Isabel Helped Prepare Localities for Irene

By Desiree Parker Thursday, September 08, 2011

Nearly a decade of improvements in technology coupled with better preparations meant the Historic Triangle was significantly better equipped for Hurricane Irene compared to Hurricane Isabel.

Isabel did about $5.7 million in damage to 281 structures in Williamsburg in 2003, compared to Irene, which did about $3.8 million in damage to 63 structures. In York County, Irene caused an estimated $6.6 million in damage to 145 homes (York County did not have Isabel damage numbers immediately handy). Isabel did almost $48 million in damage to James City County, while initial damage assessment after Irene is at approximately $21.75 million, with seven homes destroyed and 130 homes sustaining major damage.

Local governments made many changes after lessons learned the hard way when Hurricane Isabel pounded the Triangle, including adding more generator backups and other redundancies, which officials say helped reduce Irene’s impact to local residents. One of the biggest changes, though, came from new and faster ways to communicate – namely social media sites and the new age of smart phones.

James City County Fire Department Chief Tal Luton says one of the biggest differences between Isabel and Irene was the instant communication offered by social media such as Facebook and Twitter, the county’s JCC alert system and the prevalence of smart phones.

Speaking about these new technologies, Luton says, “They were the heroes here during this event. We got all our information out quickly.” The new tools “have a very defined role now in emergency management … and it showed that people are using cell phones to access data. Cell phones stayed [useable] during the storm.”

James City County spokeswoman Jody Puckett agrees that social media was a big help, especially when the county network was lost during the storm. “After the County IT network went down, [social media] was our only means of information delivery at the EOC, with postings made by Renee [Dallman, a JCC communications specialist] using her personal iPad 3G. Social media gives us the opportunity to post immediately, correct misinformation and dispel rumors.”

Local governments also used social media during Irene to share information on where to seek shelter, how to get water and meals, and to share information on what facilities and buildings were open and closed.

Williamsburg City Manager Jack Tuttle says social media was a help to city residents, too. “We had a lot more opportunity to communicate, and we used social media and other avenues and put together an active PIO team to get the word out.”

York County is the only Triangle locality that doesn’t use social media.

Many backups were put in place by local governments since Isabel, too, which officials say helped ease the effects of the recent storm on citizens.

Tuttle explains that the city relied heavily on the Volunteer Citizen Corps, a program started in March 2003 just before Isabel hit. The corps, which splits the city into sectors headed by a citizen captain who is in constant radio communication with the city, wasn’t nearly as active during its infancy in Isabel as it was during Irene.

“We used [the corps] in Irene in a way we never had before. We stayed in constant contact and shared updates.” This helped the city know what was needed in various neighborhoods quickly, and let citizens know what was happening in the city.

All the localities have also beefed up their generator backups to help stave off effects of power loss to critical systems as happened after Isabel.York County added extra back-up generators to shelters, sewer pump stations, fire stations and other critical facilities.

Tuttle says the city didn’t have generators at all the wastewater pumping stations during Isabel; city employees had to run from station to station with a generator to turn pumps on temporarily, which still led to a few wastewater overflows.

Since then, the city has installed generators at all pumping stations. “We never had any spills this time thanks to the generators,” he reports.

Luton says James City County had several residents with health problems that require medical equipment who ran into problems when the power went out for a long period during Isabel. “This time, we prepared beforehand better,” he said.

The county used grant funds to stockpile small generators that they distributed to residents with medical issues to run things such as oxygen tanks during the recent storm.

The county also built redundancies for their servers at the 911 center “so if the network goes down – like it did this time – we’re still up and running” at the Emergency Operations Center, Luton says. During Isabel when the network went down Luton had to drive over and get the servers and bring them to the EOC.

Luton says James City County also decided to hook up a big line of spigots to a fire hydrant in the upper county after many residents with well systems lost water after Isabel. Residents were able to get water in this area after Irene blew through.

Both James City County and Williamsburg have established an instant information system since Isabel to get important emergency information out to residents through text messages or other instant means.

Localities also now use webEOC, a crisis information management system that allows local officials to communicate with one another in a more secure way.

These are just a few examples of how local governments have been adapting and trying to prepare better for crises before they occur. To sign up for James City County’s emergency notification system, JCC Alert, click here. To register for Williamsburg’s similar alert system, City 411, click here. To sign up for emails from York County, click here.