Preparation and Response to Hurricane Irene Presentation to: UASI Conference May 24, 2012

Gusts 60 mph predicted 6-10 inches of rain predicted

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• • • • • SEPTA Service Profile 6 th Largest U.S. Transit Agency

Population

: 4 Million Residents (Philadelphia, Five County Region)

Coverage Area

: 2,200 Miles

Track Miles

: 486.6 Commuter, Heavy and Light Rail (Includes Elevated and Underground)

Ridership

: 334 Million Annually 3

SEPTA Service Profile

Fleet of 954 Commuter and Passenger Rail Vehicles and 1,393 Bus and Trackless Trolley

Electric Locomotive: 8 + 53 Coaches Commuter Rail: 351 Market-Frankford Sub/El: 218 NHSL: 26 246 Weekday Trips Buses: 1355 738 Weekday Trips Broad Street Subway: 125 598 Weekday Trips Trolley/Light Rail: 141 380 Weekday Trips Historic Streetcar: 18 193 Weekday Trips Trackless Trolleys: 38 1936 Weekday Trips 14,037 Weekday Trips

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Hurricane Irene - Preparation • Conference calls with City of Philadelphia’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM).

• Frequent updates by National Weather Service (NWS).

• All City departments and external stakeholders participate.

• Continued inter-agency conference calls as storm approached.

• Internal senior staff meetings.

• Constant review of NOAA/NWS data.

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Hurricane Irene - Preparation • Critical subway vents were covered and pump rooms were prepared.

• Busses in flood-prone areas were relocated to higher ground.

• Significant portion of the Market Frankford Line fleet was moved to the Bridge Street Yard due to flooding concerns at 69 th Street. • Third-party tree trimming contractors were scheduled to support SEPTA forces.

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Hurricane Irene - Preparation • SEPTA Flood Warning Procedures in Affect • Appoint field Storm Event Coordinator.

• Operate restricted speed for rail services at specific locations.

• Positioned Structural Inspectors at specific locations.

• Track Inspectors mobilized.

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Public Information • • • • • Final plan to stop all service around midnight on August 27.

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• Amtrak and other regional transit agencies also announced service suspensions effective at 5:00 p.m. on August 27.

Advertise suspension of service until 12:00 p.m. August 28.

Identify parking lots prone to flooding.

Identify rail lines prone to service suspension due to flooding.

SEPTA advertised to the public to monitor service suspensions and alterations via the website and other social media tools. 8

Hurricane Irene – During the Storm • • • • • • • Philadelphia Emergency Operations Center opened.

SEPTA Command Center opened.

Constant review of NWS data.

Review of hydrographs and water gauge data.

Gathered reports from field.

Prioritized incident response.

Assisted in evacuation of several apartment complexes in coordination with City OEM.

USGS Hydrograph of Area River

Crest Flood Stage 9

Hurricane Irene – During the Storm • Service status updates provided on website and social media.

• 10:50 p.m. reports of tree down on one rail line, water over the rail head on another rail line, and reports of tornado warnings issued across the five county area.

• Decision to suspend service effective immediately.

• All vehicles returned to districts by midnight.

• Only two rail vehicles affected on entire system due to storm.

• Total of 8 passengers from each vehicle were transported to destination via Supervision.

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Hurricane Irene - Immediate Aftermath Sunday, August 28 • Early morning reports of flooding and washouts.

• City of Philadelphia still under declared State of Emergency. • • • Subway lines inspected and available for service by 8:00 a.m.

Bus routes traveled and inspected and available for service with detours by 8:00 a.m.

Regional Rail service remained suspended.

• City requested not to resume service until 10:00 a.m.

• Initiate field response to all problem areas.

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Hurricane Irene - Immediate Aftermath

Track Washout Fallen Tree near County Line Station on the Route 100 Fallen Tree on Route 101 Overhead Conshohocken Station on the Manayunk/Norristown Line Manayunk/Norristown Line Flooding

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Hurricane Irene - Immediate Aftermath Trenton Transit Center Flooding

Assunpink Creek

• • Amtrak suspended service on the Northeast Corridor at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 27, 2011.

Also affected SEPTA and New Jersey Transit.

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Hurricane Irene - Immediate Aftermath Hydrograph of Assunpink Creek

USGS Water Gauge Readings for Assunpink Creek for Past 30 Days

Creek crested at 15 feet.

Flood Elevation 14

Hurricane Irene - Immediate Aftermath Trenton Transit Center Flooding 15

Hurricane Irene - Immediate Aftermath Trenton Transit Center Flooding • • 5 cars, 7 coaches and 1 locomotive suffered significant water damage.

5 of the cars were scheduled for revenue service at 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. but did not operate.

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Hurricane Irene - Immediate Aftermath CSX Signal House Fire Damage - SEPTA West Trenton Line

SEPTA Transmission Line PECO Pole

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Service before and after Hurricane Irene

Line

Regional Rail Subways Light Rail Media Sharon Hill Line Norristown High Speed Line Bus CCT

Taken out of Service

August 27 @ 11:00 p.m.

August 27 @ 11:00 p.m.

August 27 @ 11:00 p.m.

August 27 @ 11:00 p.m.

August 27 @ 11:00 p.m.

August 27 @ 11:00 p.m.

August 27 @ 11:00 p.m.

Full Service Resumed

August 29* August 28 @ 10:00 a.m.

August 28 @ 10:00 a.m.

August 28 @ 4:00 p.m.

August 29 August 28 @ 10:00 a.m.

August 28 @ 10:00 a.m.

* Partial service restored to Levittown 8/30. Bus bridge between Levittown and Trenton started 9/1.

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Ongoing Customer Communication • • SEPTA’s web page was used to provide service announcements as well as photos and updates on the repairs that were being performed on damaged infrastructure.

Over 20,000 followers on SEPTA’s Twitter Service Alerts.

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Tropical Storm Lee – September 8, 2011

National Weather Service Recorded Rainfall USGS Hydrograph of Area Creek

• • • Experienced gusts of up to 26 mph.

Up to 4 inches of rain fell.

Impacts included flooding, track bed washouts, fallen trees, and an embankment failure on the NHSL.

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Track Washout South of Jenkintown Track Area 21

Lessons Learned • Effective use of weather data allowed service to remain operational as long as practical.

• Include evaluation of Assunpink Creek hydrograph to determine if vehicles need to be moved at Trenton. • Improve inter-agency coordination with Amtrak Operations.

• • Sandbags on vent wells worked well. SEPTA’s tree trimming program is very beneficial. • Off property issues (trees, run-off, poorly maintained structures) are becoming a major issue. • Positive feedback about public outreach, especially photos. 22