Hurricane Contingency Planning for the COVID-19 Environment

Virginia Department of Emergency Management – Hurricane Contingency Planning for the COVID-19 Environment

Challenge:

The 2020 Hurricane season promises to be a challenging one as localities have to deal with limited sheltering capabilities and ensuring the safety of all residents and emergency response staff.  Government agencies need to be prepared, not only by securing and providing the necessary PPE, but also developing guidelines and SOPs to enable staff to make quick decisions during emergency response times. With hurricane season upon us, VDEM determined the need for additional planning support. Specifically, VDEM needs support for contingency planning in the COVID-19 environment. This response plan shall be organized and executed in accordance with Virginia Emergency Support Team (VEST) Standard Operating Guidelines, NIMS ICS and approved response plans.

Solution:

This project required a thorough understanding of the Commonwealth of Virginia Emergency Operations Plan (COVEOP), the Hurricane Support Annex, and the Hurricane Evacuation Study to develop a working contingency plan that will allow the agency to pivot response and recovery efforts in the COVID-19 environment. EM Partners quickly identified resources with this specific experience as well as someone who was familiar with the structures and planning expectations of the Commonwealth and its localities.  Functions that had to be considered in this contingency planning included Safety, Public Health, Search and Rescue, Oil Spill/Hazardous Substance, Firefighting, Environmental Protection, Transportation Restoration, Power Restoration, Water/Wastewater Restoration, Commerce Restoration, Security, Wildlife, Stakeholder Outreach, Media Relations, Communications, and Information Management.  This work also required integration with the COV Incident Management Team (COVIMT) and the VDEM Planning Division Director for planning efforts.

Benefits:

The support we are providing to the Commonwealth allowed for already tapped resources and staff to continue their important work knowing that EM Partners was providing experienced and dedicated support for this planning initiative. EM Partners was able to focus on the planning objectives, and coordinate with regional and local stakeholders to complete the draft plan within the short timeframe required and under budget.