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Transcript Document

Hurricane Katrina -

Immediate Response & Long Term Challenges

September 18, 2006 Joel Whitehead Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard Eighth District Commander

Key Topics

Summary of Coast Guard Katrina Response Managing Risk in Areas Supplying Response Assets to Incidents of National Significance Maritime Recovery Initiatives Development of a Coast Guard Deployable Operations Group (DOG)

Katrina – Response

Mission Preparedness District 8 St. Louis, MO Sector New Orleans Alexandria, LA Sector Mobile Maxwell AFB, AL Sector Mobile District 8 Sector New Orleans Cutters Evacuated Command & Control Node Temporary Command & Control Node Atlantic Area Supporting Air Stations

• • •

Initial Response Saving lives in distress first priority

– First rescues made at sea and on land as the storm was still coming ashore

Pre-positioned air and sea assets around perimeter of Katrina’s projected destruction zone Rapidly surged additional assets to affected zone after landfall

Surged Response Asset

Cutter Helicopter Fixed-Wing Aviation

In theater Normal Ops (LA, AL, MS)

16 15 4

Land fall plus 12 hours Land fall plus 24 hours

24 28 8 26 30 11

Land fall plus 48 hours

26 38 14 6

Katrina Search & Rescue Results 29-30 Aug 31 Aug 1 Sep 2 Sep 3 Sep Total Rescues RESCUED HOSPITAL EVACUATIONS TOTAL

1,256

1,259

1,600 1,141

2,859 4,000

5,000 6,655

9,000

9,400

25,055

24,135 9,409

33,544

Katrina Pollution Response Results

•

Pacific, Atlantic, & Gulf Strike Teams responded

•

Coordinated response to 2,300 pollution cases

•

Recovered approximately 2-million gallons of oil

Summary of Response Forces

• • • • • • •

Forces assisting in SAR and environmental response (not all inclusive): DHS:

– – – –

USCG CBP ICE

: 500 personnel & 20 fixed/rotary wing aircraft : 725 personnel

FEMA

Teams : 3,900 active and reserve personnel : 87 National Disaster Medical System Teams & 23 Urban SAR

FBI:

Provided rescue boats

DoD:

Aircraft, troops, ships, salvage, command/control & logistics support

EPA/NOAA Forest Service National Guard: State/Local:

Deployed 50,000 troops - NOLA police/fire/emergency, LA State police & Ramsey County Sheriff - Firefighters/emergency workers from various States 9

Managing Risk in Areas Supplying Response Assets to Incidents of National Significance

National Response Posture Affected Search and Rescue:

• Nationwide deepwater & coastal zone missions impacted • National response readiness degraded  Canada covered NW Atlantic search and rescue • All aviation training flights deferred until completion of Katrina response 11

National Response Posture Affected Environmental Response:

• National Strike Force Teams provided assets from around the country • Commercial pollution response personnel and equipment deployed to support Katrina & Rita cleanups • Certain facilities in unaffected areas forced to reduce transfer operations due to lack of resources from their contract Oil Spill Removal Organizations (OSROs) 12

OSRO Policy Currently Under Revision

• Coast Guard exploring options to address pollution response shortfalls when resources are responding to Spills or Incidents of National Significance. • Possible alternatives include: – Allowing companies to temporarily contract with alternate OSROs – Temporarily relaxing equipment requirements for low probability events (e.g. worst case or maximum probable discharge scenarios) – Expand Coast Guard’s role to include strategic placement of available response resources when shortages are identified – In extreme cases where commercial coverage is not available, the Coast Guard may direct its own remaining assets to act as an alternate OSRO 13

Maritime Recovery Initiatives

Coast Guard Katrina Priorities 1.

Save and Sustain Lives 2.

Secure and Restore Ports, Waterways & Infrastructure 3.

Oil, Chemical and Hazardous Material Response 4.

Sustain Coast Guard Operations

Damage to Offshore Facilities PLATFORM MARS BEFORE & AFTER KATRINA PLATFORM TYPHOON BEFORE & AFTER RITA

PORT & WATERWAY STATUS Texas Louisiana GICW closed from Sabine Pass to the LMR Lake Charles Houston Ship Channel open to 35ft, daylight only Houston Freeport, open to 28 ft, daylight only Port O’Connor Port Arthur Galveston GICW open from Freeport to Brownsville Corpus Christi Brownsville USACE, NOAA, and Kirby Marine coordinating major port surveys & the GICW Legend Open Restricted, but operational Closed, or Substantially impacted New Orleans Morgan City

Ports, Waterways, & Infrastructure

• Katrina aftermath exposed need for integrated government and industry recovery plan • Lack of communications led to additional incidents during restoration phase • Implications of port closures not fully understood • Alternate paths for cargo flow not identified in advance 18

Actions to Improve Recovery

• Coast Guard held 1st National Maritime Recovery Symposium in August 2006 • Need for several initiatives identified: – Integrated government / industry recovery management org – Integrated government / industry communications system for recovery – National Logistics Support Plan for cargo diversion during a national emergency – Integrated government / industry Business Continuity Planning System – Funding mechanism to support local, state, and national recovery preparedness – Raised awareness of interconnection / interdependency of ports with the national transportation system.

Actions to Improve Recovery (cont)

• Commence meetings with members of the Business Roundtable (Fortune 200) to further explore concepts for recovery and restoration coordination.

• Lead the coordination with industry to form a Maritime Sector Coordinating Council • Capitalize on existing forums and partner with other DHS agencies to develop a maritime concept of operations.

Development of a Coast Guard Deployable Operations Group (DOG)

Deployable Operations Group (DOG)

• Developing deployable command to supplement existing shore and deepwater assets • First command will stand up in summer of 2007 • Deployable forces will include security, law enforcement, and environmental responders 22

Questions