Hurricanes Lessons Learned: Changing the Way We Think

2. HurricanesLessons Learned: Changing the Way We Think State of Florida Florida Team: Lorraine Husum Allen, Florida Department of Education Paula Shea, Florida Department of Education Carol Calfee, Santa Rosa Public Schools Steve Sharp, Escambia Public Schools Frank Zenere, Miami-Dade Public Schools

3. Effect on Florida Schools: Number of Days of School Closings • 2-5 Days 29 Districts • 6-10 Days 24 Districts • 11-15 Days 11 Districts • 16-21 Days 3 Districts

4. Florida Department of Education • State Emergency Operations Center • DOE is a visible partner in Florida’s EOC • DOE buddy system linksa single point of contact with each district • Provided Mission Tracking/Problem Solving, such as Expediting Fuel Deliveries to Schools Following Frances and Ivan

5. Florida Department of Education • Emergency Contact Center • Provided Disaster Information to Students and Staff Statewide, such as: • School Closings/Openings • Created Single Point of Contact for DOE Officials to Contact Assigned DOE “Buddies”

6. Florida Department of Education Other Florida Department of Education Disaster-Related Activities • Protection of DOE Facilities • Single DOE Point-of-Contact for Each Impacted Institution or School District • Central Review/Verification of Incoming Information to Ensure Accuracy • Program-Specific Assistance with Issues Such as Sources of Food Commodities, Facility Assessments, Mutual Aid, Securing of Relocatable Classrooms, Health and Safety Questions, Securing of Bus Drivers, Bus Parts, etc.

7. Florida Department of Education Colleges and Universities • Aid to Campuses • Aid to Communities • State University System Responded with Resources, Experts and Recovery Teams • Students, Faculty, and Staff Volunteered Statewide • University of West Florida Took Direct Hit from Ivan • Campus Closed for over Two Weeks

11. Florida Department of Education Florida’s Response: Hurricane Displaced Students

12. Evacuees in Florida • Shelter numbers increased. • Hotels were at capacity. • Schools had students coming in to enroll.

13. Executive Order • Toll-Free Hotline for Displaced Students • Immunization Requirement Waiver • Exceptional Students - IEP • In-state Tuition • Class Size Exception • Temporary Teacher Certification

14. Displaced Students • 60 of 67 Florida Counties received displaced students from Katrina and Rita. • 17, 776 Displaced Students were enrolled in K-12 schools

15. Displaced Students • 1,461 Students were in Special Education • 1,547 Enrolled in Private Schools

16. Escambia 1,875 Students Okaloosa 1,844 Students Duval 1,414 Students Bay 1,413 Students Dade 1,320 Students

17. Data Conversion • 15-Member FLDOE Team • Within 2 Weeks – Process was developed for conversion • “Crosswalk” for School Districts developed for use via the Internet. • Shared with other Agencies.

18. Appropriate Education Placement Cost Savings to the State Human Impact

19. Hurricane Ivan ~ September 2004 Tropical Storm Arlene ~ June 2005 Hurricane Dennis ~ August 2005 Hurricane Preparedness, Response & Recovery:Santa Rosa and Escambia Counties Escambia County School District Superintendent Jim Paul Pensacola, Florida Santa Rosa School District Superintendent Johnny Rogers Milton, Florida

20. Steven F. SharpDivision ChiefSecurity, Safety & Emergency OpsEscambia School District51 East Texar DrivePensacola , FL 32503ssharp@escambia.k12.fl.us850 439 2638 Presented By:Carol CalfeeDirector of Federal ProgramsSanta Rosa School District5086 Canal StreetMilton, FL 32570calfeec@mail.santarosa.k12.fl.us850 983 5001

22. Hurricane Ivan Statistics • Classified upper category 3 storm • Hurricane force winds for 13 hours: Sustained wind at 130 mph, with stronger bands • Very slow, very large – 29 hours of storm conditions • 16-foot storm surge 8 miles north of the coast into bays and bayous

23. Impact on Utilities • Electricity • Portions of communities without power for months • Most major power out 2 – 3 weeks • Water • Water system in majority of Escambia County out for over a week • No potable water available for even longer • Sewage • Main sewage treatment plant serving majority of Escambia population damaged by storm surge • Sewage system inoperable for over a week in large portion of Escambia • Communications • Phone, cell phone, fax, e-mail, television, radio inoperable for extended period • Local broadcast radio was the firstreturn

24. Impact on Transportation • 40-foot wave destroyed I-10 bridge • Other major roads & bridges closed, isolating community from rest of Florida • Hundreds of local roads clogged with debris and flood water

25. School District Impact • Ivan Damage: • Santa Rosa- $21 million • Escambia - $75 million • Dennis Damage: • Santa Rosa - $3.5 million • Escambia - $6 million • Debris Removal: • Escambia Ivan • 31,000 cubic yards, $2.5 million • Escambia Dennis • 12,483 cubic yards, $981,660 • Thousands of students significantly impacted • Hundreds of staff lost homes or suffered severe damage • Lost school days – Ivan: • Escambia – 19 • Santa Rosa – 17 • Lost school days – Dennis: • Escambia – 4 • Santa Rosa –4

26. Emergency Operations • Shelter Operations • Response and relief support • Public safety operations • Distribution centers, (P.O.D.S.) • Responder staging/housing, i.e. National Guard, power companies, public safety agencies, church relief organizations, etc. • Professional and technical assistance

27. Lessons Learned Response & Initial Recovery

28. Emergency Operations • Shelter Operations • Ensure shelter management team knows what part of facility is designated as shelter space • MOU with Red Cross with clear understanding of responsibilities and expectations • Shelter management training for school administration • Specify expectations re: closing and consolidation of shelters to transition school back to education operation • Have two management teams for each shelter in event of extended operations • Provide adequate and multiple means of communication with shelters

29. Maintenance & Facilities Management • Recalling staff when they had significant damage to their own homes • Care and feeding of maintenance staff and families • Initial damage assessment - life safety and initial documentation • Extended work hours • 24/7 shelter support • Emergency generators • Pre-storm agreements with critical contractors and vendors • Ensures the schools are on top of their response list • Locks in cost of initial repair work • FEMA guidelines • Lack of contractors, building materials, supplies, increased costs • Getting buildings sealed up and dried out is critical re: mold remediation and prevention

30. Food Service • Establish agency contacts for supporting extended feeding at shelters and supplying mobile canteens • Salvaging food and supplies – transferring refrigerated food to available functioning coolers – manpower & transportation • Disposing of spoiled food – manpower required to move a lot of supplies • Distribute food before it goes bad

31. Transportation • Do not allow drivers to take buses home, have them parked in central SAFE locations • Assessing fuel supply is critical in relation to assuring future deliveries • Assess safety and availability of routes prior to announcing opening of schools • Design alternate routes (for destroyed neighborhoods) • Determine impact of students left homeless or forced to move because of hurricane damage – FEMA housing centers • Computerized routing system – no power

32. Human Resources • Locating displaced personnel • Tiered recall of critical employees • Determining basic needs of impacted employees – colleague support system • Modified work schedules • Make-shift phone banks • Long-term modified schedules of employees suffering significant damage/impact and/or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

33. Finance • Cash flow! • Loss of power – no paychecks – run payroll prior to shut down of system and storm • Alternate plan for distribution of paychecks – regional paycheck distribution points • Access to remote computer servers

34. Make decisions based on sustaining life and health – you can ask for forgiveness later Determine pre-arranged meeting locations and time for critical/senior staff Shelter for critical district staff Communicating with community The community needs information after a major disaster, everyone has a sense of familiarity with our schools School resuming is a big step to assuming some sense of normalcy, “Is football season going to be cancelled?” Provide limited fuel ration for district staff required to work in initial recovery efforts Initial Post Storm Response

35. Lessons Learned Long Term Recovery

36. Multi-Hazard Planning Parental Issues Hurricanes Tornadoes Fires Earthquakes Hazard Materials Incident Floods Domestic Security

37. 2 years later……Improvements! • Infrastructure Improvements • Gasoline, contracts, roofs, generators, power lines, flag poles, ITV towers, vendor disaster plans, pre-storm mitigation routines, etc. • Planning Improvements • Advanced planning and coordination • Pre-disaster agreements with vendors • Chairs in the EOC • County Disaster Housing Plan

38. Moving on up…

39. 2 years later…improvements • Collaborations Galore! • Faith-based community • Long Term Recovery Committees • Community Emergency Response Teams • Confidentiality barriers (somewhat) overcome • Sharing • Information and resources • Services • Resources • Maximizing funds

40. 2 years later…Improvements • Student sensitivity and role in disaster preparedness and response • Participation in response efforts • “When the Hurricane Blew” • Red Cross Project for the elderly • Donations to Hurricane Katrina and Rita victims! • Welcoming the evacuees

41. RIGOROUS McKinney-Vento Program • Community collaboration beyond just homeless network • McKinney Vento Rights • Mental Health & Academic Needs • Confidentiality Barriers • Upcoming publication: • A McKinney-Vento Toolbox: Constructing a Robust and Rigorous McKinney-Vento Program,In Case of Disaster and Every Day (NAEHCY)

42. Continuing Issues and Unexpected Results • Population of students • Increase in immigrant population • Personnel Shortages • Bus drivers • Teachers • Contractors

43. Impact on Housing • 23,196 housing units damaged or destroyed (46.9% of county’s housing stock) • 1 in 5 apartment units • 879 multi-family homes • 3,409 mobile homes • 3,254 homes destroyed or uninhabitable

44. Long Term Recovery/Risk Management • Coverage that is broad, multi-company! • Adjustors survey dozens of schools in short time period • Request advance in funds to start repairs – school board involvement • Flood insurance on high risk schools (collaboration with Mitigation planning) • Documentation

45. Continuing Issues • Financial Loss • Local projects on hold • Hidden expenses (i.e., replacing ESE equipment) • FEMA paperwork – time and personnel strain • FEMA audit • Mental health • Students • Adult “Compassion Fatigue”

46. Lessons Learned • Be prepared to think outside the box, as it will either float away with the storm surge or was blown into the next county • Make a decision… it’s about survival • School systems ARE critical first responders! • A strong relationship with local and state public safety officials is critical • Institute geographic response plan triggers, (latitude/longitude), instead of time-based • Community-wide disasters change all of the rules – new “normal” - and may be indicative of terrorism activities. • Early dismissal of schools may have saved lives!

47. Lessons Learned • Back-up POWER systems should be installed for all “core” functions – data processing, food service, maintenance, central office, and schools designated as shelters. • Communications: multi-layered planning is critical. • Planning needs to include biggest picture over longest time for all 4 phases (prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery). • Schools are a critical part of the community’s infrastructure. A return to normal for the school district indicates a return to normal for the community. • Balancing the decision to quickly open schools is difficult when you are dealing with the safety, security and mental health of students and staff.

48. Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season Lessons Learned

49. Florida Hurricanes:Lessons for the Future! Presented by: Frank Zenere, Ed.S. School Psychologist Miami-Dade Public Schools

50. FLORIDA HURRICANES:LESSONS FOR THE FUTURE Historical view Seven hurricanes and two tropical storms over last two year period Impact of multiple storm experiences