community is only as resilient as its weakest link. The report shows that in order to change and become resilient, communities must (1) address their education, employment, and housing vulnerabilities; (2) find ways to reach high-risk populations, which include disseminating information in different languages and at various reading levels, as well as using existing community networks such as women's groups and church networks, and communicating to extended families of ethnic minorities through children; and (3) have civic participation at all levels and permanent and sufficient funding sources to be truly resilient.

Respond

12

The response phase of the expanded risk management continuum is undoubtedly the phase of risk management that is most often thought of first in disaster management. The Department of Homeland Security, in its Capstone Doctrine (as cited in Blanchard 2007), defines response operations as those

taken in advance of and upon the onset of an incident to save lives, protect property, and meet basic human needs. They are tiered efforts designed to be managed at the lowest possible jurisdictional level and supported by additional response capabilities when needed.

Response has historically been thought to consist largely of public sector activities that focus on stabilizing a system that has experienced the trauma associated with a disaster.

While many of the activities associated with response are, of necessity, public sector functions, a resilient community’s response plan will also include the private and non-governmental sectors: critical industries, utilities, privately operated hospitals and critical care facilities, community service providers, education institutions, etc. As in prevention and protection, the “full fabric” of the community should be acknowledged and included in disaster response planning. Resilient response operations take the immediate actions to protect property and save lives within a deliberate plan that is focused on actions supporting the entire community’s rapid return to normal life and functions.

For example, resilient communities may use guaranteed and mutual aid agreements with extra-community resources (e.g., public and private utilities, transportation services) to greatly accelerate restoration of basic services—a necessity for swift community economic and social recovery. The response of resilient communities will also use preestablished plans for managing post-disaster cleanup (e.g., debris removal) and for providing the range of citizen services required in immediate disaster aftermath. The response of resilient communities may also involve local medical providers in planning for increased demand for such things as post-disaster medical care and the establishment of additional emergency or triage centers. Such resilient actions could include implementing a well-planned coordination of volunteer efforts, including active involvement by the national, state, and local Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster activating regional food banks, providing homeless shelters, or plans for working with large-scale relief organizations such as the Red Cross and Salvation Army.

Resilient communities clearly anticipate robust integration of and partnership among emergency managers and key nonprofits and private sector organizations, including them in planning, training, and practice drills so that each may fully understand the roles, assets, resources, and limitations that their partners can bring to post-disaster operations. The goal of response should be to take coordinated steps toward stabilizing the community with a special eye on returning to normal functional capacity as rapidly as possible.

CARRI and SERRI have directed academic and applied research to develop tools and processes which enhance communities’ resilience through response strategies. The following section contains abstracts from selected (1) community resilience best practices documented

Resilient response operations take immediate actions to protect property and save lives within a deliberate plan that supports the entire community’s rapid return to normal life and functions.

Respond

13

from our community partners; (2) university- and laboratory-based projects that support community resilience, and (3) academic research papers which address response measures related to community resilience. More information on each of these abstracted works, as well as additional projects and papers, may be found on the SERRI and CARRI websites.

COMMUNITY RESILIENCE BEST-PRACTICES DOCUMENTS

Outreach, Capacity Building, and Post-Disaster Distribution of Goods and Services to Low-Income Populations

While disasters are synonymous with destruction, disasters can also stimulate the creation of new grassroots organizations that have an enduring and pervasive presence in a community. Hurricane Hugo was the stimulus for the formation of East Cooper Community Outreach (ECCO), an organization that provides community support services to disadvantaged populations. Twenty years after its founding, ECCO has grown and continues to serve the community through a broad mission that improves daily quality of life and enhances local disaster resilience. Through direct aid and partnerships, ECCO distributes food, clothing, and household furnishings. It also provides emergency financial aid; medical, dental, and pharmaceutical care; free counseling; referral services; and educational programs (including GED instruction) designed to break the cycle of poverty.

ECCO, recognized as an innovative and highly effective organization, is a model for other communities. One of its greatest strengths is serving as a unifying organization for churches in the area. Churches have been long recognized as agencies dedicated to good works, but they often are an untapped resource when it comes to coordinating efforts with government and other nonprofit organizations. ECCO harnesses the churches’ volunteers to this end, adding valuable resources through planned and coordinated efforts. As the coordinating agency, ECCO assists churches and other organizations in developing disaster preparedness plans. By organizing the churches into community clusters, the churches have developed plans for providing relief services in their own neighborhoods. ECCO works with the church

• Disaster response can stimulate the creation of grassroots organizations that have an enduring and pervasive presence in a community.

• Engagement of grassroots response organizations can improve daily quality of life and enhance local disaster resilience.

• Churches and other faith-based organizations are untapped resources in coordinating efforts with government and other nonprofit organizations.

Respond

14

clusters to help them identify specific community needs and assess their strengths and capacities. A robust network of supportive services for those in need built at the grassroots level during times of normalcy provides the structure, mechanisms, and trust needed to assist those in need during times of disaster. To accomplish this, local government and grassroots and faith-based organizations must partner. Communities looking to harness the power of their local faith-based organizations will find in ECCO a useful model.

Regional Hospital Collaboration on Disaster-Related Medical Care Improves Overall Quality of Care

The negative impact on a community that fails to plan, train, and prepare for a coordinated response to a disaster is obvious. National health care organizations, such as the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, require that hospitals and other health care organizations develop community-wide disaster response plans where all health

care provider organizations partner to ensure the efficient use of limited resources. In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, an effort began to bring the Charleston/Tri-County health care community together to plan cooperatively. To undertake the collaboration, the Tri-County area established a council made up of representatives from each area hospital. These included emergency preparedness officials, a representative appointed by each hospital’s chief executive officer (CEO), local EMS, other local emergency management directors, and public

health organization representatives. The hospital CEOs’ representatives meet quarterly, and the hospital disaster preparedness representatives meet more often. Of critical importance was establishing the Regional Hospital Coordinating Center, a location from which the hospitals can coordinate during a disaster. Among the areas the collaboration focused on are responder safety; information management; coordinating diverse operating systems; resolving intergovernmental issues; providing medical asset support; addressing time constraints; and incorporating health and medical facilities into the public safety response system, specifically the Incident Management System.

With signed memorandums of understanding to share resources, health care providers now realize the value of inter-hospital collaboration, including economic savings and greater efficiencies through shared resources and shared training under one regional plan. The collaboration has enhanced the region’s resilience by improving the medical community’s ability to understand and assess the region’s needs during a natural disaster or other incident. Progress has been made in eliminating duplication, streamlining

A medical community that sets aside competition to collaborate on region-wide disaster planning reaps daily rewards:

• efficiencies,

• cost savings,

• improved public-health disaster preparedness, and

• overall quality of public health.

Respond

15

systems, and providing standardization. A medical community that sets aside competition to collaborate on region-wide disaster planning reaps daily rewards, including efficiencies, cost savings, improved public-health disaster preparedness, and overall quality of public health. This health collaborative provides helpful examples of how other communities can achieve greater resilience through the collaborative planning and partnering.

Messages from “Elvis”—the Importance of Establishing a Response Plan with Defined Responsibilities, Effective Communication, and Logistics

In 2003 when a thunderstorm with straight-line winds exceeding 100 miles per hour (the level of a Category 2 hurricane) hit the Memphis/Shelby County urban area, the community had only 15 minutes’ notice to prepare for what is now known as Hurricane Elvis. The storm left 10 million pounds of debris, $32 million of damage, and 82% of the residents without utilities. It took the county 11 days to return services and businesses operations to a normal level. The community used the experience with Hurricane Elvis as a learning opportunity, recognizing that preparation and planning are vitally important to ensure their resilience. Following the impact of Hurricane Elvis, Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) adopted the National Incident Management System (NIMS) as its approach to coordinate the response disruptions.

From what was learned during Hurricane Elvis, MLGW now knows the levels of effort it can handle internally and the levels requiring outside resources. Plans are in place to estimate the resources necessary to contract with outside crews based on disaster severity. In addition, MLGW has established Memorandums of Understanding and other agreements and partnerships to ensure the proper assistance.

Communication and logistics during a disaster are critical; plans must be in place to foster communication and handle logistics, and then those plans must be followed. To recover quickly and efficiently from a disaster, a community should develop (1) a recovery plan that clearly defines responsibilities and (2) a list of restoration priorities that shows the services and areas taking precedence during the response and recovery period. In addition, communities desiring to ensure greater resilience in their business sectors should be fortified before disaster strikes by ensuring that (1) larger businesses prepare continuity plans and (2) the right partnerships and agreements are in place.

Coordination of Volunteers and Donated Supplies in Disaster Response One important lesson from the Gulfport

community’s post-Katrina experience is that communities and regions need to have clear systems in place to coordinate volunteer services and distribute donated supplies in the aftermath of a disaster. Some 20,000 volunteers began arriving on the Mississippi Gulf Coast immediately after the storm offering a wide range of assistance, from clearing debris and making repairs to providing medical care and disbursing clothes and supplies. However, the community lacked a comprehensive

Respond

16

plan or system for matching outside expertise and supplies with local needs. The result was a situation in which volunteers were not always able to assist in a targeted and efficient manner those in greatest need of their skills and resources.

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina catalyzed a wide range of activities within the Gulfport community to coordinate volunteer services and disburse donated supplies immediately after a disaster. Within 2 months after the storm, the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Services began working on the issue of volunteer coordination and asked the United Way to assume a leadership role.

For volunteers involved in long-term recovery, two independent volunteer service coordination centers are now in place—Volunteer Gulf Coast and Hands on Gulf Coast. Volunteer Gulf Coast is associated with the United Way of South Mississippi and utilizes the web site 1-800-Volunteer.org as its volunteer management system to place and manage volunteers. Hands on Gulf Coast, a program of Points of Light Institute, also works with Katrina recovery volunteers and manages construction projects and other efforts.

At the state level, Governor Haley Barbour established the Mississippi Hurricane Recovery Fund to serve as the state’s central clearinghouse for corporations, organizations, and individuals to make financial donations to assist Mississippians through the long-term recovery from Katrina and future hurricane-related disasters.

After Katrina, the city of Gulfport established the Hurricane Emergency Logistics Providers (HELP) Team to coordinate the logistics of donated resources provided to Gulfport for its employees, citizens, and the city itself after a declared disaster. The HELP Team is responsible for developing and updating an after-storm resource guide with profiles and contact information of organizations (federal, state, nongovernmental, faith based, etc.) that have capacity or expertise to help the city and its citizens in the wake of a future disaster.

The Mississippi State Chapter of Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (MSVOAD) was also established after Katrina and serves as an umbrella organization to bring about better collaboration among nonprofits and state and federal agencies. One goal is to facilitate access to available resources and services so that the people of Mississippi affected by a disaster receive effective services.

The Value of Text Messaging During Hurricane Katrina, even though savvy young texters were sending messages—and

other cellular systems were faithfully sending those messages to their final destination—not every recipient had the requisite knowledge to open, view, or respond to texts. Only a few years ago, texting was considered the province of teenagers sending messages to one another in classrooms. Even in this post-Katrina era, people under the age of 24 are twice as likely to send text messages as those who are over 30. This message gap becomes greater as age increases. A national poll conducted the month before Katrina struck revealed that only 37% of American

Respond

17

cell phone subscribers with textable handsets had ever sent or received a text message. No data exists that would indicate what percentage of South Mississippians had texted prior to Katrina making landfall—or even what percentage owned text-capable phones at that time. However, a good bet would be that no more than a third of cellular subscribers on the Coast were text savvy on Monday, August 29, 2005. By the following Friday, however, folks in South Mississippi and Southeast Louisiana who had access to a text-capable phone had become part of the “thumb generation.” These experiences indicate that text messaging has become a valuable tool in post-disaster recovery.

Most texting systems in North America are Short Message Service (SMS) systems. SMS-enabled cell phones access a cellular system’s Short Message Service Center (SMSC) via the “control channel” cell phones use to communicate with cell towers. The control channel requires less power and bandwidth than the discrete “send and receive” channels that allow cell phones to make voice calls. Text messages are sent out on the control channel in short bursts of limited size and duration. SMS is a store-and–forward system, so messages sent from a particular subscriber’s handset in the form of data “packets” are stored in the SMSC until the intended recipient’s handset is on and in range of a cellular tower. Messages can be stored for days, pending delivery, as long as the SMSC has continuous power. During periods when regular call volumes are high, SMS systems can slow down and message delivery can lag minutes or even hours behind initial sending. However, because SMS data packets are small, they can fill “gaps” in regular call activity that are too small for voice transmissions.

With a more robust technical architecture now in place, both the public and civil authorities can contemplate the full range of uses text messaging can offer in the event of a major storm or

other disruption in the region. The added benefit of emergency broadcast texting is its ability to reach the hearing impaired audience currently ill served by Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) radio and television announcements. Second, emergency management officials can establish real-time databases of texts between operation

centers and first responders in the field. Not only does texting provide average citizens the ability to be in contact with friends and family members, SMS could also aid pre- and post-disaster communication efforts in a number of vital ways.

UNIVERSITY- AND LABORATORY-BASED PROJECTS

Rapid Repair of Levee Breach Breaches in levees can cause severe flooding leading to a catastrophic disaster. Once a levee

is breached, time becomes an important factor in emergency response, evacuations, protecting critical infrastructures, and in getting permanent repairs completed. A system that can provide

The added benefit of emergency broadcast texting is its ability to reach the hearing impaired audience currently ill served by Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) radio and television announcements.

Respond

18

a temporary, quick fix in hours rather than days can tremendously reduce the loss of life and property damage during emergency response operations.

This research has generated a novel device and approach for rapid levee repair that has never been attempted before. The device is a specialized fabric tube that can be moved to a breach site by helicopter or barge and then inflated with water and air. Referred to as PLUGs (Portable Lightweight Universal Gaskets), the tube should greatly reduce the required logistics footprint for levee repair. Provided the concepts are proven out with further testing on a full-scale level, the new technologies under development to refine deployment methods should allow helicopters or barges to transport and deploy all of the system elements.

Thousands of miles of levees and floodwalls are spread throughout highly populated areas and are used to protect critical infrastructure in the United States. Many of these levees have been found to have significant deficiencies and are subject to failure. Current techniques for levee repair may require days to complete. The full-scale system proposed by this project should be capable of “sealing” a man-made or natural breach in a matter of hours. The technology could play an extremely important role in infrastructure protection and human safety from floods due to levee breach.

Disaster Response Intelligent System In times of major disasters, whether man-made or natural, there is an immediate need to

make quick and reliable decisions with limited time and resources. Making such decisions requires the most current and reliable data and rapid response time.

The Disaster Response Intelligent System (DRIS) is designed to assist first responders with effectively commanding and managing large, complex incidents in a seamless and dynamic way. The system provides immediate situational awareness for emergency dispatchers to direct first responders and a baseline for working an incident.

DRIS is an incident management tool with practical homeland security applications. It is currently being tested in a number of Mississippi counties and can be customized for other states or scaled to a regional level. It is designed to provide information in rapidly changing environments to strengthen information sharing and coordination among first responders, emergency management personnel, and homeland security practitioners.

Regional Emergency Planning Model for Continuous Disaster Mitigation Response

Regional disaster response efforts would permit better localized preparedness for small-scale events, as well as large-scale disasters requiring extensive resources from beyond the local boundaries. Although the regional response efforts are more effective, they are hard to develop

Respond

19

and maintain and require the collaboration of disparate stakeholders and first responder agencies.

The objective of this project was to develop a customizable regional emergency planning model process. The model process is intended to be a series of collaborative workshops used to assist first responders and emergency planners in establishing annual regional planning goals and to track progress in meeting those goals. Planning goals include identifying regional response gaps, developing specialized regional response teams, and creating collaborative

agency mutual aid agreements. The model process has been piloted in the Charlotte, North Carolina, region. This region was chosen because Charlotte and its surrounding region have a variety of characteristics that affect regional action planning.

The model process developed in this project enhances communication between response planners, including law enforcement, fire and rescue, the business community, faith-based organizations, and emergency management. Shared communication among stakeholders representing different missions and jurisdictions lays the groundwork for more effective disaster response and mitigation planning. Regional planning benefits from the knowledge of all efforts that have been established across a region and from understanding how those efforts can be combined and enhanced to better allocate resources and provide an effective and efficient regional response to emergencies and disasters. Collaborative regional planning improves local response where regional agreements are established to support critical local events, which may be an essential need for rural areas. This process creates a forum for continuous communication that will permit the development of compliance with federal, state, and local requirements.

COMMUNITY RESILIENCE RESEARCH

Disaster Response: Research Findings and Their Implications for Resilience Measures

This report provides an overview of research on disaster response, an examination of issues of disaster scale, and information on the disaster response research tradition as a framework of consideration in the identification of appropriate resilience measures. The concept of resilience and its applicability to the response phase of disasters is reviewed in the context of research about how the public responds before, during, and immediately after disasters. The research findings on organizational responses are also presented with suggestions regarding resilience indicators that are specific to the post-disaster response period.

Recover

20

While an effective response is essential to a resilient community’s ultimate recovery, it alone is not sufficient to achieve the swiftest return to normalcy. In its Capstone Doctrine (as cited in Blanchard 2007), the Department of Homeland Security notes this distinction and defines the recovery mission as

the sustained commitment to return an impacted population and geographic area to a sustainable standard of living following an incident. This supports the goal of creating resilient populations and communities. Whereas response is focused primarily on minimizing immediate impacts, minimizing immediate consequences, and setting the conditions for long-term success, recovery is focused on restoring societies. Without a commitment to that restoration, resiliency is not possible.

In effect, recovery means “getting back to normal” functioning along all dimensions of the community. Such resilient recovery has three essential characteristics.

First, resilient communities deliberately plan for recovery with the same attention that is paid to planning for protection or response. “Planning to recover” means that all the functioning dimensions of the community must be restored, recovery goals must be identified and benchmarked, and strengths, weaknesses and interdependence across community functional areas are identified (i.e., infrastructure, economy, and social). For example, workers cannot return to work if there are no roads or bridges to use for commuting, if there are no day care centers and schools for their children, if there is no adequate plan for short-term housing needs, and so on. In turn, businesses cannot get back up and running without both workers and consumers. Further, data suggest that communities that plan to meet the long-term mental health needs of the citizens avoid unnecessary disruption costs ranging from failed marriages, increased rates of violence, and worker absenteeism. Resilient recovery plans have analyzed and understood these interdependencies and put measures into place to eliminate cascading failures and to prioritize restoration activities (Fig. 2).

Second, resilient communities link recovery to a rapid return to Fig 2. Community Functions and Interdependencies.

Recover

21

economic stability and robust economic functioning. Return of basic services—electricity, gas, water/wastewater, health care, and solid waste services—are vital first steps in community response. However, these are also services are upon which other functional areas, economic and social, are “downstream dependent.” In short, they are necessary but not sufficient in and of themselves for economic and social recovery to take place. Understanding downstream dependencies and operating on a plan for recovery that maximizes the fastest return of economic functions is a critical part of achieving community resilience through recovery activities.

Finally, resilient recovery also entails a time-sequenced and adaptive plan of action by a community. Some recovery actions will be obvious, short-term restoration steps, but inevitably some longer term sequencing will be necessary (e.g., there will be no demand for day care services until workers are able to return to their jobs). Thinking through the necessary sequence of restoration in advance can greatly accelerate full recovery of community functions. For example, restoring the housing infrastructure can be accelerated in communities that have thought through the permitting and inspection process and understand that reasonable delays can become amplified and unduly long when demand increases exponentially. In addition, communities may also plan to resume functioning differently from before the disaster—to take advantage of changed conditions following a disaster in order to implement needed improvements that might not be possible or cost-effective during normal functions. For

example, a decision might be made to not rebuild a highway but to replace it with a boulevard, or a floodplain might be rebuilt as a park rather than rebuilding the residential structures destroyed by the incident.

CARRI and SERRI have directed academic and applied research to develop tools and processes which enhance communities’ resilience through effective recovery strategies. The following sections contain abstracts from selected (1) community resilience best practices documented from our community partners, and (2) academic research papers addressing recovery

issues related to community resilience. More information on each of these abstracted works, as well as additional projects and papers, may be found on the SERRI and CARRI websites.

Resilient communities deliberately plan for recovery with the same attention that is paid to planning for protection or response.

“Planning to recover” means that all the functioning dimensions of the community are restored, recovery goals are identified and benchmarked, and strengths, weaknesses, and interdependence across community functional areas are identified.

Thinking through the necessary sequence of restoration in advance can greatly accelerate full recovery of community functions.

Recover

22

COMMUNITY RESILIENCE BEST-PRACTICES DOCUMENTS

Community Resilience and Rapid Recovery of the Business Sector When Hurricane Hugo hit the Charleston, South Carolina,

region in 1989, the business community was deeply affected; the timing could not have been worse. Hugo struck just 2 weeks before the height of tourist season. The businesses that sustained direct physical damage were obviously compromised, but all businesses and industry, whether directly damaged or not, were stymied by the devastation to the region’s infrastructure. Disruption in electricity and critical supply chains, as well as traffic impediments because of massive amounts of debris in the roads and loss of traffic signals, prevented many businesses from opening or operating effectively.

Mayor Joseph Riley set a tone of returning the community to normal as quickly as possible. Organizations and businesses followed his lead, and one step at a time, the community bounced

backed. Prior to Hugo the Charleston business community had not engaged in continuity planning, which meant they found themselves without a plan. However, with the “can-do” attitude set by Mayor Riley, the business community picked itself up and moved forward.

One enduring effort that emerged out of Hugo was the establishment of the Business Continuity Planning Council, spearheaded by the Metro Charleston Chamber of Commerce. As an essential element in the fabric of a community, the business sector needs to play an active role in planning for disaster recovery and, during an event, be a presence at the emergency operations center. All businesses, large and small, should have continuity plans. Communities can improve their resilience by recognizing the vital role played by the business community in restoring community services.

Community Forum Mayors’ Panel: Critical Leadership Skills for Community Resilience

The CARRI Community Forum brought together four mayors to discuss their experiences during disaster—Charleston, South Carolina, Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr.; North Charleston, South Carolina, Mayor Keith Summey; Gulfport, Mississippi, Mayor Brent Warr; and Shelby County, Tennessee, Mayor AC Wharton, Jr. The mayors shared what worked, but they also shared lessons that were learned the hard way—things that could

As an essential element in the fabric of a community, the business sector needs to play an active role in planning for disaster recovery and, during an event, be a presence at the emergency operations center.

Recover

23

have been done better. Each mayor offered special insights about his experiences as a leader guiding his community during a disaster, but all four touched on common themes that would be valuable to any community leader guiding a community’s recovery.

The mayors observed that disaster recovery planning and disaster response training not only help communities rebound more effectively in the event of a disaster but also make for healthier communities in general. Still, as important as planning and training are, disaster management is as much an art as it is a science. Having leadership in place that is creative and able to adapt, react, and respond is critical in how well a community recovers from a disaster. Leaders of resilient communities MUST be there—they cannot lead from afar.

The mayors also noted that communication from leaders is critical. Leadership communiqués should be realistic but deliberate in including good news, regardless of how minimal or simple the news might be: Wal-Mart has new supplies, or the post office has reopened. The mayors also emphasized that disasters disrupt normalcy, and the quicker people see even

small signs of a return to normalcy, the better the long-term response will be. In both disaster response and recovery, the community’s most valuable assets are its people, its citizens —both public and private sector—and their efforts need to be acknowledged and encouraged by leadership.

Finally, the mayors reminded everyone that effective disaster response and its corresponding resilient recovery demand political courage. Leaders have to be willing to make difficult decisions, despite the “heat” that may sometimes accompany them.

Building Local Capacity in Key Disaster Recovery Skills Resilience begins with having local capacity for key disaster recovery skills. The Mississippi

Interfaith Coast Disaster Task Force (IDTF) recognized the needs for certain key skills in the midst of the Katrina recovery. IDTF identified case management, volunteer coordination, and mental health care as the critical recovery skills requiring additional capacity within the community. Believing that the community’s resilience and recovery depended on those skills, IDTF leaders adapted the focus of the organization to address those needs. They partnered with local churches and external faith-based organizations to organize skills trainings for local people. IDTF also involved Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster partners who had other expertise.

Disaster recovery planning and disaster response training not only help communities rebound more effectively in the event of a disaster but also make for healthier communities in general.

Recover

24

As a result, IDTF has also become a strong advocate for the essential role that case management resources, counselors, and mental health experts play in a community’s long-term recovery. IDTF also brought in experienced trauma counselors and mental health experts who had responded to the Oklahoma City bombing and 9/11 attacks to train local pastors and case managers in basic mental health care skills. The training included an emphasis on how counselors and experts should care for themselves in order to increase their capacity to care for others.

The ability of community organizations to combine forces and work together effectively in a variety of coalitions and partnerships is critical to community recovery and resilience. Nonprofit and faith-based organizations must be prepared to adapt and evolve their missions and focus to address the needs of a community in recovery from a disaster, even if the identified needs do not match the official mission or primary expertise of the organization. They must build partnerships, collaborate, and join coalitions to accomplish recovery goals, raise awareness of needs, and influence resolution of disaster-related policy issues.

Prepare for Rapid Needs Evaluation and Assignment of Resources For more than 50 years, the Naval Construction Battalion Center Seabees have been an

important part of the Gulfport, Mississippi, community. After Hurricane Katrina, more than 3,000 Seabees were deployed to assist with the recovery efforts in Gulfport. Immediately following the disaster, it was clear that action needed to be taken, but with so much devastation, it was hard to know where to begin. Leaders were called on to set priorities rapidly and determine focus for the many key partners. During the recovery process, one of the key lessons learned by the teams was that coordination and collaboration were essential, especially with organizations who have self-contained assets and resources that can assist community leaders

in response and recovery. Gulfport learned that partnerships such as those it now has in place with the Naval Seabees must be in place prior to a disaster in order to understand what resources and capabilities exist and how they will be best utilized following the disaster. Understanding

interdependencies is vital when assigning responsibilities and coordinating efforts to ensure the many and diverse needs met. It is also important to have a system in place to ensure that the supplies and services provided are matched with the needs of the community and, just as important, that there is a logistics plan for getting those goods and services into the community.

Today, the Naval Construction Battalion has liaisons at each county emergency operations center (EOC) who assist with the coordination of Seabees. Through this on-site presence, an increased understanding of skills and capabilities is maintained to meet the varied and numerous needs of the community. Strong leadership prior to a disaster is essential for building partnerships through early collaboration and coordination. Strong leadership aids in the determination of priorities and a focus for partners, facilitates collaboration and coordination,

The ability of community organizations to combine forces and work together effectively in a variety of coalitions and partnerships is critical to community recovery and resilience.

Strong leadership prior to a disaster is essential for building partnerships through early collaboration and coordination.

Recover

25

and ensures that needs and resources are matched. Partnerships increase knowledge and understanding of one another’s mission, capabilities, and resources.

Getting Nongovernment- and Faith-Based Organizations to the Table Disaster planning and hurricane

preparation have long been practiced in South Mississippi. Each city and county has an EOC, and they all work together with FEMA and MEMA (Mississippi Emergency Management Agency); yet, prior to Hurricane Katrina, the EOCs only involved governmental agencies. Nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and faith-based organizations (FBOs) were not represented on the EOCs and were not officially included in the planning or recovery efforts. Hurricane Katrina highlighted the need for collaboration with and among these groups and

their integration in official processes. Through Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD), the NGOs and FBOs have

arrived at the table. After Hurricane Katrina, many nonprofits and faith-based groups were “filling in” and doing the job of caring for citizens’ needs, including food, shelter, and medical care, when various government agencies were tasked with the jobs. The NGOs were getting the job done, yet they were still not recognized as a necessary part of the team. Since Katrina, both state and local VOAD chapters have been organized, and the chairs of the local and state VOADs now sit on the EOC in Harrison County. VOAD representatives officially participate in state and county EOC meetings and on committees, serving as a representative for their many constituent FBOs and NGOs. Through coordination and communication, VOAD brings key NGOs and FBOs to the table, playing their appropriate roles in an organized way.

Nongovernment- and faith-based organizations are essential to complement and supplement government response and recovery operations. Local government leaders in resilient communities must be aware of and actively work with NGOs and FBOs in their communities and include them formally in official disaster planning, response, and recovery operations.

Leadership and Mission in Resilient Organizations: Hancock Bank as a Case Study

Social science and management literature has consistently pointed to the importance of mission clarity, training, and appropriately devolved decision-making processes as key characteristics of effective or high-reliability organizations in normal times. Agency failures were well publicized during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; however, there were organizations that behaved commendably during that post-storm chaos. Specifically, in Mississippi, an analysis of Hancock Bank post-Katrina supports the notion that mission clarity, training, and appropriately devolved decision making are also vital in effective organizational responses to disasters.

Recover

26

For years Hancock, known for its bottom-up strategic planning processes, had tested key aspects of its storm response, simulating a loss of the computer center in downtown Gulfport.

Every time a hurricane entered the Gulf, the bank sent teams with duplicate copies of its electronic account files to Chicago and Atlanta, where they were to be uploaded onto rented mainframes, if necessary, to keep the bank running during an emergency.

With $6.5 billion in assets, the Hancock Bank, headquartered in downtown Gulfport, Mississippi, operates 160 branches across southern Mississippi, southern Louisiana, southern Alabama, and in the Florida Panhandle. Katrina destroyed the Bank’s 300,000 square foot, 17 story headquarters building in downtown Gulfport, which presented an enormous set of problems. Corporate computer operations, the technology hub, check-processing, loan servicing, and all other critical elements of the banking operation across four states were located in the destroyed building, yet Hancock Bank was the first bank to reopen on the Mississippi Coast after Katrina. Without electricity,

computers, or working ATMs, Hancock Bank opened many of its branches in Mississippi’s Harrison and Hancock Counties the day after the storm and quickly reopened its branches in the New Orleans area.

In just a few days after Katrina hit in 2005, 10 branches of the Hancock Bank opened without power in the disaster zone. Three days later, 30 of the bank’s 50 offline branches were opened without lights, phones, and in some cases, without roofs. Hancock’s mission-driven response put more than $42 million in cash in to the community that week after the storm. At least $3.5 million was lost to people who later could not be linked to any account or working phone. However, as people returned to their areas and got back on their feet, the majority of those who had received money from Hancock Bank (via post-it notes IOUs) repaid it in full. The clarity of mission and leadership exercised by Hancock Bank during Katrina provides valuable guidance for organizations looking to become more resilient to future and inevitable disasters and chaotic disruptions.

Local Philanthropic Organization Administers State Recovery Fund The Mississippi Hurricane Recovery Fund was established just days after Hurricane Katrina

to serve as the state’s central clearinghouse for corporations, organizations, and individuals to make financial donations to assist Mississippians through the long-term recovery from Katrina and future hurricane-related disasters. It was Governor Haley Barbour’s intention to create such a fund to attract private monies to help victims of the hurricane with recovery costs that exceeded coverage from other sources (e.g., insurance, government grants, etc.). In August 2007

The Tuesday after Katrina hit, 10 branches of the Hancock Bank opened without power in the disaster zone. Three days later, 30 of the Bank’s 50 offline branches were opened and serving storm-stricken customers—without lights, phones, and in some cases, without roofs.

Recover

27

the Gulf Coast Community Foundation (GCCF) was selected to administer the funds; this was an important decision because it enables the board members who are community leaders with strong local relationships and knowledge of the ongoing recovery efforts to direct funds to impactful local-level recovery projects.

The relationships GCCF developed with many local faith-based organizations and long-term recovery and other recovery volunteer groups supported by the Recovery Fund contribute greatly to the resilience of the communities. These relationships help keep GCCF officers in touch with the needs of the communities they serve so they can make wise decisions about how to manage and disburse the state’s Hurricane Recovery Fund.

Organizational Resilience: Mississippi Power as a Case Study Lessons about organizational resilience in

disaster events can be drawn from both failures and successes of mission and leadership. In an interview 24 months after the storm, Stephen Peranich, an aide to Mississippi Congressman Gene Taylor, noted the striking difference in emergency performance between what he called “mission-driven” versus “compliance-driven” federal agencies. Peranich characterized U.S. military organizations as to having been “forward leaning” and mission driven during Katrina. In the private sector, Peranich pointed

out that a similar forward-leaning, mission-driven attitude prevailed among the electrical power companies. U.S. Department of Energy records and interviews indicate that retired staff have been retained as consultants and remain on call for emergency storm recovery service all over the country. The fact that such a reserve cadre of skilled specialists who regularly work power emergencies throughout the nation exists suggests part of the reason for the success of electric utilities in emergency situations. Line workers are routinely shared among companies during emergencies. Mississippi Power constantly updates its emergency response plans based on the extensive experience and knowledge these specialists possess. In the months before Katrina, Mississippi Power had revised many aspects of its emergency response plan based on Gulf Power Company’s approach to Florida’s Hurricane Ivan recovery effort in 2004. In the event of an emergency, each of Mississippi Power’s 1,500 employees had been given a distinct and well-planned storm assignment.

Within only a very few days these specialists returned to company service in a pre-assigned role to assist with a variety of tasks restoring electricity throughout the storm-ravaged area. In the wake of the storm, 100% of Mississippi Power’s 195,000 customers in southeast Mississippi were left without service. The demand for supplies (poles, wire, transformers, labor, food, fuel and water) was beyond anything anticipated in the planning process. Furthermore, Mississippi Power knew they had to find a way to feed, fuel, house, equip, and supply more linemen. With a strong mission focus, the company did just that. Within 24 hours after the storm had ended, the company reported that 2,500 outside crewmen had arrived, and by 72 hours after the storm, 5,000 outside crewmen were working. Crewmen came from 23 states and Canada working

Recover

28

alongside the Mississippi Power crewmen. Each day company food service contractors prepared and delivered approximately 35,000 meals. Thirteen days after the storm, the company had spent $277 million and successfully restored power to all of its customers able to accept service. The successful disaster response of a Mississippi power provider illustrates the importance of training, mission clarity, and appropriate delegation of decision making for effective organizational disaster recovery operations.

COMMUNITY RESILIENCE RESEARCH

Comparing Ecological and Human Community Resilience Ecological resilience, adaptive cycles, and panarchy are all concepts developed to explain

abrupt and often surprising changes in complex socio-ecological systems prone to disturbances. These types of change involve qualitative and quantitative changes in system structure and processes. This paper compares theories of ecological resilience, adaptive cycles, and panarchies between ecological and human community systems. At least five ideas emerge from this comparison and have broad implications for attempting to manage complex systems with human and ecological components in the face of recurring natural disasters.

Resilience in the Face of Global Environmental Change This report provides relevant insights on resilience from the pertinent global change

literature to complement critical insights gleaned from the hazards and ecological literatures by other collaborators to the CARRI project. This study also reviews definitions and the emerging understanding of resilience in the social sciences. It also discusses a number of aspects feeding into resilience, such as vulnerability, adaptive capacity, and social capital. Lastly, the report points to promising resilience research frontiers in the human dimensions field.

Recover

29

The Natural and Built Environments: Understanding the Relationships among Natural and Man-made Systems in Disaster Recovery

The concepts of vulnerability, resilience, and sustainability are interrelated; there is a definite intersection between nature and society. When considering early natural resources and some of our first societies, we know that settlements were located where resources existed to support human life. Throughout many years we have willingly altered our natural systems for a multitude of reasons; we’ve caused disruption through the implementation of hazard mitigation systems while deriving benefits for some but at a cost to others. Along many coastal areas there have been fisheries and trapping that supported villages, raised houses, and brought sustenance to many who were probably quite vulnerable. Other actions that appeared appropriate at the time included the construction of levees and river modifications which we now know have caused sediments to be carried off-shore and into oceans. These actions have created a rigid structural system that works in opposition to resilience. Additional elements contributing to the decline of resiliency are the use of agricultural chemicals (they create hypoxic dead zones), the construction of pumping stations, and the removal of our cypress forests (causing significant damage to wetlands and marshes).

A research project with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has set out to model and understand how the natural environment, economics, and social systems play a part in recovery. Natural systems interplay with the economic, social, and infrastructure—they all play a part. Diaster resilience is greatly enhanced by the integration of natural systems

with the built environment—the quality of life is improved and the impact of some natural disasters can be dampened (e.g., hurricane surge). When nature is altered, the equilibrium of systems can be disturbed, and inappropriate development can lead to increased disaster relief. Restoration of landscapes and the preservation of the natural environment offer multiple benefits to resiliency. The costs of maintaining altered natural systems will eventually not only divert funds but will also turn the focus away from resiliency.

Resiliency emcompasses the economic, social, and environmental well-being of a community. Communities must find ways to integrate natural systems with a resilient infrastructure so that they do not sustain vulnerabilities but instead create systems that allow for adaptation and transformation.

There are numerous benefits to integrating consideration of natural systems with the built environment. Efforts to improve disaster resilience likewise can improve the quality of life and dampen the impact of some natural disasters.

Recover

30

The Importance of Mental Health to Community Resilience Mental health is an important criterion for

evaluating community or societal resilience. Distress is a highly sensitive indicator of environmental stress, including both trauma and adversity. Within limits, post-disaster distress is normal, but when highly prevalent, severe, or persistent, it points to systemic needs and/or problems. While most individuals show resilience, approximately one-fifth to one-quarter of survivors may experience persistent, chronic distress. When considering the adaptive capacities that promote psychological resilience, there are

five essential elements of mass trauma intervention: sense of safety, calm, self- and collective efficacy, connectedness, and hope. Mental health matters—it is the sine qua non of community and societal resilience to disasters. Disaster management focus may be on systems, preparedness, response capabilities, etc., but ultimately success in resilient communities should translate into a healthy population.

Methods and Measurement in the Study of Resilience We all know that social capital is a critical aspect of any community, but how does one

quantify the unquantifiable? Efforts to effectively assess the relative resilience of a community depend upon quantifiable data. Tracking whether or not a community is becoming more resilient requires baseline data. Susan Cutter, a leading resilience and vulnerability researcher with the University of South Carolina, has created a model to measure vulnerability and its obverse—resilience. Through the Social Vulnerability Index (SoVI), a consistent set of measures are used across time and space to assess existing social conditions at the county level to determine what it reveals about a community’s vulnerability to disasters. This presentation shows the usefulness of the instrument in gauging a region’s overall resilience by using readily accessible data.

Some of the major factors influencing social vulnerability are the degree to which members of the community are able to access resources, including information and technology, political power, and social capital, such as social networks. Social vulnerability considers frail and physically limited persons and the type and density of the infrastructure and lifelines. These factors contribute to the overall score, but their significance differs from county to county. As such, the SoVi index can be used as a weighted measure.

Within limits, post-disaster distress is normal, but when highly prevalent, severe, or persistent, it points to systemic needs and/or problems.

Recover

31

Results show that the more disaster resilient a community is the lower the number of flood related deaths and the lower the level of total property damage.

One of a group of panelists, Cutter presented her model at the Resilience Research Workshop in Colorado (July 2009) along with Walt Peacock, who presented a project of the Coastal Services Center from Texas A&M University. The Coastal Services Center is in the process of developing a suite of community disaster resilience indicators for coastal counties along the Gulf Coast. The indicators being used are broad based and readily available from secondary data sources, and the results are intended to inform a local community of its relative resilience and vulnerability by looking at all phases of a disaster—prevention, protection, response, and recovery. The project also factors in a community’s capital resources along all dimensions—social, economic, physical, and human—using 75 indicators. Results show that the more disaster resilient a community is, the lower the number of flood-related deaths and the lower the level of total property damage.

Recovery Planning and Predictive Modeling Engaging the full fabric of the

community in hazard planning can result in loss reduction and improved resiliency. The Multihazard Demonstration Project (MHDP) uses hazards to improve communities’ resiliency to natural disasters by engaging emergency planners, universities, and government agencies in preparing for natural disasters. Institutional resilience and land use planning are also significant in mitigating the effects of disasters.

Presentations by Gavin Smith, Center for Natural Hazards at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and Keith Porter, University of Colorado, Boulder, given at the Resilience Research Workshop hosted by the University of Boulder (July 2009) both emphasized the importance of involving a broad cross section of the community in planning and training efforts.

Porter reported on his experience leading the U.S. Geological Survey MHDP where a series of expert panels discussed the physical damages that would be likely to occur from a magnitude 7.8 earthquake on the southern San Andreas Fault, as well as the impact of secondary hazards such as fires and mudslides. The panels included academics, scientists, emergency managers, and engineers associated with Southern California electrical utilities, dams, and water resources. This was the first MHDP workshop. Since then, numerous workshops and training sessions have been held that examine earthquake vulnerabilities related to transportation, mass transit, hospitals, pipelines, railroads, and ports. Of note, the Great

Recover

32

Southern California ShakeOut was the largest disaster preparedness drill in U.S. history involving 5 million people. By applying the lessons of ShakeOut to a new set of hazards, the MHDP is also creating a statewide catastrophic scenario called ARkStorm.

Smith addressed the question of how resilience differs from the application of sustainable development principles to hazards and disaster management with an eye on recovery. Recovery is seen as a differential process of restoring, rebuilding, and reshaping the physical, social, economic, and natural environment through pre-event and post-event actions.

Institutional resilience is the capacity of an institution to prepare for, withstand, and recover from major disaster or other circumstances which threaten or disrupt normal operations. While institutional resilience is an essential building block in disaster recovery, Smith said local governments and practitioners are not fully engaged and the issue has not been adequately studied or applied. Recovery planning is different from normal urban planning in that it takes place under extreme conditions with multi-system failures. The conditions are constraining, but they also invite opportunity.

Engaging the full fabric of the community in hazard planning can result in loss reduction and improved resiliency.

Community & RegionalResilience Institute

Community & RegionalResilience Institute

ORNL 2009-G00844/jcn

Southeast Region Research InitiativeCommunity and Regional Resilience Institute

National Security DirectorateP.O. Box 2008

Oak Ridge National LaboratoryOak Ridge, TN 37831-6242

www.serri.orgwww.ResilientUS.org

Creating ResilientCommunities:the Work of

SERRI and CARRI