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Multiple Communication Modes are Critical to Emergency Preparedness

by Kathy Hagood
Brevard Technical Journal

Effective emergency management is dependent upon various communication technologies, which continue to be challenged by disasters and improved over time.

During an event such as hurricane, chemical spill or a terrorist attack, our area's law enforcement, fire, emergency medical and other services have to be coordinated. Citizens must be informed of what to do to protect themselves and where to go for help.

Just ask Space Coast emergency managers and public information officers who coped with Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne.

"Communication is critical. To properly serve the commun-ity you have to have multiple modes of communication, because during a hurricane, some modes will fail," said Mike Moore, public information officer for the City of Melbourne.

While municipalities often communicate directly with their residents, overall emergency preparedness and response communication on the Space Coast is coordinated by the Brevard County Office of Emergency Management. The office operates from its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Rockledge.

The 1960s-style bomb shelter has been outfitted with various telephone, radio and computer systems and is served by two back-up generators. The 450-foot antenna at the center is equipped with an array of satellite dishes and other transmission equipment.

"This building has three-and-a-half-foot thick walls of steel and poured concrete plus 10-feet of earth, so when the hurricane was raging we didn't hear a thing," said James Bernier, Homeland Security Coordinator for Brevard County.

Homeland Security is a concern for the county because of such high-profile areas as the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, Port Canaveral and the high-tech corridor.

Representatives of the spaceport, port and other local entities were on hand at the EOC during the hurricanes to serve as conduits for information. Some of the organizations, including the spaceport, have their own EOCs. Those EOCs respond to their own needs while working in tandem with the county.

The spaceport's EOC is based at the Launch Control Center at Kennedy Space Center. While the "rideout" team that stays at the spaceport is relatively small compared to the working population, it's critical in watching over the billions of dollars of vehicles, equipment and facilities, said Roger Scheidt, senior emergency management analyst for Research Planning Inc. RPI provides emergency management coordination at the spaceport through the Joint Base Operations Support Contract.

Before a hurricane, the spaceport uses a Web-based system for keeping track of hurricane preparedness activities. The spaceport's new narrow band radio system allows for easy and clear communication among various local user groups before, during and after the storm.

"One of our biggest challenges in response to a hurricane can be keeping those in Washington D.C. abreast of what's happening," Scheidt said.

The spaceport uses a satellite radio and telephone communications system to c ommunicate to D.C. when phone lines aren't working. Brevard also has access to the system. "We used it after Frances because everything was down," Scheidt said.

Broad public announcements for the spaceport and other areas of the county are often made through the county's emergency communication system, said Joan Heller, spokeswoman for the county's emergency management office.

Heller put more than 100 Frances-related press releases via e-mail to media outlets, members of the emergency management team, community leaders and the 211 information system. Releases included how to prepare for the storm, evacuation orders, shelter information, alerts on trouble spots and where to go for help after Frances passed.

The public was able to call 211, a non-emergency information line sponsored by the county, United Way and others, to get Heller's and other updates on the storm.

"There was an avalanche of citizen calls. 211 helped up keep people informed because there's no way we could have answered their questions and done our job at the same time," Heller said.

The county's emergency management information was also picked up by broadcast and print journalists and transmitted to the public. Scrolling information was also broadcast on Space Coast Government television, available to the public on Channel 1 or 99 depending on the county location.

Information was also posted to the county's emergency manage-ment Web site www.embrevard.com.

The site went from a range of three to 500 hits a day to 95,000 during a peak day of the storm. Because the Web site went down during the hurricane the county is looking at ways to better ensure it stays up during a hurricane or other disaster, Heller said.

The City of Melbourne also used its Web site, www.melbourneflorida.org, to convey information to the public. Although the media broadcast that Melbourne was giving out sandbags to anyone who needed them, the city actually was only supplying them to its residents, Moore pointed out.

"Although media outlets are essential in getting out information, when there's a question it's good to check with a more direct source of information," Moore said.

The city's new Code Red callout service was put to use to send out boil water notices to areas using the Melbourne water supply. The Web-based system sends out automated recorded telephone messages to selected areas.

"We were pleased with Code Red and believe it will continue to help us keep our residents informed when there's an emergency situation," Moore said.

The county features a similar "reverse 911" system but did not use it during Frances. During the hurricane many Space Coast residents lost power and some lost telephone service. Cell phones were jammed by too many calls and lost towers. For some a battery-operated AM radio was the only means of getting information on develop-ments during the storm.

Fortunately, area radio stations used emergency management information during their broadcasts. The county EOC provides a mini-broadcast studio so that a media representative can funnel broadcast information to various radio stations via the county's Emergency Alert System, formerly called the Emergency Broadcast System.

The county's EOC also provides broadcast facilities to area ham radio operators for the Brevard Emergency Amateur Radio Service, which was used during the hurricane. Brevard and Melbourne, among others, are currently working to become part of Florida's Intelligent Transportation System program. Those in the system use radio transmissions on a specific AM channel to broadcast information on conditions such as heavy traffic, road closures and detours. Moveable and stationary signs are used to alert drivers to tune in to the station for the latest news on the situation.

"Brevard likely would have had the system installed already if it hadn't been for Frances," Bernier said.