Shake, Rattle and Roll
2011 Earthquake Recovery Exercise
Situation Manual
Draft 1.2
Thursday September 22, 2011
1:30 to 4:30 pm
Legion Wing
Veterans’ Memorial Hall
1745 Mission Drive, Solvang
Shake, Rattle and Roll
2011 Earthquake Recovery Exercise
Purpose
This exercise provides participants an opportunity to evaluate current response
concepts, plans and capabilities in the event of a major earthquake in Santa
Barbara County that includes disruption of utilities and transportation. The
exercise will focus on VOAD members’ resources in critical decision making,
including assets necessary to keep critical infrastructure, personnel, and
business continuity following a major earthquake.
Scope
This exercise emphasizes the role of each VOAD member in response to the
potential consequences of a natural disaster. Processes and decision-making are
more important than minute details.
Exercise Objectives
Exercise objectives are focused on improving understanding of a response
concept, identifying opportunities or problems, and/or achieving a change in
attitude. The exercise will focus on the following objectives:
1. Communication. Assess the adequacy of communication between VOAD
members and the VOAD Liaison within the County EOC.
2. Business Continuity. To identify shortfalls in resources, limits in
capabilities, and conflicts in planning. Exercise the decision making
process and identify areas needing refinements.
3. Resource Coordination. Determine strengths and areas for improvement
in coordination and integration of recovery resources. Identify critical
issues and potential solutions. Resources to include:
a. Spontaneous Volunteers
b. Access and Functional Needs
c. In-kind donation
Exercise Structure
This will be a facilitated Table Top Exercise. Players will respond to the following:
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Module 1 - Initial Impact Review
Module 2 - Response Priorities (after 17 hours)
Module 3 - Recovery and Restoration (after 6 days)
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2011 Earthquake Recovery Exercise
Each Module begins with a briefing or update. Following each briefing update the
players will have an opportunity to review the module and questions. A
spokesperson from each group should be designated to present a synopsis of
the group’s discussion at the end of each module.
At the end of each module the exercise facilitators will moderate a discussion
among players to highlight key elements of each module.
Exercise Guidelines
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This is an open, low-stress, no-fault environment. Varying viewpoints,
even disagreements, are expected.
Respond based on your knowledge of current plans and capabilities (i.e.,
you may use only existing assets) and insights derived from training.
Decisions are not precedent setting and may not reflect your corporation’s
final position on a given issue. This is an opportunity to discuss and
present multiple options and possible solutions.
Issue identification is not as valuable as suggestions and recommended
actions that could improve response and preparedness efforts. Problemsolving efforts should be the focus.
Assumptions and Artificialities
In any exercise a number of assumptions and artificialities may be necessary to
complete play in the time allotted. During this exercise, the following apply:
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The scenario is plausible and events occur as they are presented.
There is no “hidden agenda”, nor any trick questions.
All players receive information at the same time.
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Shake, Rattle and Roll
2011 Earthquake Recovery Exercise
MODULE 1: INITIAL IMPACT – XX minutes
Wednesday, September 7, 2011 at 4:30 p.m.
At 4:30 p.m. a 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck Southern Santa
Barbara
County
causing
widespread
damages.
Communications have been disrupted, most utilities are out and
you have most of your staff still working.
You know that there has been signification damage in the South
Santa Barbara area, but are unsure of what is happening in the
northern part of Santa Barbara. Dependant on where you are
located, will you need to evacuate your business? According to
your existing plans:
Questions:
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List your priorities
How are your employees accounted for
What are your communication alternatives
MODULE 2: RESPONSE PRIORITIES –
XX minutes to review
Thursday September 8, 2011 – 9:30 a.m.
It has been 17 hours since the magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck.
Some fires from last night continue to burn in and around your
place of business. The injured are still being triaged and evaluated
in many areas. Fire responders remain overwhelmed and continue
to prioritize calls. The few local hospitals and emergency care
locations are on lockdown. Alternative care facilities are not yet
operational.
Communication is still an issue and you are receiving very little
information. However, you did find out that you may have other
facilities that have been evacuated due to structure integrity.
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2011 Earthquake Recovery Exercise
Thursday July 21, 2011 – 10:30 a.m. – The Damage Becomes
Clearer
Hwy 101, the major highway is damaged throughout most of
its length. Multiple areas are seriously buckled and impassable
including some areas where the road has deflected by several
feet and left 6-inch cracks running diagonally across the
surface of the roadway. Full evaluation of all roadways
throughout the county is still ongoing.
In areas closer to the coast landslides
have occurred, blocking roadways and damaging homes. The
full extent of the damage has not been assessed.
Thursday July 21, 2011 – 10:30 a.m. – Water Problems in Area
Water pressure throughout the surrounding area is reportedly
reduced to a trickle due to multiple broken water mains.
Numerous breaks in a sewer lines are dumping untreated
sewage into parts of the downtown area and it is feared that
untreated sewage will reach the ocean. Many residents are
reporting muddy water from their taps and in some cases dry
pipes. Water supply is some areas are non-existent at this time.
Thursday July 21, 2011 – 11:45 a.m. – Additional Damage Report
Major structural damage is reported to some homes in the
city. It seems that homes and businesses are equally
affected. Law enforcement has been asked to cordon off
wide areas within their jurisdictions to protect property but
sufficient resources are not available to fulfill these
requests. Many of your staff live in those areas and cannot
get home and it could be several days before a full
evaluation of those areas can be done.
Law Enforcement has concerns about the ability to protect property and about the
possibility of looting in the area. With power being out in many areas and call
prioritization being in effect, citizens may be on their own to protect their property. This
could also create additional challenges for law enforcement.
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Thursday July 21, 2011 – 11:45 a.m. – Human Cost
Hundreds of people have been treated for injuries.
Among your staff there are minor cuts and scrapes, but
there are no ambulances or transport and injuries are still
being treated by volunteers. You have received
information that the hospitals and health care center are
flooded with patients. They are currently searching for
beds for everyone and are requesting help from the
surrounding communities. Ambulances continue to
operate and more have been requested.
Local emergency workers continue to work with limited
staff concentrating on heaviest damages; your
employees are beginning to get agitated and are fearful and some have not heard from
their families.
Thousands of people are searching the streets and rubble for missing loved ones.
Thursday July 21, 2011 – 12:00 p.m. – The Media
News crews from nearby stations have arrived at your location. They
are setting up in areas where they can find the most damage and
very little action. They’re sending live pictures by satellite to their
national media partners. They’re in the process of finding victims,
your employees, to interview.
Many facts are being presented by the media on in-kinds donations
and your corporation’s handling of the situation.
Thursday July 21, 2011 – 12:35 p.m. – Aftershocks!
As early afternoon begins, two aftershocks hit the surrounding areas.
The first is relatively mild and causes no additional damage but badly
scares everyone.
The second, about a half hour later, is more serious. It is measured as
a magnitude 5.5. Some of the seriously damaged buildings near your
building have collapsed completely, but because most had been
evacuated earlier, these collapses cause minimal injuries. Since the gas and electricity is
still off in your area, no new fires have started.
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2011 Earthquake Recovery Exercise
Thursday July 21, 2011 – 3:00 p.m. – What happens at Twilight
You need to think about what you are going to do with
the employees that cannot get home. Sunset is at 6:35
p.m. tonight and you only 3 ½ hours to deal with this
situation.
You also need to start thinking about how to start
preparing for the influx of donations and resources,
while determining the process for continuity.
Key Issues
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The apparent extent of damage
Fire and law responders stretched thin
Unable to contact corporate headquarters
Water is contaminated
All staff is unable to leave and are unsure of their home damage or status of family
members
Night is falling and you still have staff in the staging area
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2011 Earthquake Recovery Exercise
Facilitated Questions – XX Minutes
1. Based on your response plans, who is responsible for notification to families and
outside vendor/businesses/parent offices? How is information exchanged? What
if there are no communicational tools? Who determines priorities of need and
courses of action?
2. What specialized support do you anticipate needing and how do you get it?
3. What anticipated resources from your corporation may be needed and how do
you identify those needs?
4. Communication Issues: Are communications systems adequate if commercial
and cellular systems experience overload? What redundancies and alternatives
are available? Does a backup communications plan exist? How will your staff
obtain information on the status of their relatives? Would a hotline be
established? How quickly could this service be established? Who is responsible
for this task? Who will staff it?
5. This could be a long term incident, what are the current plans and logistics for
staffing all services, rotating personnel, providing food and shelter, and providing
for their families so they can continue their duties.
6. Who will be in charge of the main incident scene?
7. Are lines of authority delineated in this kind of event?
8. Under whose authority are evacuations ordered? Are there limits to this
authority? How will evacuated areas be protected?
9. If there are long term disruptions in utilities do you have a contingency plan? If
so, who is in charge of keeping up-to-date on utilities?
10. Infrastructure: Who is responsible for your computer systems? Do you have a
contingency plan for how you will keep your business going if you do not have
access to computers?
11. Is a lack of utilities identified in your response plan?
12. What is your public relations strategy at this point? What specific types of
information should the public and your consumers need to hear at this time?
What information needs to remain closely held?
13. How is information relayed to and from the EOC VOAD Liaison?
14. How is information passed along to the other VOAD members?
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2011 Earthquake Recovery Exercise
MODULE 3: RECOVERY & RESTORATION
2-DAYS LATER…
Saturday September 10 – 9:00 a.m. – The In-Kind Donations and
Volunteer Nightmare
It has been two days since the initial earthquake
and you have been receiving many calls on
where and how to handle in-kind donations and
there are still volunteers showing up to support
the incident.
Currently, all utilities have been are still sporadic
around the South County and water is still not
available. Communication is also non-existent through most of the Santa Barbara City,
Montecito and Carpinteria, Goleta has small pockets where communication is working.
Facilitated Questions – 20 minutes
1. Who is involved in damage assessment; does the plan determine the feasibility
of equipment and supplies donated? Are there policies in place to turn down
donations?
2. What do your plans and/or policies determine how, when and why you would use
spontaneous volunteers?
3. Who is responsible for your making sure that equipment is not damaged during
transport? And who determines transport of equipment or supplies? Who has
authority and how far does that authority go? Does your business have financial
reserves for this type of event and what is the policy for ordering equipment and
supplies if needed?
4. How do you handle the staff/employees in regards to psychological first aid? Do
your plans address how to handle staffs that are not comfortable in coming back
to work?
5. Who is responsible for making sure that staff is kept up-to-date on progress of
the event?
6. How are you going to handle In-Kind donations that are just dropped off?
7. How do you deal with the media if information is incorrect? How do you work with
the media on getting our corrected information and is this a policy in your plan.
The most important question…
Did you prepare your staff for this type of event ahead of time? If not, what will you do to
prepare them?
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