October 22, 2006 – Conducted at the New York City College of Technology in Brooklyn, the HurrEx Sheltering Full-Scale Exercise tested the sheltering component of the City’s Coastal Storm Plan (CSP). The drill, which was managed by the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and the Department of Homeless Services, called for setting up an evacuation center and training over 900 City employees to run a shelter and manage evacuees.
The scenario: Gale force winds from Hurricane Liberty, a Category 3 storm, are expected to make landfall near New York City approximately 24 hours from the start of the exercise. As the City makes preparations for the impending storm, the general population residing within Evacuation Zones A, B, and C is ordered to evacuate.
The exercise: HurrEx focused on the sheltering portion of the Costal Protection plan. Around 130 City employees from 20 agencies that would manage sheltering in a real coastal storm emergency absorbed over 700 mock evacuees in a central evaluation center. The players screened evacuees who reported medical complications, organized family re-unification and pet care staging areas, and bused evacuees to two hurricane shelters. By filtering the evacuees through a central point of control, the staff made special arrangements for medical conditions and spread its human resources more efficiently by opening shelters as needed.
The previous drills: This drill was the third in a series of exercises designed to determine the effectiveness of the City’s Coastal Storm Plan and identify areas for improvement. A discussion-based decision-making exercise in June 2006 kicked off the series by tracking a hurricane from 120 hours before landfall until the decision to evacuate. Players in this exercise included over 60 City, state and federal agencies, non-profit organization and private sector partners. The second exercise, covering 72 hours to 48 hours before the storm makes landfall, focused on the evacuation of patients from various healthcare facilities. Representatives from 37 hospitals, 21 nursing homes and 15 ambulance service providers gathered in the City’s Emergency Operations Command (EOC) center in July 2006 to participate.
List of Participants in Sheltering Full Scale Exercise:
-
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
-
American Red Cross of Greater NY
-
City University of New York
-
NYC Community Emergency Response Teams
-
NYC Administration for Children’s Services
-
NYC Department for the Aging
-
NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services
-
NYC Department of Design and Construction
-
NYC Department of Education
-
NYC Department of Environmental Protection
-
NYC Department of Finance
-
NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
-
NYC Department of Homeless Services
-
NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development
-
NYC Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications
-
NYC Department of Parks and Recreation
-
NYC Department of Probation
-
NYC Department of Transportation
-
NYC Fire Department–Emergency Medical Service
-
NYC Housing Authority
-
NYC Human Resources Administration
-
NYC Law Department
-
NYC Mayor’s Office
-
NYC Police Department
-
NYC School Construction Authority
-
The Salvation Army
