Attachment_4_-_Hurricane_Charlotte_Scenario.pdf

Hurricane Charlotte Scenario for Louisiana and Texas (Air Transport Contract)

Scenario Summary

The scenario postulated a major hurricane (Hurricane Charlotte) that progressed northwesterly, striking Virgin Islands (Region II), Puerto Rico and Florida (Region IV) before entering the Gulf of Mexico and hitting landfall in the New Orleans, Louisiana- Galveston, Texas-coastal areas (Region VI).

Air Transport Planning Considerations:

The planning assumption is that an air evacuation of up to 20,000 Critical Transportation Need (CTN) evacuees from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) in Louisiana will occur during a pre-landfall Category IV Hurricane storm. CTNs for this planning effort are evacuees who don’t have a means to self-evacuate and are not ticket passengers. FEMA's initial intent is to Mission Assign the Department of Defense (DoD) Air Mobility Command (AMC) to coordinate the air transport command and control of CTN flights (in coordination with TSA) departing MSY. AMC will initially use DoD C-17s or other military cargo aircrafts or DoD commercial contracted aircraft to evacuate the initial wave of CTN evacuees. However about 50% share of the 20,000 CTNs expected to be transported by air will require FEMA to contract with FEMA’s commercial air transport contractor (s) to carry out this urgent and compelling lifesaving mission. It is anticipated that up to 70 FEMA commercial air transport flights (up to 150 pax. per aircraft) is required to complete this mission.

The CTNs transported under the FEMA contract will be required to transport evacuees to pre-designated Aerial Ports of Debarkation (APODs) within a twenty-eight (28) hour operating window. The aircraft will be a combination of narrow body and wide body airframes. A temporary terminal and screening facility for evacuation of CTNs will be identified before the onset of an event such as a hurricane.

In addition to evacuation of CTNs, there will also be a simultaneous evacuation of an expected surge (approximately 30,000) of ticketed passengers (including tourists). The airline industry has pledged to fly all ticketed passengers out of the commercial terminal in the event of a required evacuation. This will be accomplished by adding additional sequences to the current flight schedule and/or aircraft with greater passenger capacity, but may include additional aircraft contracted through the AMC. Those ticketed passengers will depart as they normally would through the terminal. As a result, the commercial flight ground support personnel and equipment is assumed to be unavailable to support the additional CTN evacuation flights.

The evacuation flights for CTNs will share the airfield tarmac, but use a separate Transportation Security Agency (TSA) screening facility. TSA will deploy additional screeners and security from the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) to support the increased passenger and baggage screening demands. The CTN evacuees will be transported to the airport via surface transportation contracted by state, local or federal authorities. The surface transportation may commence at H-48 where “H” equals the time at which the Tropical Storm Force Winds reach the coast.

All AMC contracted aircraft planning, including command and control, will be done from the Tanker Airlift Control Center (TACC) with visibility in the Group Decision Support System (GDSS) at the Incident Command Post (ICP). Projected aircraft turn time is 1.5 hours for narrow body aircraft, and two hours for wide body aircraft.

The expected situation will be such that off-airport food, lodging, gas, supplies, etc. will probably not be available. The local airport workforce will be concerned with their own safety and the welfare of their families to include compliance with possible mandatory evacuation orders. The use of a workforce from outside of the potential impacted area will be a necessity. All evacuation support personnel must arrive totally self-sufficient. Coordination will be required with the airport authorities to find a lodging area on the airport grounds, but the FEMA Air transport contractor should expect to be responsible for sheltering and overall welfare of their on-site personnel. If the contractor is tasked with this support requirement the contractor may request reimbursement cost be included in the task order award.

The unified Evacuation Group (Federal/State/local) is responsible for the coordination of CTN evacuees departing the airport. This will be conducted in the TSA screening facility. The process includes:

Existing Deliberate Planning Considerations

Louisiana and Texas have two distinct evacuation timelines, partially due to geography. Because Louisiana’s population is much more concentrated geographically and New Orleans is essentially in a flood zone, evacuation timelines have to be accelerated. Texas locales are somewhat easier to evacuate. Other than the Rio Grande Valley, where evacuees have to drive 200-plus miles to find a hotel, evacuees from other Texas costal locations can find nearby accommodations within the state of Texas.

As part of its planning efforts, Region VI participates in state hurricane conferences and exercises. It participates in the Gulf Coast conference (to include Louisiana and Texas) to discuss Louisiana issues, and there is a Regional Interagency Steering Committee meeting -related conference in June that specifically deals with hurricanes. The region expects it will have developed a solid working operational plan in time for the June 1 onset of the hurricane season, but it also assumes continually adaptive modification to the plan because planning factors with states will change with time.

1) Louisiana Hurricane Planning - The region conducts monthly coordination meetings with the Louisiana Governor’s Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP). Unlike Louisiana, Texas does not have a standardized set of meetings because the state desires the flexibility in terms of crisis or adaptive planning.) Region VI has conducted extensive point of distribution (POD) training in the state. In terms of evacuation, a total of 17 parishes may need to be evacuated in and around New Orleans.

Evacuation by rail/train for evacuees is not an option in this scenario. Evacuation by air support is an option in this scenario if it can be coordinated utilizing the support of local motor coaches and buses. Pre-event Region VI planning for this pending disaster includes the following updates specific to this event: Additionally, several states (to include Texas and Oklahoma) have committed to receiving host states evacuees by motor coach and air transport provided that additional aviation ground support services can be provided at the host state airports in TX and OK. Additionally, LA’s Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) airport is requesting from FEMA Region VI that additional air transport services support services be provided at MSY as well as support for a separate airport screening area at MSY for anticipated critical transportation needs (CTN) evacuees arriving at MSY for flights to other host states. Ticketed passengers will be processed through the airport normal screening procedures that should occur before the departure of CTN evacuees. Air transport staff will need to be on the ground within 24 hours at MSY and other designated host state airports with specialized experience in above and below the wing experience in non-powered and powered ground support equipment experience for mechanical and service support. There are special ongoing coordination meetings (pre-event) between GOHSEP, FEMA Region VI and FEMA-HQ just to discuss how the New Orleans Louis Armstrong Airport will be used in an evacuation. Louisiana has a current deliberate air evacuation plan in place for CTNs but this plan will require updating through additional adaptive planning to meet the requirements for an effective evacuation effort. A summary of the critical deliberate CTN evacuation planning timelines for this evacuation support at MSY are:

Time Action

H-120 Hours

Market survey issued to determine aircraft availability (up to 150 paxs) for potential Air Evacuation. Contractor alerted to possible requirement.

H-96 Hour……………………………

Contractor advance team deployed to designated airport; FEMA will issue Mission Assignment to DoD-AMC and possibility other federal partners for aircraft availability support.

Additional contracted air support is expected to be requested by GOHSEP to FEMA.

H-72 Hours

Emergency declared

H-70 hours

FEMA Contractor air support receives notice (i.e. task order) to deliver personnel and equipment to designated airport and complete operation set up in 18 hours or less

H-60 hours

Voluntary air evacuation for ticketed passengers (tourists, visitors, and conventioneers) begins at commercial terminal; initiate airport security plan

H-58 hours

All contractor personnel and equipment have arrived at evacuation terminal, presented credentials to airport authority security office and completed their operations set up

H-50 hours

CTN Air evacuation operations begin: first aircraft arrive; begin loading evacuees

H-48 hours

First CTN evacuee flight departs

H-18 hours

Air evacuation of CTN ends; support personnel (TSA, FAMS, contractors, etc.)

evacuate to safe haven at other airport hubs on last flights out. (evaluation of end of mission or return, post incident)

H-12 hours

Airport closed; last flight has departed

H-10 hours

Remaining air evacuation support personnel shelter in place

2) Texas Hurricane planning initiatives - Texas does not request as much FEMA Region VI support as Louisiana. Due to the length of the Texas coast, the state tends to trigger its response sooner, particularly if the Rio Grande Valley is in the hurricane track. Texas fostered the Interstate Emergency Response Plan (IERSP)—essentially an intra-regional emergency management assistance compact among the states in Region VI. Assistance includes sending liaison officers to one another’s state emergency operations centers (EOCs). A rapid-reentry task force is also available to quickly reintroduce evacuees to their homes. Leveraging the IERSP, Region VI will first consider these interstate resources before generating a federal request for action. To foster coordination and communications, Region VI has embedded one of its officials with the Texas State RAPID response team (a state team that gets to disasters immediately).

3) FEMA Region VI Staff Support - In general, the Region VI Regional Response Coordination Center (RRCC) operates only as long as required. Outside of a response along the magnitude of Hurricane Katrina, the region’s goal is to have the RRCC back at the regional office within five days. The Region designates a Louisiana-specific team and a Texas-specific team; these start out as five-person teams, but when necessary they increase to eight to ten officials. There are FEMA regional staffing shortfalls, particularly if the region has to surge.

Part of the staffing shortage is due to Disaster Assistance Employees (DAEs) already committed to other disasters.

Triggers. The region has a series of detailed trigger maps as part of its Hurricane plan. Key points:

• Louisiana and Texas and triggers are different.

• The region has reviewed and de-conflicted the data for each response and focused on how the region, FEMA, and the federal government will respond.

• Since Hurricane Katrina, the states in the region have enhanced their ability ramp up their response capacity. The issues now, however, are concerns about coordination and smart distribution resources to include air transport for a CTN air evacuation.

Scenario Specifics:

Start of scenario…

• Potential landfall in Region VI within 144 hours: 4 September—Hurricane Charlotte, a category 3 storm, makes landfall in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The storm’s projected track is over the Florida Keys and may hit southeast Louisiana. The governors of both Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands declare disasters and issue emergency shelter orders.

• Potential landfall in Louisiana within 96 hours and Texas within 120 hours: 6 September— Hurricane Charlotte still a category 3 storm, has passed over the Keys and entered the Gulf region. It is expected to make a direct strike on New Orleans and Baton Rouge within approximately 96 hours.

• Potential landfall in Louisiana within 72 hours and Texas within 96 hours: 7 September— Hurricane Charlotte now a category 4 storm, continues curving northwestward. The storm’s track continues westward so that Galveston and Houston, TX is now in the projected strike area as well as New Orleans.

• Potential landfall in Louisiana within 60 hours and Texas within 72 hours: 8 September— Hurricane Charlotte, now a category 3 storm track has continued to shift northwestward expecting to impact the New Orleans, Louisiana coastal area and continuing its path toward the Galveston/Houston, Texas costal area. The National Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane warning along the entire Louisiana Coast and as far south as Corpus Christi, TX.

• Potential landfall in Louisiana within 48 hours and Texas within 60 hours: 9 September— Hurricane Charlotte, regaining strength to a category 4 storm, is over the Gulf. Charlotte is expected to have a near direct impact on New Orleans within 48 hours (with strong storm surge) and possibility if the storm suddenly change course it could divert toward the Galveston costal area of TX having a direct impact on Houston and Galveston Texas, within 59 hours. The governor of Texas calls for evacuations of the greater Houston-Galveston area; many people refuse to evacuate. Within several hours after evacuation directives are issued for the city of Houston the Mayor of New Orleans issues evacuation orders for New Orleans that prompts local Parish presidents to issue evacuation directives for surrounding Parishes. At this point TX will not accept any possible host state evacuees from New Orleans costal area arriving by air and/or motor coach. At this point the state of OK and several New England states including Massachusetts and Connecticut are considering receiving host state evacuees from New Orleans.

If the aforementioned states agree to accept host state evacuees from LA, immediate adaptive and/or crisis planning needs to occur in these states to provide additional air transport CTN ground transport support services to host state shelters at the host state debarkation sites.

Request for Federal Support: The President of the United States issues a Pre-landfall declaration for the states of Louisiana and Texas. Shortly afterwards LA submits an Resource Request Form (RRF) to FEMA Region VI requesting support from the FEMA’s National Air Transport contractor to evacuate CTNs from New Orleans and surrounding areas via air transport to designated host states. FEMA-HQ will be issuing a task order the air transport contractor to immediate position and deploy air transport resources to support the immediate evacuation of CTNS form Louisiana. LA is also in discussion with FEMA Regional VI to work with Region I to support the transport of CTNs to soon to be determined airfields in the states of MA and CT.

The state of Louisiana expects to evacuate up to 10,000 of the aforementioned total CTNs by air transport. These discussions are evolving because there are concerns that the number of CTNs expected to be transported by air could substantially increase.

Overview:

The purpose of this contract is to provide a contracting vehicle for the safe and efficient transportation of people, teams, equipment, and assets in response to declared or undeclared emergencies within the United States, its territories and possessions.

Disaster Specific Capabilities:

The Contractor may be tasked to provide turnkey support at all locations specified in a task order to include ground transportation, if required, for personnel, equipment, and vehicles. The Contractor may be tasked to provide all necessary material handling equipment (MHE) to load and unload aircraft and qualified personnel to operate equipment compatible with furnished aircraft. The Contractor may be tasked to provide all cargo preparation and manifesting of personnel, equipment, vehicles, and baggage for air movement, and all necessary services to prepare and certify hazardous material for air movement.

Disaster-Related Response: The Contractor may be tasked to provide ground support services to include passenger services to evacuees for a large-scale air evacuation at airfields which have undergone the pre-planning component.

Activation Process:

This contract may be Direct Federal Assistance (DFA) or Federal Operations Support (FOS) depending upon the scenario/support requested. Information required from the requestor for the

COR:

• Purpose of travel, circumstances requiring these resources, and goals to accomplish

• Number of passengers to be transported

• Timelines (detailed itinerary to include manifest)

• Any specific requirements (HAZMAT, MHE, specific clothing or vehicle requirements, etc.)

The Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) will prepare a procurement package based on response requirements and a state-signed Resource Request Form. Once completed and approved by the Contracting Officer (CO), a proposal/bid request will be sent to the Contractor for response (bid). Once reviewed and approved by the COR and the CO (and after any price negotiation), the task order will be issued by the CO.

Response Time:

Upon issuance of a task order, the aircraft requested by FEMA must be activated and positioned where directed by the Government, with maximum fuel aboard consistent with aircraft performance limitations and mission requirements, as quickly as possible but in no event more than 24 hours after the contractor receives the task order.

During the response, the contractor may be required to provide air transportation services on a 24-hour, 7 day per week basis, with a 5-hour response time to the designated team or task force point of departure (upon issuance of a task order). If aircraft and/or crew are unable to provide the requested movement within the specified timeframe, the contractor shall be responsible for finding and delivering a suitable backup to the pickup point within 4 hours of determination that the primary aircraft and/or crew cannot execute the mission.

End of Scenario…….