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As part of VITEMA’s continuous improvement cycle, the agency conducted an After Action Review of its Hurricane Earl response on Friday, with emergency operations centers on St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John, which also included representatives of federal emergency response agencies.
The purpose of the After Action Review is to identify best practices and areas for improvement. VITEMA Deputy Director for Operations Noel Smith facilitated the meeting held by conference call.
“Even though recovery efforts are ongoing, VITEMA saw it necessary to conduct an After Action Review while the experience is still fresh in our minds,” said VITEMA Director Mark A. Walters said. “We still have time, before the next storm, to take corrective actions based on feedback from our emergency coordinators from all of the local and federal agencies represented in the EOC (Emergency Operations Centers).”
Among VITEMA’s best practices was the seamless coordination with the National Weather Service, the V.I. Emergency Management Council, emergency services coordinators, local and federal partners and voluntary agencies to prepare for Hurricane Earl.
“As soon as we were learned that Earl would have an impact on the Territory, we immediately activated our emergency support functions and started coordination calls with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA),” Director Walters said.
A FEMA team was deployed and arrived to the Virgin Islands within 24 hours of the call. The team, called an Incident Management Assessment Team (IMAT), included representatives of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Defense, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Transportation Security Administration, and the American Red Cross. Upon their arrival at VITEMA’s headquarters on St. Thomas, the team immediately began coordinating with their local counterparts.
VITEMA also worked closely with the U.S. Coast Guard to coordinate the closing of the seaports and with Gov. John P. de Jongh Jr. and his Cabinet to coordinate the closure and re-establishment of government operations and the opening public schools once the storm had passed.
Emergency managers identified communications and the St. Croix emergency operations center as areas that needed improvements.
VITEMA recently began addressing a faulty air conditioning system at its St. Croix facility and during the process discovered the building also had mold issues. At the time of the storm, a contractor had been working to install new air conditioning units, to remediate the mold, and to weather- proof the facility. VITEMA was also addressing mechanical problems with its generator and, in addition, has contracted with a local company to conduct maintenance not only on VITEMA’s generator but also on those located at local shelters on St. Croix.
“As a result of ongoing work at the St. Croix facility, we are identifying an alternate site to serve as the Emergency Operations Center ― with the full capabilities of a robust emergency operations center ― for the remainder of the hurricane season,” Director Walters said.
Communications between the emergency operations center territorywide also proved to be challenging. On both St. John and St. Croix, emergency coordinators were affected by sporadic cell phone and land-line services.
To address this issue, VITEMA obtained three satellite phones it anticipates will improve communications between centers.
VITEMA is working to address gaps beyond those identified by the Emergency Operations Centers. VITEMA is securing warehouses to store commodities, such as water, MREs (meals-ready-to-eat) and tarps, in the event damage caused by a major disaster prevents emergency supplies from reaching the territory. These warehouses are expected to be stocked with enough commodities to sustain the Virgin Islands for an extended period of time.
The Department of Property and Procurement has identified an existing warehouse on St. Thomas which is currently being retrofitted with air conditioning for climate control. Property and Procurement is currently searching for other similar facilities throughout the territory.
Hurricane Earl also was the first test of VITEMA’s mass alert and notification system, VI Alert. VI Alert issued more than 50 advisories for Hurricane Earl and decisions to impose curfews, the closure and opening of public schools, power restoration efforts and the closing and re-establishing of government operations.
According to Director Walters addressing gaps through after action reviews is essential in being better prepared for the next storm.
“I encourage businesses and individuals to look at what worked well and where improvements could be made in their preparations and response to Hurricane Earl and to make those changes, wherever feasible, in time for the next storm,” Director Walters said.
VITEMA encourages everyone to visit www.vitema.gov for preparedness information and to register for VI Alert for instant alerts and notifications about severe weather that may be impact the Territory as well as notices of official government actions.
For additional information please contact Director Walters at 340-774-2244.
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