FEMA REGION I, II & III HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS EXERCISES

CRA, Inc. provided direct support to the DHS Preparedness Directorate’s Office of Grants and Training in designing, developing, conducting, and evaluating hurricane preparedness. Combined FEMA Regions I/II, and Region III took part in a rigorous schedule of Tabletop exercises provided by CRA.  Part of DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff’s initiative to enroll governors in hurricane preparedness exercises, CRA's exercises for FEMA regions I/II and III involved the Nation’s coastal States in regionally-based hurricane preparedness exercises (HPE).

These TTXs created and facilitated by CRA were originally envisioned as a 6-month effort however, they were planned and conducted in a 6-week timeframe. Through these 16-hour exercises, which took place on May 3–4, 2006, in Philadelphia, PA for Region III, and June 20–21 in New London, CT for Regions I and II, CRA was able to assist these regional groups focus on issues and policies relevant to hurricane response and recovery planning and operations.

As envisioned by DHS and facilitated by CRA, these regional TTXs served as a forum to ensure that Governors, senior-level staff and other key regional personnel from Federal, State, and local, territory, and tribal levels worked with representatives from non-government organizations (NGOs), private sector, and critical infrastructures partners. They evaluated response concepts, policies, plans, procedures, and capabilities during a catastrophic hurricane.  Together, these exercises allowed more than 500 participants from the mid-Atlantic and East Coast Regions the opportunity to share their insights and provide input into how best to leverage and implement lessons learned from the 2005 hurricane season.

Regions I/II and  III exercise planners developed objectives based on immediate needs and identified how to realize meaningful near-term gains. CRA exercise staff and consultant subject-matter experts (SMEs) facilitated the discussion-based TTXs framed by several key overarching elements:

• Understanding Federal, State, and private-sector capabilities and expectations for resource and volunteer management

• Identifying and establishing expectations for evacuation, mass care, and protective measures

• Identifying communication procedures and the infrastructure upon which the Federal and State response will depend in the event of a widespread natural disaster such as Hurricane Katrina.

The suite of exercises further addressed the following:

• Changes to the National Response Plan, the new FEMA Concept of Operations and Evacuation Plan, and the newly sanctioned DHS Common Operational Picture.

• Reinforcement of the principles of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the underlying incident management structure for hurricane response at all levels of government.

• Identification of necessary improvements and assignment of responsibility for actions to be taken prior to start of the 2006 hurricane season.

• Disciplined process for implementing lessons learned.

In addition to planning and delivering the Regions I/II and III TTX, CRA was responsible for developing and producing exercise-related materials and documentation, including draft and final versions of the after-action report (AAR).