9/5/2014 Emergency Preparedness. Planning Services. Final Report to the Treasure Island Development Authority

Transcription

1 9/5/2014 Emergency Preparedness Planning Services Final Report to the Treasure Island Development Authority

2 PREPARED BY Lucien Canton, CEM th Ave San Francisco CA

3 Table of Contents Project Summary... 1 Purpose... 1 Scope... 1 Scenario Assumptions... 1 Project Methodology... 2 Findings and recommendations... 3 Strengths... 3 Areas for Improvement... 3 Recommendations... 4 Appendix 1 Agency Representatives... 7 Appendix 2 Assessment Summary A - Agency Plan Document Assessment Summary B - Agency Resources Assessment Summary C - Agency Capability Assessment Cumulative Summary... 10

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5 Project Summary Purpose The purpose of this project was to review and analyze specific capabilities within the protocols, operating procedures, and written plans related to emergency preparedness and response related functions of pre-identified housing property managers and community-serving agencies operating on Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island (collectively TI/YBI ). Scope This project scope was limited to review of existing documents provided by each agency and interviews with selected agency representatives. The following agencies were selected for this project: 1. Catholic Charities: Treasure Island Supportive Housing 2. Catholic Charities: Treasure Island Development Center 3. Community Housing Partnership: Island Bay Homes 4. Community Housing Partnerships: Villages 5. HealthRIGHT Swords to Plowshares 7. Treasure Island Homeless Development Initiative 8. The Villages at Treasure Island 9. YMCA of San Francisco Treasure Island Gymnasium The names of agency personnel who participated in project interviews are provided in Appendix 1. The review focused on ten capabilities identified by the Treasure Island Development Authority (TIDA) in three core areas: 1. Staff training, continuity of operations, and employee care and shelter 2. Emergency communications 3. Agency planning and logistics An overall summary of the findings, including the specific capabilities analyzed, are found in Appendix 2 - Assessment Summary. Scenario Assumptions Interviews with agency representatives were based on a simple earthquake scenario. The scenario assumed that an earthquake of unspecified magnitude had occurred, resulting in widespread on-island structural damage and in the closure of the Bay Bridge to vehicle traffic for several days. Discussions also assumed that the earthquake was taking place at the time of the discussion (generally, weekday daytime) and only the on-island resources currently available to the agency could be employed. This scenario was intended merely to give context to the interviews and facilitate discussions of existing capabilities, and did not include any detailed events or cascading effects such as liquefaction, seiche or aftershocks. After-hours agency capabilities and after-hours staffing on-island, as it related to implementation of the agency emergency plan, was also discussed. 1

6 Project Methodology The project started on April 24, 2014 with a kickoff meeting of all participating agencies chaired by the TIDA Director of Island Operations. The purpose of this meeting was to provide information on the project, introduce the consultant, and to solicit support for the consultant s work as well as the commitment of the participating agencies to dedicate staff to participate in meetings and report reviews with TIDA and the consultant. One-on-one interviews with agency representatives began on May 26 and were completed on June 12. The purpose of these initial interviews was to gain context on the selected agency s programs and current emergency planning efforts and to determine the availability of written plans and procedures. Based on the initial interviews with agency representatives and a review of written plans and procedures provided by them, the consultant prepared a draft assessment for each agency s plans. These drafts were provided to each agency and to TIDA on August 4. Draft assessments were reviewed in a joint meeting between the consultant, the agency representative, and the TIDA representative. Draft assessment joint meetings began on August 13 and were completed on August 21. Agency assessments were revised by the consultant based on the discussions held in the joint meetings and the consultant provided a final draft of each assessment to each agency and to TIDA on August 26. Final edits from the agencies were provided to the consultant by August 29 and incorporated into the the agency assessments and the final report.

7 Findings and recommendations Strengths All agency representatives displayed an in-depth knowledge of the on-island populations they serve. In the case of residential housing, agency representatives have pre-identified those residents with functional needs who may require additional assistance in an emergency or disaster. All agencies participating in the assessment had a plan of some type. Of the nine plans reviewed all but one were Treasure Island specific and seven are designed specifically for a major disaster (See the Plan Assessment Summary in Appendix 2). Seven of the agencies have stockpiled both emergency food and water for staff sufficient for a minimum of three days. One agency has stockpiled water for staff for three days (See the Resources Assessment Summary in Appendix 2). The five TIHDI supportive housing agencies have stockpiled emergency food and water for their residents sufficient for a minimum of three days. Areas for Improvement While all agencies have plans, two of the plans reviewed are intended for use during common emergencies (e.g. fire, shelter-in-place, and bomb threat) and do not provide procedures for large disasters such as earthquakes. Six of the plans are based on templates developed by parent agencies or by SFCARD. However, there is a disconnect between these templates and the actual agency resources and staff available to the agencies on Treasure Island. That is, some agencies have not developed procedures to accomplish the tasks defined in the templates and may not have the necessary resources to do so. Eight of the participating agencies have not identified an alternate on-island site from which to continue administrative and maintenance activities. While 6 of the agency plans address damage assessment, they still lack detailed procedures specific to Treasure Island, including: o information to be collected, o who will perform the assessments, and o to whom damage assessment information is to be provided. Damage assessment information is not standardized, making collection and analysis difficult for the On-Island Unified Command. Further, the limited available staff and vehicles and the scattered nature of most housing suggest that there are insufficient resources on Island to perform a rapid assessment (i.e. within one hour of the event) of all properties. With one exception, agencies do not currently provide training on emergency plans and procedures to staff and have not conducted exercises to test and refine their plans.

8 Agencies generally tend to operate in stovepipes dictated by the services they provide and the specific needs of their populations. While this is effective in terms of the day-to-day services they provide, it means that there has been little consideration of working together as a multiagency team in times of disaster. For example, the John Stewart Company provides property management services to several of the supportive housing agencies. These services are managed separately but there may be some advantage to combining resources during a major disaster. Agency staffing is such that the bulk of agency employees are on the island during normal business hours when the majority of the residents are either at work or attending school in nearby communities. Conversely, very few agency staff are available on-island during the evening hours and on weekends. Should a major disaster occur during these off-hours, there would be few staff available to fill agency leadership roles, conduct damage assessments, or provide agency disaster services. Because many residents work or attend school in surrounding communities, reunification of families presents a particularly difficult challenge. While agency representatives could assist with reunification on the Island, they do not have the resources to coordinate reunification within other jurisdictions or among families with some members on the Island and others scattered in other communities. While agencies have developed procedures to support evacuation of a single residential building in the event of a fire or emergency, there are no community-based plans for consolidating residents and preparing them for an evacuation from the Island. While there are some agency resources on the island to support limited mass sheltering, these resources, particularly in the areas of food and water, are under the control of individual agencies and have not been inventoried or considered as support to larger CCSF care and shelter operations. The supportive housing agencies have jointly funded a separate stockpile of emergency food and water warehoused by Catholic Charities but there is no inventory showing what resources belong to each agency and no procedures for assignment, tracking, and distribution. Recommendations 1. Develop an Island-wide community-based response strategy encompassing all stakeholders Treasure Island currently lacks an overall community-based strategy for responding to major disasters. Agencies currently plan independently of each other and make assumptions about the availability of resources. The CCSF TI/YBI Emergency Response Plan appendix to the CCSF Emergency Response Plan addresses the roles and responsibilities of City agencies but does not contemplate the on-island agencies as full partners in response planning and operations. There is a need for an inter-agency planning group comprised of on-island stakeholders that can identify needs and resources and develop an overall strategy for a coordinated communitybased response. TIDA and TIHDI have proposed creating a disaster planning work group as a subset of the bi-monthly Housing Partners meeting and this would be a good start.

9 2. Inventory on-island resources There are a number of potential agency resources available for providing on-island food and water, but these resources are individually controlled and not integrated into an overall community based mass care plan. In addition, the agencies with supplies stockpiled with Catholic Charities should develop a formal agreement and procedures for the maintenance and distribution of these resources. TIDA should consider developing agreements with the on-island businesses for emergency post-disaster procurement of of resources, particularly of appropriate care and shelter resources, in support of on-island CCSF Care and Shelter Operations.. 3. Stockpile disaster relief supplies Planning for disaster should assume that TI/YBI will be isolated for several days and that external help may not be available for several days. This suggests the need for Island residents and agencies to have the necessary resources on hand. After inventorying on-island resources, agencies should seek to identify resource gaps between on-island resources and the resources needed to implement their agency s emergency response plans. 4. Identify alternate on-island operating facilities Agencies have not identified alternate operating facilities from which to provide services if their primary facility is unusable. Since there is likely to be an increased demand for some services following a disaster, being able to resume operations quickly should be a focus of pre-disaster planning. TIDA should providing information on business continuity planning concepts to partner agencies and agencies should work collaboratively amongst themselves and with TIDA to identify potential alternate on-island sites for their administrative and maintenance staff. 5. Develop an Island-wide damage assessment strategy The limited resources available for damage assessment suggest the need for a coordinated strategy that allows for sharing available staff and equipment and consolidates information as quickly as possible, particularly in the TI/YBI residential neighborhoods. For example, the Island could be divided into areas of responsibilities with the nearest assessment teams checking on all properties in their areas rather than just agency-managed properties. TIDA should consider the development of standardized damage assessment forms and procedures and should work with partner agencies to develop a cohesive strategy for post-disaster residential damage assessment. 6. Encourage self-sufficiency among residents Given the limited amount of staff available in the off-hours, self-reliance and personal preparedness among Island residents must continue to be encouraged by agencies, TIDA, and CCSF. This can be done by encouraging continued and expanded training in disaster skills, such as SF NERT and American Red Cross training

10 7. Improve off-island communications All agencies who reported to an agency headquarters stated that they were reliant on cellular and landline communications and the Internet. Due to inconsistent availability of cellular service within portions of TI/YBI, TIDA and CCSF should explore the possibility of adding additional cellular towers or signal boosters to the Island. TIDA should also encourage agencies to develop alternate communications methods, such as HAM radio or satellite phones and/or consider purchasing and maintain such communications tools for use by other agencies during a disaster. 8. Encourage the use of exercises With only one exception, agencies have not done exercises to test their individual on-island agency plans. TIDA should encourage the use of exercises by providing training on exercise development, conducting brief tabletop exercises as part of the bi-monthly Housing Partners meeting, possibly creating a calendar of suggested monthly exercise topics, and holding at least one major annual exercise incorporating all on-island stakeholders.

11 Appendix 1 Agency Representatives Treasure Island Development Authority Project Liaison Peter Summerville Agency Representatives Catholic Charities/CYO Treasure Island Supportive Housing Catholic Charities/CYO Treasure Island Child Development Center Community Housing Partnership Island Bay Homes Community Housing Partnership Villages Healthright 360 Swords to Plowshares Treasure Island Homeless Development Initiative The Villages at Treasure Island YMCA of San Francisco/Embarcadero Y Treasure Island Gymnasium Erick Brown Kathie Autumn Brandon Ceaser Kenneth Bonner Victoria Enbom Ellery Crawford Roxanne Balousek Charles Wong Dan Stone Kareem Hickman Lauren Jardot

12 Appendix 2 Assessment Summary 2A - Agency Plan Document Assessment Summary Agency TI Specific? Major Disaster- Specific? Plan Template Catholic Charities: Treasure Island Supportive Housing Catholic Charities: Treasure Island Development Center Community Housing Partnership: Island Bay Homes Community Housing Partnership: Villages Yes Yes SFCARD Yes Yes SFCARD HealthRIGHT 360 Yes No Swords to Plowshares Yes Yes Treasure Island Homeless Development Initiative Yes Yes CHP corporate Yes Yes JSCO corporate Yes Yes No Healthright corporate Swords to Plowshares corporate The Villages at Treasure Island Yes Yes JSCO corporate YMCA of San Francisco: Treasure Island Gymnasium No No YMCA corporate

13 2B - Agency Resources Assessment Summary Agency Normal On-Island Staffing Off Hours Disaster Supplies On-Island? Staff Resident 2-way Radios Generators Agency Vehicles Catholic Charities: Treasure Island Supportive Housing Catholic Charities: Treasure Island Development Center Community Housing Partnership: Island Bay Homes Community Housing Partnership: Villages 6 1 Yes Yes N/A Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes HealthRIGHT Yes Yes Swords to Plowshares 11 2 Yes Yes Treasure Island Homeless Development Initiative 6 2 Yes N/A The Villages at Treasure Island 11 3 Yes* No YMCA of San Francisco: Treasure Island Gymnasium 7 N/A No N/A *Water only

14 2C - Agency Capability Assessment Cumulative Summary Task # Fully Ready Agency Ratings # In Progress # Needs Work Staff Training, Continuity of Operations and Employee Care and Shelter 1. Exercise existing Agency Emergency Plans and Procedures Conduct Agency staff training on Agency Emergency Plans and Procedures 3. Establish temporary Agency administrative and/or maintenance facilities in the event of damage or destruction of Agency s primary on- Island facilities; Provide multi-day care and shelter for Agency s on-island staff Emergency Communications 5. Establish appropriate line of communication to Agency headquarters or executive office 6. Assign on-island Agency staff liaison to interact with TIDA staff or CCSF emergency response personnel as required by nature of incident 7. Distribute TIDA or CCSF generated Public Information to Agency residents and Agency staff in a timely manner Agency Planning and Logistics 8. Transport Agency supplies and staff onto or off of TI/YBI, assuming Bay Bridge is passable. 9. Provide timely real-time property damage information when requested by TIDA staff or CCSF emergency response personnel 10. Provide timely resident demographic information when requested by TIDA or CCSF