Hurricane Resource Guide 2018 - WaterISAC

Hurricane Resource Guide - 2018

The Atlantic and Central Pacific hurricane seasons lasts from June 1 until November 30, and the
Eastern Pacific hurricane season goes from May 15 until November 30. To assist its members in
preparing for and responding to potential hurricane activity, WaterISAC has consolidated
numerous resources regarding hurricanes, including forecasts of hurricane activity; websites for
real-time monitoring of hurricane conditions; and tools for preparing for, responding to, and
recovering from hurricanes. WaterISAC will continue to monitor for additional resources and
update its members as appropriate.

Contents:

   Introduction
   Forecasts
   Real-time Monitoring
   Tools

Introduction
In surveys of WaterISAC members conducted to inform semi-annual Water Sector Threat
Analysis reports, respondents have routinely ranked “extreme weather/natural disasters”
among the top threats to their organizations. And in terms of extreme weather and natural
disasters, among the foremost of these are hurricanes, which can bring damaging floods and
high winds and cause power outages that degrade or disrupt operations. To help water and
wastewater utilities address these threats, WaterISAC provides members with a rich
clearinghouse of information about hurricane preparedness, not to mention emergency
response.

If you are not a WaterISAC member, consider joining to access these resources. WaterISAC
offers free one-month trial WaterISAC memberships to new members.

Visit www.waterisac.org/join and explore WaterISAC.

Please contact WaterISAC with any questions or comments at info@waterisac.org or 866-H2O-
ISAC.

Forecasts
Tropical Meteorology Project (Colorado State University)

The Colorado State University’s Tropical Meteorology Project released its updated Extended
Range Forecast for the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season on May 31, 2018 (after having released
its initial Extended Range Forecast in early April). It predicts “approximately average” activity
for the season (compared to “slightly below-average” predicted for 2017), 13 named storms (11
predicted for 2017), and a 51 percent chance of at least one major hurricane (category 3, 4, or
5) making landfall somewhere along the entire U.S. coastline (42 percent chance predicted for
2017). If the U.S. experiences more hurricanes in 2018 than in 2017, as a comparison of the
reports’ conclusions seems to suggest, it will be a very active season. No matter what activity
level is predicted, the researchers encourage coastal residents to maintain the same level of
hurricane season preparation every year, as “it only takes one hurricane making landfall to
make it an active season for them.”

The Tropical Meteorology Project also tracks the likelihood of tropical storm-force, hurricane-
force, and major hurricane-force winds occurring at specific locations along the coastal U.S. and
the Caribbean through its Landfall Probability website. The site provides information for all
coastal states as well as 11 regions and 205 individual counties along the U.S. coastline from
Texas to Maine. Landfall probabilities for regions and counties are adjusted based on the
current climate and its projected effects on the upcoming hurricane season.

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

In its 2018 Atlantic hurricane season outlook, NOAA predicts there is a 75 percent chance of
near or above-normal storm activity. NOAA’s forecast also notes a 70 percent likelihood of 10
to 16 names storms (winds of 39 MPH or higher), of which 5 to 9 could become hurricanes
(winds of 74 MPH or higher), including 1 to 4 major hurricanes (categories 3, 4, and 5; with
winds of 111 MPH or higher). NOAA emphasizes that these products are intended to serve as
general guides to the expected overall seasonal hurricane activity, not as seasonal hurricane
landfall forecasts or predictors of levels of activity for a particular location.

Real-time Monitoring
NOAA Hurricane Centers

To get the latest information on the status of hurricanes, visit NOAA’s National Hurricane
Center (NHC), which allows visitors to toggle between viewing conditions in the Atlantic and the
Eastern Pacific. For conditions in the Central Pacific, visit the Central Pacific Hurricane Center.

Changes for this Year

For the 2018 hurricane seasons, the NHC is making some changes to maps and other products.
One of the biggest changes will be adjustments to the NHC’s hurricane track map. When the
NHC issues a track for a tropical system, the map includes what is known as the cone of
uncertainty. Beginning this year, the cone will be smaller than it has been in past years, giving
the public a better idea of where the center of the storm is headed. Secondly, in 2017 the NHC
introduced an experimental map to help convey to the public when strong winds would arrive
at a given location. After a successful test run, the NHC has decided to make these maps fully
operational. Finally, whenever there is an active tropical system, the NHC issues a public
advisory that includes information about all aspects of the storm, such as current winds and
expected storm surge. In past years, these advisories only discussed the next two days, limiting
the amount of long-range details about the storm. However, starting this year, advisories will
look as far as five days in advance.

WaterISAC

WaterISAC members can also expect to receive advisories from WaterISAC on hurricanes that
are threatening to make landfall or to otherwise have impacts on critical infrastructure.
WaterISAC receives reports from NOAA, DHS, and state agencies, which it aggregates and uses
to generate advisories for its members.

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Tools
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

A checklist can be an extremely helpful tool for preparing for and responding to a natural
disaster. Fortunately, EPA has made available the Incident Action Checklist - Hurricane, which
features separate checklists of actions to prepare for hurricane season, actions to respond to a
hurricane: pre-landfall activities, actions to respond to a hurricane: post-landfall activities, and
actions to recover from a hurricane. It also discusses some of the impacts water and
wastewater utilities can expect from hurricanes, provides examples of what some organizations
in the sector have done in response to these incidents, provides a list of “My Contacts and
Resources” to be filled out by an organization to aid in its outreach to partners, and lists
numerous hurricane preparedness resources.

Given that one of the most damaging and costly effects of hurricanes are often floods, water
and wastewater utilities may also wish to access EPA’s Incident Action Checklist – Flooding,
which is structured in the same manner as the previous document. Additionally, EPA developed
the interactive Flood Resilience Guide to help drinking water and wastewater utilities become
more resilient to flooding. The guide helps utilities examine the threat of flooding, determine
impacts to assets, and identify cost-effective mitigation options. The guide includes a user-
friendly layout, embedded videos, and flood maps to help guide utilities through the process.
Although this guide focuses on flood resilience, its same approach can be applied to enhancing
resilience to other hazards.

To help utilities understand one particular type of flooding that often arises from hurricanes –
storm surge – EPA created the online Storm Surge Inundation Map. This interactive tool
illustrates the current worst-case storm surge and inundation scenarios on the American Gulf
and Atlantic Coast, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The map combines data
layers from FEMA 100 and 500 year flood maps as well as NOAA's Sea, Lake, and Overland
Surge from Hurricanes (SLOSH) and NHC’s coastal county hurricane strike maps.

Widespread and long duration power outages are common effects of hurricanes. Due to water
and wastewater utilities’ dependence on a consistent power supply to maintain operations,
these outages can cause significant water and wastewater service disruptions. To help the
sector mitigate the effects of and increase its resilience to outages, EPA published the Power
Resilience Guide. Among other recommended measures and strategies, this resource addresses
the importance of water and wastewater utilities improving their relationships with their
electrical power providers and local emergency management agencies. It also discusses how
they can secure generators and develop fuel management plans to maintain operations without
grid power.

Another tool from EPA, Hazard Mitigation for Natural Disasters: A Starter Guide for Water and
Wastewater Utilities, is intended to offer pointers on mitigating the impacts of natural

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disasters, including hurricanes, on water and wastewater services. This resource is an
interactive PDF that touches on why mitigation is important, how to be included in your
community's local mitigation plan, how to identify potential mitigation projects for each type of
disaster, and how to implement and fund proposed mitigation projects.

Finally, EPA’s Water Utility Response On-The-Go Mobile Website, consolidates, and makes
accessible from the field, information and tools that water utility operators and their response
partners may need during an emergency. The site allows users to: identify and contact
emergency response partners; monitor local and national severe weather; review and complete
incident-specific checklists; and populate, save and email both generic damage assessment
forms and FEMA incident command system forms. EPA created a YouTube video for this
resource to demonstrate its use and to highlights its features.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

FEMA’s Hurricane page from America’s PrepareAthon! website includes resources designed to
familiarize individuals and organizations with hurricane risks and encourage them to take part
in activities. They include: How to Prepare for a Hurricane, Hurricane Playbook, Know Your
Alerts and Warnings, and an Organizational Tabletop Exercise.

Hurricanes can threaten any organization’s ability to maintain operations. To help bolster the
business continuity of its partners, in March FEMA released the Continuity Guidance Circular
(CGC). This resource describes federal and non-federal continuity efforts; outlines whole
community roles, responsibilities, and coordinating structures; and describes the process for
building and maintaining capabilities and deliver critical services under all conditions. The CGC
can be looked to as a reference when creating or revising continuity plans, programs, and
processes. The document can be used by personnel who are both experienced in or new to
continuity; it includes detailed descriptions of key concepts, checklists, and case studies.

For the 2017 hurricanes, FEMA activated its National Business Emergency Operations Center
(NBEOC). Through the NBEOC, FEMA established websites for sharing information on the
hurricanes and the status of the responses and resources to assist partners. It also convened
daily calls, which were open to all critical infrastructure organizations. During these calls, FEMA
and its partners provided updates by critical infrastructure sector and took questions and
comments from the audience. For helping to quickly and thoroughly disseminate information to
its partners, the NBEOC was viewed as a great success and will likely be reactivated for any
major hurricane activity that occurs in 2018. WaterISAC tracks and attends NBEOC events and
informs its members of how they can join.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

One of the most significant challenges critical infrastructure organizations face in the aftermath
of a disaster is getting access to facilities and other assets that have been impacted. To help its
partners address this challenge, in March DHS released the Crisis Event Response and Recovery

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Access (CERRA) Framework: An Emergency Preparedness Access and Best Practice Guide. This
resource provides recommended mechanisms, tools, and process approaches for coordinating,
approving, and enabling access to restricted disaster areas by public and private organizations,
including water and wastewater utility personnel and assets, during response and recovery
operations. The document describes how to coordinate access control operations, lists
examples of “access tokens” (e.g. placards, letters, or badges), and includes sample case
studies. The Water Sector Coordinating Council (WSCC) contributed to the development of this
document.

DHS also recently released the Countering False Information on Media in Disasters and
Emergencies report, which contains recommendations on the safe and sustainable use of social
media technologies before, during, and after emergencies. As noted in this document, one of
the biggest challenges for organizations involved in emergency response is how to reduce or
eliminate the spread of false information. Social media can distribute news faster and to a
wider audience than traditional news sources, but it also brings the potential for
misinformation and rumors to spread and go viral. The report uses cases studies, including one
involving the evacuations of areas in the vicinity of the Oroville Dam, to highlight these
challenges and demonstrate how its recommendations have been put to effective use.

WaterISAC

In addition to sending advisories on hurricanes that are threatening to make landfall or to
otherwise have impacts on critical infrastructure, WaterISAC also serves its members by giving
them access to contaminant databases and, when requested, putting them in contact with
subject matter experts.

The contaminant databases, which are available to Pro members by signing into the WaterISAC
portal, include the U.S. EPA’s Water Contaminant Information Tool and the U.K. Water Industry
Research (UKWIR) Toxicity and Microbiology Datasheets. The types of information in the
databases include laboratory methods, occurrence and use, mammalian toxicology, ecotoxicity,
removal during water or sewage treatment, reactions with other agents, taste and odor, and
byproducts. As an example of how these databases can be used, let’s say there are concerns a
water supply may be contaminated by the release of significant amounts of a hazardous
substance into the environment as a result of flood waters from a hurricane. The water utility
can log in to one of the databases to look up the substance’s characteristics, learning about
how it may impact operations and informing response options.

WaterISAC’s membership base is its greatest asset, as pooled together these partners represent
an incalculable amount of water sector security expertise and experiences that can be tapped
into to help find solutions to other members’ challenges. WaterISAC encourages its members to
bring to its attention difficult questions and other unmet needs. WaterISAC can then reach out
to experts within its membership, putting them in contact with the requesting utility.
WaterISAC can also assist in elevating the needs of its members by reaching out to its partners,
such as those in federal, state, and local government agencies.

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Mutual Aid and Assistance

Due to the scale of the disaster that a natural disaster like a hurricane can cause, any critical
infrastructure organization can quickly exhaust its resources for the response. Mutual aid and
assistance agreements and networks came about precisely to address this problem, providing
an organization with much needed personnel, equipment, and materials from other entities to
facilitate repairs and restore operations.

The Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) is a congressionally ratified mutual
aid compact that legally establishes a national system to facilitate resources across state lines
during an emergency or disaster. EMAC’s distinctive character among mutual aid agreements
lies in its governance structure; its relationship with states, regions, territories, national
membership, and federal organizations; and its ability to move needed resources from one
state to another. An EMAC request is initiated through the state emergency management
agency; a list of these are provided via the EMAC website.

Water/Wastewater Agency Response Networks (WARNs) are statewide utility-to-utility mutual
aid and assistance networks. WARNs are developed and managed by a state’s water and
wastewater utilities, who engage in the program voluntarily. As a member of a WARN, a utility
can request assistance from other members as well as provide assistance, receiving
reimbursement for costs incurred. To join, a utility must apply through its state WARN, a list of
which is provided here.

The importance of EMAC and WARNs to utilities was demonstrated during the 2017 Atlantic
hurricane season, when they were utilized for the responses to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
The latest issue of the National Rural Water Association’s (NRWA’s) Rural Water magazine
contains articles on how water systems in Texas and Florida received invaluable support
through EMAC and state WARNs in response to these storms. Additionally, the American Water
Works Association (AWWA), which in partnership with the WARNs in Florida, Georgia, North
Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, published an After Action Report (AAR) on the
successes and challenges that were experienced by the water sector during those hurricanes.
One of the successes noted by the AAR is that utilities in Texas and Florida took steps to
mitigate the consequences of power loss, such as by employing backup power strategies and
increasing fuel storage capacity.

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