A Pre-Event Recovery Planning Guide for Transportation (2013)

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12 Planning for recovery (pre-event planning) is an integral part of preparedness, as illustrated in Figure 6. Along with mitigation planning and response planning, preparing for the recovery from an event can be done prior to the event. Such planning can potentially reduce the time and effort involved in recovery and provides opportunities to assess the potential effects of an event and identify mitigation strategies to reduce its consequences. A number of principles should be taken into account when embarking on a pre-event recovery-planning process. If these principles are employed properly, they will help ensure that the recovery is conducted quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively while limiting negative disruptions and improving the infrastructure after the recovery. The principles are not exhaustive, but represent overarching tenets and practices identified through the case studies and current industry resources. The principles are listed below: • Recovery Is Different from Response • Response Can Impact Recovery • Short-Term Approaches Have Impact on Long-Term Recovery • Rebuilding Is an Opportunity to Improve Infrastructure and Incorporate Resilience • Economic Impact Is a Part of Recovery • Take a Collaborative Approach • Take a Regional Approach • Establish Priorities in Advance • Organize Roles and Responsibilities • Be Aware of Funding Realities • Link the Pre-Event Recovery Planning to Other Plans • Incorporate Flexibility and Identify Alternatives Discussion of each principle follows. Recovery Is Different from Response The distinction between recovery and response is important. The skills, resources, objectives, time horizons, and stakeholders of the response and recovery phases are dramatically different. Having a recovery plan is different from just modifying or adding on to the existing emergency response plans. As summarized in Introduction to Emergency Management (Haddow, Bullock, and Coppola 2008): Unlike the response function, where all efforts have a singular focus, the recovery function or process is characterized by a complex set of issues and decisions that must be made by individuals and communities. Recovery involves decisions and actions relative to rebuilding and replacing property, resuming employment, C h a p t e r 3 Principles of Pre-Event Recovery Planning

Principles of Pre-Event Recovery Planning 13 restoring businesses, and permanently repairing and rebuilding infrastructure. The recovery process requires balancing the more immediate need to return the community to normalcy with the longer term goal of reducing future vulnerability. (213) Emergency situations will generally bring together diverse experts who may not work together on non-emergency infrastructure construction projects. To quickly and efficiently implement disaster recovery, a recovery organization with clear authority and responsibilities needs to be identified prior to the event. According to effective practices, the team should be involved in the planning process and, given the demands of recovery operations, should be separate from the emergency response organization. The recovery team members need to understand what their responsibilities are and how they interact with the emergency response team and others involved in recovery. Response Can Impact Recovery It is important to understand that the response and recovery phases often overlap and that response efforts have an impact on recovery. Research has found that quick response to an event that damages infrastructure can mitigate the losses and speed up the time necessary to recover. For example, if assessing damage and clearing away debris can be done quickly, the infrastructure recovery process will begin sooner. Another key issue is how quickly the recovery team can begin work at incident locations. Providing access to critical locations while the response effort is still in progress can expedite the recovery. For example, after all survivors were led to safety during the July 7, 2005, London Transit Bombing Event (approximately 4 hours after the rescue teams arrived), planning for the recovery became part of the incident team’s consideration. The London Underground Recovery Team was given space to begin its project management activities, such as planning for structural surveys and determining the specific equipment needed for the recovery. Access arrangements were made for the structural engineers so that they could determine damage. Permission was granted for equipment needed, and plans were made to bring in equipment such as large cranes in a manner that did not interfere with the investigation. Figure 6. Pre-event planning and preparedness. Source: Leonard and Howitt 2009.

14 a pre-event recovery planning Guide for transportation Short-Term Approaches Have Impact on Long-Term Recovery Short-term recovery decisions can have long-term implications. For example, bridge closures, locations selected for debris sites, and decisions about infrastructure restoration can limit longer term options. Some of the long-term recovery activities are extensions of short-term activities, such as making permanent repairs to structures that have been temporarily reinforced to mitigate damage. Other long-term efforts begin after short-term tasks of debris removal and restoration of at least minimal service capacity have been completed. Identifying in advance the decisions with the potential to have the most influence on long-term plans and addressing them through pre-event planning can help maintain the balance between short-term and long-term recovery measures. Rebuilding Is an Opportunity to Improve Infrastructure and Incorporate Resilience An effective recovery process includes not only repairing and rebuilding damaged infrastructure, but also rebuilding infrastructure in a way that reduces future risks. Planning for recovery provides the opportunity to assess potential effects of an event, use improved construction methods and materials, and identify mitigation strategies to reduce risks. Incorporating hazard mitigation into pre-event recovery plans enables communities to “seize opportunities for hazard mitigation that arise in the aftermath of a disaster,” as pointed out in Planning for Post-Disaster Recovery and Reconstruction (Schwab et al. 1998). As also noted in the report: Pre-disaster and post-disaster mitigation should be two parts of a seamless whole in a sound plan of post-disaster recovery and reconstruction. The only difference, although it is often a major difference, is one of scale of accelerating the pace with which existing mitigation plans are implemented, as a result of the influx of outside assistance. (62) Infrastructure matters. As found in the work being done to update Planning for Post-Disaster Recovery and Reconstruction (Schwab et al. 1998), “Planning for Post-Disaster Recovery: Next Generation”: Hazard mitigation planning must studiously inventory our infrastructure vulnerabilities, including paths for water to flood subway systems, airports near the waterfront that may become inoperative, railroad tracks that will be underwater, etc. The nation’s underinvestment in infrastructure takes its toll in these situations, but so does a lack of attention to mitigation when we make such investments. (J. Schwab, “Reacting to Sandy,” APA Recovery News, http://blogs.planning.org/postdisaster/2012/10/31/reacting-to-sandy/) Economic Impact Is a Part of Recovery Transportation systems are critical to a community’s economic recovery. Along with the transport of critical goods and services, transportation networks provide access to workplaces and commercial businesses. The extended disruption of these systems can have a catastrophic impact on a region’s economic health. Understanding community economic needs is important and should be incorporated into transportation pre-event recovery planning. Economic considerations need to be considered when prioritizing recovery. Pre-event planners should consider the roles of business and economic development entities in the pre-planning and recovery process. Inclusion of these groups will allow the accurate identification of the most important economic connections in the recovery. Additionally, current infrastructure eco- nomic coordination planning structures (Transportation Improvement Programs, Metropolitan

principles of pre-event recovery planning 15 Planning Councils, etc.) are pre-existing and effective tools for helping planners identify economic priorities. Additionally, planners must be mindful of the need to provide temporary services that replace disrupted service in the short term to ensure that economic impacts are mitigated. For example, after Hurricane Katrina, a new transportation service that brought displaced workers back to New Orleans for work was established to help the city recover economically. The service was funded by FEMA and coordinated with the Federal Transit Administration, State of Louisiana, and New Orleans Regional Transit. Take a Collaborative Approach Emergency recovery situations bring together people who may not work together during non-emergency situations. The goal of collaboration is to combine knowledge, expertise, and information across agencies and jurisdictions to create procedures and communications processes to improve recovery. Establishing and reinforcing these relationships before an event provides the opportunity to build understanding of each other’s needs during recovery. Better working relationships also lead to better coordination, which in turn yields better recovery results and fewer delays. Take a Regional Approach A best practice for recovery planning is to coordinate regionally. Major events often have a regional impact. As the State of Florida Post-Disaster Redevelopment Planning: A Guide for Florida Communities (Florida Department of Community Affairs and Florida Division of Emergency Management 2010) notes, After a major disaster, smaller communities will be dependent on the ability of larger communities that are home to regional infrastructure systems to recover quickly and efficiently before they can recover. The speed of restoration for facilities such as international airports and seaports, and infrastructure such as bridges and truck routes in neighboring jurisdictions can greatly impact the timing of . . . recovery. In addition, some communities will become host to long-term evacuees from neighboring jurisdictions, which may require increased infrastructure capacity. (79) In addition, large recovery efforts may have an adverse impact on the availability of local management, engineering, and contracting resources that would normally be available, and regional joint planning helps efficiently identify and prepare supplementary support resources. Establish Priorities in Advance Given competing demands, limited resources, and the urgency of the recovery effort, estab- lishing recovery priorities and agreeing on trigger-setting processes before an event is essential to avoiding conflicts and delays during the recovery process. When there is scarce capacity, it is important to determine how and when to use it. The priorities established beforehand will guide decision-making during the actual recovery process and should minimize any unintended consequences or conflicts since the recovery team will be working toward established goals. Another benefit of identifying priorities in advance is the opportunity it affords to ensure that the transportation system owner’s recovery priorities are aligned with the community’s recovery priorities. Examples of priorities include the following: • Organizational goals. What critical facilities and assets are necessary to provide required service levels? What temporary measures can be taken to enable getting back to normal quickly

16 a pre-event recovery planning Guide for transportation while working on long-term fixes? How much redundancy can be provided to support the service levels required? • Economic recovery goals. What specific transportation requirements are parts of the community recovery plan? What facilities are required to support economic recovery? • Long-term planning goals. What long-term projects have been planned to improve the transportation network? What projects have been considered to increase the resiliency of the transportation system? Organize Roles and Responsibilities To quickly and efficiently implement a disaster recovery plan, a recovery organization with clear authority and responsibilities needs to be identified prior to the event. According to effective practices (identified in this Guide), the recovery team should be involved in the planning process and, given the demands of recovery operations, should be separate from the emergency response organization. The recovery team needs to understand what their responsibilities are and how they interact with the emergency response team and others involved in the recovery. According to the NTRS, as part of the recovery process, transportation owners and operators may be asked to take on specific responsibilities along with the responsibilities of their own business recovery needs. These responsibilities include the following: • Identify critical facilities, such as hospitals, during the initial response and recovery phases and provide these facilities with critical transportation resources. • Conduct damage assessments on the transportation service, system, or infrastructure, and determine the impact this damage has on the overall transportation network. • Provide subject-matter expertise to advise government decision-makers during the recovery phase. • Implement improved materials and construction methods to prevent similar damage from occurring again. Appointments to the recovery team should be identified prior to the event so that members of the team can all understand their role in the recovery process and the actions they are expected to perform during the recovery period. This team may include transportation planners, transporta- tion engineers, emergency management experts, environmental experts, and first responders. The team should include members that have experience responding to disasters. Be Aware of Funding Realities It is important to know in advance the federal, state, and private resources available to fund any recovery effort and understand any eligibility or documentation requirements for obtaining the funding. Staff with knowledge of financial resources should be included as part of the pre-event recovery planning team to ensure that disaster assistance is effectively utilized. Link Pre-Event Recovery Planning to Other Plans Many other plans are already being created: hazard mitigation plans, asset management plans, business continuity plans or COOPs, and emergency management plans. There may even be regional, corridor, and state recovery plans already in place. Transportation recovery planning can be incorporated into those existing plans where appropriate; it does not have to be a separate document to be effective. For example, the California State Emergency Plan includes a Recovery

principles of pre-event recovery planning 17 section that Caltrans helped to develop, and the Caltrans Hazard Mitigation Plan includes recovery by taking an all-aspects approach to emergency management. It is important to integrate pre-disaster planning with other appropriate community planning such as hazard mitigation planning, comprehensive accessibility design, and capital improvement planning. Incorporate Flexibility and Identify Alternatives Things happen fast in emergency situations and may not follow a well-planned process, so it is important to make flexibility and duplication a part of the recovery process and develop mechanisms that can be adapted. A dilemma in recovery planning is how to balance achieving fast results with making lasting improvements. The transportation system’s recovery goals are often to rapidly return to normal, incorporate mitigation plans for the future, and include long-term system improvements, all of which may not be attainable at the same time. Pre-event recovery planning must consider the flexibility needed to address the differences and potential conflicts between short-term recovery goals and long-term recovery/reconstruction.