: Tornado Emergency Management
The National Weather Service has forecasted the probability of a tornado cluster over Dallas during rush hour. It is feared that a big twister trap may affect 87,000 people in their cars and cause nearly $3 billion in property damage, making it the one of the most destructive tornadoes in US history.
This is a Memo to describe the probable actors or organizations, their roles and responsibilities in emergency management in the course of the potential twister trap. It will also indicate a simulation exercise and how it will be planned and carried out to prepare for the Twister trap.
The mission of this memo is to help all the actors to know what to do in case of the tornado.The probable actors and organizations in case of the tornado occur will include,
• Families in parts of the city that may be affected
• Schools where children may suffer potential casualty
• Commuters on road from who may be trapped in the Twister trap.
• Fire Department
• Police Department
• Emergency Medical Services organizations
• American Red Cross
• National Weather Service
• Public Works Department
• Telephone companies
• Electric utilities
In case of the Twister trap, those affected should be prepared by doing the following.
Preparedness
Role and responsibilities of families
The members of the family should be prepared for the tornado in case it strikes by having a family disaster emergency plan. The plan answers the following questions. Where will the family be when tornado occurs? They could be at work, at school, or in the car. How will they find each other? Will they know if the others are safe? The tornado may force you to evacuate your neighborhood or confine you to your home. What would they do if basic services ,water, gas, electricity or telephones ,were cut off?
The family should be prepared by having
• A disaster supplies kit that should have, clothing and footwear for change per person, blanket or sleeping bag per person, a first-aid kit, including prescription medicines, emergency tools including a NOAA weather radio and a portable radio, flashlight and extra batteries, an extra set of car keys and a credit card or cash and special items for infant elderly or disabled people.
• Listen to radio and television for information. If you had planned a trip, listen to the forecasts and take necessary action if there is a possibility of threatening weather.
• Know the region, parish in which you stay, also keep a highway map near you to follow storm movement from weather forecasts.
Family response
• In a house or building, move to a designated shelter, such as a basement.
• If you don’t have underground shelter, move to an inner room or hallway on the a lower floor and get under a strong piece of furniture.
• Do not stay near windows.
• If you are outdoors, find shelter in a, shelter, basement or sturdy building. If you cant quickly walk to a shelter:
o Get immediately into a vehicle, tighten your seat belt and drive to the closest strong shelter.
o Incase flying debris hits your car when you are driving, pull over, park,
remain in the car with the seat belt on. Put your head below windows, covering with your hands.
o Incase you can safely get noticeably lower than the level of the road, exit the vehicle and lie in the area, covering your.
Mobile homes, do not offer enough protection from tornadoes even if tied down, should be abandoned.
Role and responsibilities of Schools.
The tornado may occur when students are in school. Each school should have the following.
• Develop a weather action plan and have frequent drills,
• Each school should have tornado shelter areas designated. Basements do offer the best protection. Schools that lack basements should use inner rooms and hallways on the lowest floor and far from windows.
• Monitor weather information from NOAA Weather Radio and local radio/television.
• Make special conditions for disabled students.
• Ensure someone has knowledge on how to turn off electricity and gas in the event the school is damaged.
• Children should be kept at school beyond regular hours if the weather is very bad. At school, Children are safer than in a bus or car.
• Assemblies in big rooms should be avoided if severe weather is approaching.
• Move students fast into inner rooms or halls on the lowest floor. Let them assume tornado protection position.
Mitigation
Tornado mitigation involves various groups. This includes government agencies and other non governmental organizations like: Community emergency management office ,Mayor or Community Administrator’s office ,Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) ,National Weather Service ,Public Works Department ,Telephone companies ,Electric utilities ,The Federal Emergency Management Agency and The American Red Cross
Mitigation processes include,
• Creation of a shelter management team
• Creation of shelter maintenance procedures
• Shelter warning, training, and drill procedures and schedules
• Shelter access inspections
• Creation of shelter activation procedures, including head count, shelter security, in-shelter monitoring of weather, and stand-down procedures.
Response to Tornado
This phase includes mobilization of necessary emergency services and the first people in the tornado hit area, these include firefighters, police and ambulance crews. They may be supported by secondary emergency services such as specialF rescue teams. Search and rescue should commence during this period in order to rescue the people who are trapped in cars or buildings or other structures.
In case the tornado hits the Dallas highway, evacuation should start and it is to be done if;
• You are told to do so by local authorities
• You live in a mobile home or temporary structure
• You live in a high-rise building.
• You live on the coast or near a river
If you cannot evacuate, then;
• Stay indoors during the tornado and far from windows and glass doors
• Close all inside doors and secure and brace outside doors
• Keep curtains , blinds closed
• Don’t go outside if storm dies down; it could be the eye of the storm and winds can pick up again
• Take refuge in a small inner room, closet, or halls on the lowest level of the building.
Recovery
This phase is to restore the affected areas to their previous state. These include short and long term commitments like rebuilding destroyed properties, repair of infrastructure, cleaning of the areas affected, re-employment and other services that will restore normality in affected areas. Various groups are involved in this phase and include, individual volunteers, the American Red Cross, the government, community groups in the affected areas and other concerned agencies
How co-ordination may evolve during the cause of the potential Tornado hit
There is a need for both disciplines: in structure, doctrine, process and agility: in creativity, improvisation, adaptability in responding to the Twister trap. Combining that with the need to build a highly functioning leadership group that can quickly coordinate and manage efforts as they go beyond first respondents indicates the need for leaders and his teams to craft and implement a disciplined, iterative set of response plans. This allows the group to move forward with a coordinated and a disciplined response that is vaguely right while adapting to new information and changing circumstances along the way.
The mayor or regional leaders together with the fire department, police and ambulance services from the American Red Cross should be able to organize a team and lead it. It should also include the National Weather Services, Utility providers and Volunteers from the people around. They should be able to do the following:
• Establish a command post to coordinate emergency operations.
• Local officials to immediately begin clearing debris from the stricken area.
• Police, fire, and emergency medical personnel concentrate their efforts on search and rescue operations for those who are trapped in collapsed structures.
• The area is evacuated to another safe area where congregate care will be set up by the Red Cross, which also will assist in preliminary damage assessment.
Simulation Exercise
A simulation exercise for the tornado emergency should be done and the exercise should have the following steps.
• An orientation session: The participants should have a talk or a training session on the emergency operations and behaviors during a tornado disaster.
• Tabletop discussion: Walk participants through the whole process of the disaster and ensure that you have all the groups and organizations involved in all emergency procedures present.
• During the event: as the simulation takes place, be observant of what s going around you and remember that what you see, will be magnified during the real disaster. Look for people who look confused and know if they know what they are supposed to do during a real disaster. Check if the evacuation process is going smoothly and advice people on where they need to improve in case of the real disaster. The simulation should help you know the things that you will need during areal disaster. Does the chain of command in the management of the tornado work. From a simulation, you will learn how to handle certain roles without any problem. This is important as it helps the participants gain confidence.
• After the event: remember to debrief the session immediately after the exercise. This is important as it helps correct what went wrong and what went right.
Reference
FEMA: What to do During a Tornado, retrieved on 26th December from website http://www.fema.gov/hazard/tornado/to_during.shtm
