Item 8A - Emergency ManagementAGENDA ITEM # 8A
MARCU14, 2016
CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH
ClTY COMMISSION AGENDA ITEM ON EMERGE NC Y PLANNING
AGENDA ITEM: This is a fo rm al r e quest for a bri efi n g by the C ity Ma nager and staff to the
C ity Co01rni ssion o n detailed aspects of the City's Emergency
Management pla n for a ny and all contin gencies or poss ibl e eme rgency
incidents. A briefing is requested prior to the s tart of the 2016 defined
hwTicane season.
SUBMITTED BY: Commissioner John M Stinson ~~
DATE: The 24111 of February 2 01 6
BAC KGROUND: The C ity of Atlantic Beach emergency operation s are covered under C ity
Ordi na nc e Part Il, C hapter 2, Administ1'ation, Artic le VIII , E mergen cy Management, Divisio n II ,
Emergency Management P lan, Section 2 parts 401-409.
Most e mergencies a re unpredi ct able and vary widely in scope, impact and required resp onse.
Causes may be severe weather, infe ctio u s diseases, indus tri a l accidents or s pills, or by intentional
acts. And, when experienced, a n emergency can threat e n public safety, the e nvironme nt,
p roperty, critica l infrastructure, the health of the public and access to li fe saving health ca re.
Preparation, planning, assess ment and practice are essential to e mergency pre paredness.
And , residents of Atlantic Beac h need to unders tand key points of any response plan, in cluding:
1. Th e City utilizes a detailed pla n that is current, assessed and upd a ted a1mually.
2. Identify ing th e Incident Ch ai n ofCommand, includin g selection and training require d.
3. Prefetred me th ods of informa tion di ssemina ti on to & from the public.
4. Specifi c evacuation routes for each uniqu e area of the city.
5. Contingency pl an s in the event evacuation is not p ossible .
6. C ity-wide security in the event a f ull evacuation is impleme nted.
Atlantic Beach has been fortunate to not having experien ced a natura l emergency in decades.
T he beac hes are the fir s t to evacuate if a s torm near s our area and our proximity to NS May port
has the p otential to force emergency response du e to something other than natural causes. And,
in today's uncet1 ain times, it is not unreasonable to contemplate intentiona l ac ts of those w ish ing
to cause harm and fear in c iti zens.
Co nside r~ according to the c mTe nt Atla ntic Beach city plan, when winds reac h a sustain ed rate of
40 MPH in Atlantic Beach, all key empl oyees (including police) relocate across the Intracoastal
Wate rway. If City sta ff is relocatin g, will there b e an entire evacua ti on of the C ity ? How will
security be provided for ou r unoccupied h omes a nd businesses in A tl antic Beach ? How does the
plan provi de for re-entr y and r ecovery operations? Has the current plan been te sted by "in
house" sessions s uch as a ''tab le top" exercise wh ere various scenario s are presented for city
leaders to respond to and th a t vali date the pl a n?
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AGENDA ITEM# 8A
MARCH 14, 2016
CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH
CITY COMMISSION AGENDA ITEM ON EMERGENCY PLANNING
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS: Remember ... "If you fail to plan, then plan to fail" and even
the best response plan, poorly implemented, will magnify the impact of any incident
experienced.
Therefore, it is critical that any response plan be assessed, evaluated and revised to be able to
successfully address any possible emergency. Key elements to consider in assessing these
emergency plans include:
1. Communications -umeliability of wireless services, GETS phones for necessary personnel,
secondmy communications such as HAM radios, satellite phones, radio broadcasts, military &
National Guard, etc.
2. Traffic Management -egress, ingress routes and public safety control points, coordination
with adjacent governmental agencies, citizen knowledge & understanding, other necessary
services, towing & recovery services, up-to-date passes for citizen reentry, etc.
3. Evacuation Action-control points for City traffic and flow patterns into neighboring
communities, security & looting prevention, PSA broadcasts, reentry assessment, etc.
4. Restoration-utility restoration and safety, debris removal, available resources, capital
constraints and disbursements, communication flow between various depmiments & agencies,
citizen assistance with information, complaints, access to insurance adjustors, reliance on citizen
volunteers.
CONCLUSION: A detailed, current, and well understood evacuation plan is a matter oflife
and death. The City of Atlantic Beach Emergency Response Plan has yet to be evaluated and
during an actual emergency is not the time to test the plan.
BUDGET: Time and focus of city personnel to prepare and brief this plan at a workshop, time
and focus of City staff to meet with other team members to evaluate data and make
recommendations.
RECOMMENDATION: Create a team consisting of one junior and one senior member of each
department of the City of Atlantic Beach, working with one member of the current City
Commission to identify required resources necessary for evaluating the current plan. This team
will also select members of the community to assist as emergency case contributors and plan
evaluation. The team would meet monthly until resource identification is complete. The team
would then schedule quarterly table-top exercises to evaluate plan response and effectiveness,
Early table-top exercises would be smaller, localized events with the magnitude of events
building over time to include other communities and response teams. Therefore it is
recommended this effort be undertaken prior to the 2016 hurricane season or as soon as possible
thereafter.
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