You are on page 1of 6

To:

Lansing City Council

From: Averill Woods Neighborhood Association Re: December 2013 Ice Storm ~ Questions and Comments

Date: Monday, December 30, 2013 We recognize that there ways in which our response to this storm could have been better on many levels. There is more that we could have done as a neighborhood as well as a community. We are willing partners in improving our collective response to future disasters. However, we have many questions and concerns that relate to the response of our city, the emergency response team, and Board of Water and light in this storm. Attached are single pages of questions for each of our municipal /community partners as we reflect on this past week. Our questions center around the following key areas: (A) Emergency Plan (Questions for City Emergency Management) (B) Emergency Declaration and Emergency Response (Questions for City Administration) (C) Emergency Communications (Questions for Both) (D) Lansing Board of Water & Light Communications and Capacity (Questions for BWL) We look forward to moving forward together, Averill Woods Neighborhood Association leadership team Melissa Quon Huber Jason Wilkes Margaret Kingsbury Michelle Napier-Dunnings Ken Jones Sandy Barringer Rich Baihle Bill Fude Fred Chapman Destiny Teachnor-Hauk

Averill Woods Neighborhood Association Resident Questions regarding December 2013 Ice Storm

A. EMERGENCY PLAN Questions for Emergency Management Concerns


ENACTING EMERGENCY PLAN COMMUNICATION BARRIERS

There did not seem to be any reference to an emergency plan being enacted, referenced, or guiding our actions as a city or as individuals Residents may have limited communications without power, cable, internet, or smart phones; Comcast phones, magic jack, and other Internet (VOIP) phones may not have service. Immediately after the outage people had no idea where to get information or assistance given the communication barriers.

Questions 1. How was our city-wide emergency plan followed in this crisis? 2. Where can we get a copy of it? 3. How are communication barriers addressed in our emergency response knowing that some people may have no access to television, internet, and phone services? 4. If internet phones are down can 911 still be contacted via the landline? 5. Can information be posted on the front doors of schools or our polling places during a crisis for those who may have no communication devices? 6. Can we have a designated hotline to call in an emergency and publicize the number prior to anticipated events and during storm seasons? 7. Could schools/churches be identified BEFORE as crisis centers, and opened within 2 days of any major event? 8. How are transportation barriers addressed in our city emergency response knowing that some people may have to rely on foot transportation for services? 9. Does the city have a plan to identify medically vulnerable residents (1) who may not be able to self-transport or self-evacuate, (2) who may rely on electricity for critical medical devices, and (3) who may be exceptionally vulnerable to lack of utilities? 10. Does the City of Lansing and BWL (and Consumers) have a protocol for communicating information like this in a disaster or power outage? 11. In an emergency situation who is in charge? What are the roles of the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) and the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and how do we contact them? 12. In a crisis, do governmental agencies act in and out of their jurisdiction?

Expected Action by City We expect a plan to be disseminated for public awareness before the next crisis We expect emergency communications to be made through multiple methods to reach those affected out outages. We expect a presence in the neighborhoods as soon as possible after a crisis. We expect to have a designated and wellpublicized central source for information that we can count on. Lets know where we can go in a crisis if we don't have communications We expect these transportation barriers be considered when developing emergency response plans to provide resources that are in close proximity to residents and information about resources that are closest to them. We expect the city to have plan for maintaining awareness of medically vulnerable homes and to provide appropriate responses to those residents

TRANSPORTATION BARRIERS

DISABLED RESIDENTS

INTERAGENCY COOPERATION

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

People may not be able to access transportation (distance to public transportation, down trees or wires or vehicles, vehicles in garages that cannot open) and may need reach services by foot. We were aware of people who were not able to self-transport, who could not find shelter that would meet their disability needs, and who were hospitalized due to complications resulting from that their medical devices not being powered. According to scanner feed, LPD did not seem to have easy access to data on where the outages were located to be able to target areas for patrols. There did not seem to be a key point of contact for information and updates.

We expect the city to have a plan to integrate utility outage information for use by LPD, LFD, and Public service We expect to have a centralized and coordinated response and know from whom we will be receiving information and instructions and with roles clearly designated and known by residents.
Page 2 of 6

Averill Woods Neighborhood Association Resident Questions regarding December 2013 Ice Storm

B. STATE OF EMERGENCY DESIGNATION AND RESPONSE Questions for Lansing City Administration This was communicated as the worst storm in 120 years. Why was this not declared an emergency? What are the criteria that tip a difficult situation into a declared emergency? REASONS GIVEN "IT DOESN'T GET US WHAT WE NEED" The mayor indicated that an emergency declaration would not provide us with what we need which is people who could help restore power. The mayor indicated that it would be great to have some help, but that declaring an emergency would not give us additional help. QUESTIONS 1. Did the administration consider the need for assistance in addressing the collateral factors (crime patrols, door to door welfare checks, tree removal, etc.) in determining whether or not this was an emergency? 2. Was it not declared because (a) no one in leadership believes the situation is dire enough or is it (b) that we could certainly use the help but we won't get it if we ask so why bother? 3. What are the criteria for declaring an emergency to receive funding and services from the
state?

"WE WOULDN'T GET ANY HELP ANYWAY"

4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

"WE DONT NEED HELP" --POLICE PATROLS

The mayor indicated that our city services were not overwhelmed enough to need additional support from the state. Residents did not feel safe to leave home for fear of crime and the need to monitor the home for burst pipes, flooding basements, and failed generators. There were no indications that LDP was doing any preventative patrols in neighborhoods with outages. There were no announcements that the city was doing any welfare checks until 8 days into the storm. How many properties have suffered damage to the homes or vehicles due to downed trees, burst pipes, flooding, etc.?

Is it a monetary threshold of city expenditures only? Is it number or percentage of people adversely affected? On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the threshold for the emergency declaration where are we? What does it take to activate the National Guard? Are there any upsides or downsides to declaring an emergency even if you don't fully expect it to result in additional help? 9. Were our public safety and public services employees able to fulfill all the duties as outlined in the emergency plan in addition to their regular duties? 10. Over the past week how many hours did LPD spend doing preventative patrols of neighborhoods without power given that many nights, especially given that they are often already at or near call saturation? 11. Could we have used help to make sure this was done earlier and more frequently? 12. Over the past week how many hours were spent in welfare checks in Lansing and when did they begin? 13. Could we have used help in making sure these were done earlier in the week and more extensively? 14. How many properties have suffered damage to the homes or vehicles due to downed trees, burst pipes, flooding, etc.? 15. Does the extent of personal property damage factor into the emergency designation? 16. If city trees fall on vehicles or homes, is the city liable for damages? If so, how do residents file claims? 17. Where can residents seek financial aid for the costs of being displaced (food, lodging)?
Page 3 of 6

--WELFARE CHECKS

-- DAMAGE EXTENT

Averill Woods Neighborhood Association Resident Questions regarding December 2013 Ice Storm C. CITY COMMUNICATIONS Questions for Lansing City Administration and Emergency Management

Concerns OVERALL PIECEMEAL INFREQUENT NIXLE NOT USED CODE ALERT NOT USED RADIO NOT USED

NEWSPAPER WAS LIMITED WEBSITE IS LIMITED NO FACEBOOK FOR CITY NO ACTION UPDATES

Questions Communication from the City of Lansing was 1. What methods were used to communicate updates to infrequent, piecemeal, and sometimes residents and how often? 1 confusing . 2. Were the communication methods considered adequate? There was no central source of information. 3. Who was responsible for communicating updates and information to residents? There were few updates for Lansing residents. 4. Why were there so few updates? Nixle appeared to be used only once in relation 5. Why was Nixle not used daily to inform residents of to the storm resources and updates? Nixle is made for this! Reverse 911 was only used once at 8 days after 6. Why was reverse 911 not used immediately to inform the storm despite requests to use it immediately. affected residents of warming shelters and other resources near them? We requested its use soon after the storm. Very little information went out over the radio. 7. Why werent there frequent updates on radio stations? 8. Could we have a 24 hour information station in a crisis? 9. Can we have a campaign to ensure everyone has a transistor radio, perhaps sold at a discount & distributed along with another public event? Very little information went out in the local 10. Can we request a focused section in the newspaper newspaper. dedicated to updates & information. Very little information appeared on the City of 11. Why was our website not updated with critical information Lansing website. like the East Lansing website? 12. Is this because we outsource our website? Major sources of information were Facebook 13. Why did the Lansing city not provide ongoing updates via updates from Lansing City Council President Facebook similar to the City of East Lansing? Carol Wood and East Lansing Mayor Nathan 14. Why was the Lansing Fire Department Facebook page Triplett and later Lansing Fire Dept. information not promoted and disseminated widely? East Lansing residents received frequent updates 15. Why did we not provide Lansing residents with continuing about how their city departments were updates of what our city employees were doing in response responding to the crisis very early on with to the storm? welfare checks and police patrols.

Expected Action by City We expect a review of how communications were handled and how to improve for future crises We expect emergency communications to be centralized and frequent. We expect at least 1 update per day if not more in a crisis. We expect Nixle to be used to update residents about the city's response to the emergency, instructions and resources. Because reverse 911 can be targeted to geographic areas we expect it to be used to contact people in affected areas with information about the shelter/resources nearest them. We expect the city leaders and emergency personnel to relay updates and information about services and assistance to all local major radio outlets in the area and support individual disaster preparedness plans. We expect the city to consider providing important information to local newspaper outlets. We expect our city website to serve as a key place where residents can find current and critical information in a crisis. We expect our city to utilize all forms of relevant communication, including social media to keep residents informed. We expect to be updated with ongoing actions being taken and provided assurances our city is actively responding to the needs of those who live and work in the city.

At one point residents were told to turn on their porch light to indicate they had power. Some people interpreted this to mean they should go home to a cold home to be there to make sure BWL knew that they did not have power. East Lansing communications were more clear in saying that this was not a power check but rather a welfare check and had no connection to BWL so people should stay where it was warm and not return to a cold house. This was very confusing and potentially deadly if people returned to a cold home just to try to get the message that their power was not on .

Page 4 of 6

Averill Woods Neighborhood Association Resident Questions regarding December 2013 Ice Storm D. COMMUNICATIONS AND CAPACITY Question for Lansing Board of Water & Light

PROBLEMS OBSERVED - These are service improvements that residents would like to see implemented to remedy existing problems: 1. Updates -- There is no way to get updates about power outages without going through all the steps of actually reporting an outage. There needs to be a way to go directly to outage information for a particular address. We noticed this during the last small storm 2. Website Their website still has no information about the power restoration, updates, statistics, or projections. 3. Notification -- There is no way to know when your power is restored. Many people left the neighborhood or left town and had no way to know when it was okay to return home. They need to have a service that calls when power has been restored, similar to other utility companies. 4. Reporting outages -- Phone service was overloaded when people tried to report outages even as of 12/29/2013. 5. Map -- There is no map of outage areas available. Although Mr. Lark stated that outage maps do no good but tell you that you are out of power we believe the outage maps would serve several functions: a. It tells residents where they can likely go to find power ON where there are restaurants or pharmacies open, especially if they have to walk because the tree has fallen on a car or a car is stuck in a garage that can't be opened without power b. It tells our police department where to prioritize their patrols around dark neighborhoods c. It could tell community organizations where power is out to do welfare checks and prioritize shelter locations close to the affected areas. d. It informs customers where the priorities are and where they are in the queue and what areas are being worked on now and next. e. It can be used to show where outages have been recently repaired. f. Is assures customers BWL has a handle on things and has accurate outage data. g. We would expect BWL to have an outage map [See next page] similar to that developed by our own Lansing based IDV solutions that provides excellent data for outage, repair, and shelter information for communities like Brampton Ontario who recently suffered the same storm. QUESTIONS 1. Why have they not created an outage map or have a seemingly accurate accounting of outages? a. Does BWL have any way to know where outages have occurred outside of someone self-reporting it or a spotter recording it? b. Do they not have addresses of circuits that are out? c. If so, why are they not manually input addresses of outages into their existing mapping software? d. Do they not have the staff capacity or funds to do so? e. Do they not have any way to map outages without having a smart grid? 2. Did BWL share outage location information with the City of Lansing?

Page 5 of 6

Averill Woods Neighborhood Association Resident Questions regarding December 2013 Ice Storm

An Example of a Super Cool Outage Map made by Lansings own IDV solutions!

Page 6 of 6

You might also like