2004 Hazards Research and Application Workshop

There's a great deal of research underway regarding the hazards that impact transportation. Much of this research can be of major value to transportation asset owners and operators, who must be able to rapidly, safely, and effectively respond to and recover from these disasters. At the Annual Hazards Research and Application Workshop, hosted by the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder, many relevant topics were discussed. The conference, in its 29th year, drew over 400 attendees from ten nations. Several of the discussions should be of interest to transportation practitioners.

Keynote: Future Services: Improving the Nation's Health, Ecology, and Economy

The keynote speaker, Greg Mandt, is Director of the Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Service at the National Weather Service (NWS). His speech addressed Future Services: Improving the Nation's Health, Ecology, and Economy. He described the scale of the challenge: dealing with massive hurricanes, last year's European heat wave, and some estimated 7000 highway fatalities related to weather annually.

The National Weather Service, founded in 1870, focuses on protecting life and property, and enhancing the economy. They're part of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). He emphasized that partnerships are critical to achieving their goals. They have supported over 750 communities with their storm readiness program, and are creating new products such as an excessive heat outlook, a 5-day flood outlook, a drought monitor, and hazards assessments. He emphasized the need to communicate both the information and the uncertainty, in order to make sure that situations are correctly understood and that appropriate actions are taken. This is a lesson that could apply to transportation as well, particularly when estimating such unsure items as the date for reopening a damaged facility or estimated travel time under congestion or other conditions that reduce travel time reliability.

Managing Disasters in the New Era

The first plenary session addressed what has improved in emergency management since the 9/11 attacks. It was chaired by Janet Benini of the Homeland Security Council. Focal areas that were addressed included improving emergency management processes, getting funding to cities and counties, expanding and improving training and exercises, increasing interagency coordination, integrating public health into emergency management, and integration of planning and programs. Two questions that Jan posed generated extended discussion:

Is homeland security funding being well spent; how are responders better off; are there unintended consequences?
Has knowledge from other hazards areas been integrated into homeland security?

Some of the comments during the discussion were quite familiar to transportation agencies, beginning with the importance of developing coalitions, the value of sharing both information and lessons learned, and the need for interagency coordination. A particularly interesting observation was that some governance structures are coming into existence that succeed regionally, particularly in areas that have strong councils of government (for more on this topic, see FHWA’s work on regional collaboration and coordination at http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov).

Transportation and Evacuation Issues in Emergencies

I had the privilege to sit on a panel addressing Transportation and Evacuation Issues in Emergencies. I took the place of Susan Knisely, who retired some months ago as senior director of the office of safety and security at the Federal Transit Administration, and is now at Booz-Allen and Hamilton. Our panel was chaired by Joe Scanlon of Carleton University in Canada, and included James Ballard of California State University, Mike Foran from the Federal Aviation Administration, Dave Genova from the city of Denver, Edd Hauser a former senior official at the North Carolina Department of Transportation now at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Alan Nelson of the Nuclear Energy Institute.

Mike and I both emphasized the importance of data and tools to effectively manage evacuations. Mike mentioned that a hurricane evacuation tracking tool had recently been used as part of the G-8 Summit effort in Georgia, and I described the work FHWA (funded by the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Joint Program Office (JPO)) has underway in improving understanding, tools, and processes related to no-notice evacuations such as those that result from wildfires and earthquakes. Consistent with comments by the keynote speaker, technology is playing an important role in improving transportation operations during disasters.

Public Risk Communication

There were several sessions on aspects of public risk communication. Another speaker from NWS/NOAA presented new methods of rapid dissemination of information about tornados and floods. A speaker from North Carolina State University raised issues about the challenges of processing of information and hazard warnings by older adults. The National Disaster Education Coalition described its Guide for Standard Messages (available at http://www.disastereducation.org).

Risk communication is a topic with significant importance to transportation. It strongly influences what happens on the transportation network (by influencing evacuee behavior). More recently, transportation agencies have become major communicators, with tools such as 511, "800" traveler information numbers, traveler information websites, dynamic message signs, and traveler advisory radio among the suite of tools that transportation agencies use to share critical information with the public. FHWA also has an ITS JPO-funded project starting that focuses on how transportation agencies can communicate more effectively during disasters.

California Wildfire Experiences

A second plenary focused on the California wildfire experiences. One speaker addressed the challenge of deciding between evacuation and shelter-in-place strategies, and how this is influenced as more is learned about evacuee behavior. This decision can have a very large impact on the demands on the transportation network, and is thus worthy of attention by transportation agencies.

It was surprising to learn that 37% of homes in the U.S. are in areas defined as being in the "wildland/urban interface" where fires present a greater challenge than they do in either pure wildlands or a completely urban situation. Another lesson from the California experience pointed to issues in application of the Incident Command System in large-scale incidents, complications in providing mutual aid, and less military aid that has historically been available for firefighting. Since transportation agencies are in many cases new to working under the incident command system, learning from the experiences of other agencies can help improve transportation’s understanding and performance under these conditions.

Bam Earthquake in Iran

An additional session presented fascinating studies of the Bam earthquake in Iran, including innovative work with remote imaging to assess damage and focus efforts. As with Hurricane Isabel, described below, the challenges of clearing roadways sufficiently well to facilitate delivery of relief aid, both within the historic city itself, and from other cities in the region were presented.

Hurricane Isabel

A session on last year's Hurricane Isabel began by stressing that Isabel was a unique situation, extremely well forecast in intensity and landfall, but also a very large storm, covering several states. Institutionally, it was also the first major storm after the Federal Emergency Management Agency moved into the Department of Homeland Security. Other unusual aspects included that the storm surge was actually worse than the storm strength itself.

Transportation impacts were, of course, immense. One speaker mentioned 660,000 dump-trucks of debris were moved. Major power outages resulted, with one-third of the customers of the Potomac Electric Power Company being without electricity. Damage was so severe to electric facilities that the speaker referred to it as "reconstruction, not repair." Efforts to restore power were hampered by impassible roads, further lengthening the storm impact period.

Search Operations: Home About Operations Office Directory Program Areas Regulation/Policy Publications Speeches Press Room Links Subject Index Feedback	2004 Hazards Research and Application Workshop ETO Home > Response There's a great deal of research underway regarding the hazards that impact transportation. Much of this research can be of major value to transportation asset owners and operators, who must be able to rapidly, safely, and effectively respond to and recover from these disasters. At the Annual Hazards Research and Application Workshop, hosted by the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder, many relevant topics were discussed. The conference, in its 29th year, drew over 400 attendees from ten nations. Several of the discussions should be of interest to transportation practitioners. Keynote: Future Services: Improving the Nation's Health, Ecology, and Economy The keynote speaker, Greg Mandt, is Director of the Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Service at the National Weather Service (NWS). His speech addressed Future Services: Improving the Nation's Health, Ecology, and Economy. He described the scale of the challenge: dealing with massive hurricanes, last year's European heat wave, and some estimated 7000 highway fatalities related to weather annually. The National Weather Service, founded in 1870, focuses on protecting life and property, and enhancing the economy. They're part of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). He emphasized that partnerships are critical to achieving their goals. They have supported over 750 communities with their storm readiness program, and are creating new products such as an excessive heat outlook, a 5-day flood outlook, a drought monitor, and hazards assessments. He emphasized the need to communicate both the information and the uncertainty, in order to make sure that situations are correctly understood and that appropriate actions are taken. This is a lesson that could apply to transportation as well, particularly when estimating such unsure items as the date for reopening a damaged facility or estimated travel time under congestion or other conditions that reduce travel time reliability. Managing Disasters in the New Era The first plenary session addressed what has improved in emergency management since the 9/11 attacks. It was chaired by Janet Benini of the Homeland Security Council. Focal areas that were addressed included improving emergency management processes, getting funding to cities and counties, expanding and improving training and exercises, increasing interagency coordination, integrating public health into emergency management, and integration of planning and programs. Two questions that Jan posed generated extended discussion: Is homeland security funding being well spent; how are responders better off; are there unintended consequences? Has knowledge from other hazards areas been integrated into homeland security? Some of the comments during the discussion were quite familiar to transportation agencies, beginning with the importance of developing coalitions, the value of sharing both information and lessons learned, and the need for interagency coordination. A particularly interesting observation was that some governance structures are coming into existence that succeed regionally, particularly in areas that have strong councils of government (for more on this topic, see FHWA’s work on regional collaboration and coordination at http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov). Transportation and Evacuation Issues in Emergencies I had the privilege to sit on a panel addressing Transportation and Evacuation Issues in Emergencies. I took the place of Susan Knisely, who retired some months ago as senior director of the office of safety and security at the Federal Transit Administration, and is now at Booz-Allen and Hamilton. Our panel was chaired by Joe Scanlon of Carleton University in Canada, and included James Ballard of California State University, Mike Foran from the Federal Aviation Administration, Dave Genova from the city of Denver, Edd Hauser a former senior official at the North Carolina Department of Transportation now at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Alan Nelson of the Nuclear Energy Institute. Mike and I both emphasized the importance of data and tools to effectively manage evacuations. Mike mentioned that a hurricane evacuation tracking tool had recently been used as part of the G-8 Summit effort in Georgia, and I described the work FHWA (funded by the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Joint Program Office (JPO)) has underway in improving understanding, tools, and processes related to no-notice evacuations such as those that result from wildfires and earthquakes. Consistent with comments by the keynote speaker, technology is playing an important role in improving transportation operations during disasters. Public Risk Communication There were several sessions on aspects of public risk communication. Another speaker from NWS/NOAA presented new methods of rapid dissemination of information about tornados and floods. A speaker from North Carolina State University raised issues about the challenges of processing of information and hazard warnings by older adults. The National Disaster Education Coalition described its Guide for Standard Messages (available at http://www.disastereducation.org). Risk communication is a topic with significant importance to transportation. It strongly influences what happens on the transportation network (by influencing evacuee behavior). More recently, transportation agencies have become major communicators, with tools such as 511, "800" traveler information numbers, traveler information websites, dynamic message signs, and traveler advisory radio among the suite of tools that transportation agencies use to share critical information with the public. FHWA also has an ITS JPO-funded project starting that focuses on how transportation agencies can communicate more effectively during disasters. California Wildfire Experiences A second plenary focused on the California wildfire experiences. One speaker addressed the challenge of deciding between evacuation and shelter-in-place strategies, and how this is influenced as more is learned about evacuee behavior. This decision can have a very large impact on the demands on the transportation network, and is thus worthy of attention by transportation agencies. It was surprising to learn that 37% of homes in the U.S. are in areas defined as being in the "wildland/urban interface" where fires present a greater challenge than they do in either pure wildlands or a completely urban situation. Another lesson from the California experience pointed to issues in application of the Incident Command System in large-scale incidents, complications in providing mutual aid, and less military aid that has historically been available for firefighting. Since transportation agencies are in many cases new to working under the incident command system, learning from the experiences of other agencies can help improve transportation’s understanding and performance under these conditions. Bam Earthquake in Iran An additional session presented fascinating studies of the Bam earthquake in Iran, including innovative work with remote imaging to assess damage and focus efforts. As with Hurricane Isabel, described below, the challenges of clearing roadways sufficiently well to facilitate delivery of relief aid, both within the historic city itself, and from other cities in the region were presented. Hurricane Isabel A session on last year's Hurricane Isabel began by stressing that Isabel was a unique situation, extremely well forecast in intensity and landfall, but also a very large storm, covering several states. Institutionally, it was also the first major storm after the Federal Emergency Management Agency moved into the Department of Homeland Security. Other unusual aspects included that the storm surge was actually worse than the storm strength itself. Transportation impacts were, of course, immense. One speaker mentioned 660,000 dump-trucks of debris were moved. Major power outages resulted, with one-third of the customers of the Potomac Electric Power Company being without electricity. Damage was so severe to electric facilities that the speaker referred to it as "reconstruction, not repair." Efforts to restore power were hampered by impassible roads, further lengthening the storm impact period.
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