On June 7, 2012, the NADO Research Foundation held a webinar explaining the impacts of Tropical Storm Irene on infrastructure and communities in Vermont, as well as the activities of the state's regional planning commissions to respond and recover from the flash flooding and inundation in partnership with Vermont Agency of Transportation and the local communities.

1. RPC Involvement in the Recovery of Vermont’s
Transportation Network after Tropical Storm Irene
NADO Webinar Presented by Pam Brangan (Chittenden County RPC) and Katharine Otto (Southern
Windsor County RPC) on behalf of the Vermont Association of Planning and
June 7, 2012 Development Agencies

2. Agenda
 What happened in Vermont?
 Case Study of Southern Windsor County
 What was our task and why?
 Element 1 – RPC work in the field
 Element 2 – RPC work at the Coordination Center
 Element 3 – RPC work at the State Emergency
Operations Center
 Lessons learned
 Where are we now?

3. What happened in Vermont?
August 28, 2011

4. What happened in Vermont?

5. Damage across Vermont
Maps produced by Pam Brangan at the Irene Local
Roads Response Resource Coordination Center.
9/30/2011. pbrangan@ccrpcvt.org

6. Case Study – Southern Windsor County
Map extract from National Weather Service, 2011. Photographs from Weathersfield Facebook Page

7. Southern Windsor County

8. Cavendish – Winery Road Bridge
Photograph by SWCRPC staff

9. Cavendish – Carlton Road
Photograph by SWCRPC staff

10. Windsor – Brook Road Photograph by SWCRPC staff

11. Weathersfield – Upper Falls Road
Photograph by SWCRPC staff

12. “Cavendish Canyon” on VT-131
Photograph by SWCRPC staff

13. VT-106 in Weathersfield
Photograph from facebook

14. The RPC’s task
Photograph from Town of Weathersfield facebook page

15. Traditional Role of
Vermont’s RPCs
 Coordinated
regional planning
 Transportation
planning
 Local land use
planning & zoning
 Emergency planning
& preparedness
 Natural resource
planning
 GIS mapping &
analysis

16. Transportation role of RPCs
Primarily funded through the “Transportation Planning
Initiative” (FHWA funding through VTrans)
Sample of tasks which were relevant post-Irene:
 Infrastructure inventories – bridges, culverts, roads
 Facilitating regional road foreman meetings
 Traffic counts
 Regular involvement in project development and
prioritization
 Project management
 Map making and data management

17. What was our task?
 VTrans requested assistance from Vermont’s 11
RPCs
 Specific tasks
 Mapping & data collection
 Resource matching
 Communications
 FEMA PA assistance
 Technical assistance

18. 1. RPC work in
the field
 Detailed inventory
of every damaged
road segment
 Inventory damaged
bridges
 Inventory damaged
culverts where
possible

19. Example field sheet from Chester

20. FEMA PA Program Roll Out
 Scheduling Applicant’s Briefings & Kick Off
Meetings
 Request for Public Assistance Forms Tracking
 Coordination of Local Paperwork for FEMA PA Visits
 Provision of Maps & Base Data for FEMA Teams
 Attendance at PA Site Visits as Needed

21. 2. RPC work at the Regional Coordination Center
 Daily Status Reports
 Damage Assessment Collection
 Create forms
 Base maps to record damage
 Compile all damage reports
 Disseminate the damage report information

22. Daily Status Report
Irene Flood Damage Town Highway Regional Status Report
Daily Summary by Town
To be submitted BY NOON daily to mboomhower@ccmpo.org Preliminary assessment
Date 9/9/2011
FIRST SET RPC CODE IN YELLOW PULLDOWN CELL BELOW - this will then only show towns in the RPC region in the town name column pulldown
Regional Planning Commission SWCRPC Southern Windsor County RPC
Road Status Bridge Status Culvert Status
# Partially
# Open but Open # Emergency Total # Open but # Partially Open # Emergency Total # Open but # Partially Open # Emergency Total
Town Name Damaged (e.g. 1 lane) Only # Closed Damaged Damaged (e.g. 1 lane) Only # Closed Damaged Damaged (e.g. 1 lane) Only # Closed Damaged
Andover 28 5 3 36 1 1 0
Baltimore 1 1 0 0
Cavendish 2 67 5 74 1 1 0
Chester 123 1 124 9 9 0
Ludlow 110 14 124 1 2 3 0
Reading 25 14 1 40 1 1 0
Springfield 4 4 0 0
Weathersfield 9 4 1 14 0 0
West Windsor 38 1 2 41 1 1 0
Windsor 3 2 5 1 1 2 0
 Example of report from September 9th.

23. Daily Status Report

24. Damage Assessment Collection
Version 1 Version 4
Irene Flood Response - Regional Resource Coordination
Irene Flood Response - Regional Resource Coordination Local Road Initial Damage Assessment Data Form Version 4
Initial Damage Assessment Data Form
***Fill out One Form for Each Damage Area***
***Fill out One Form for Each Damage Area***
Town: _________________________________________ RPC: ___________________________
Town: ____________________________________________ Date: _____________________________
Road Name/ Number and Location Description (provide Town Contact: ______________________
Road Name/ Number and Location Description (fill out Town Contact: ______________________
adequate detail to locate project on a map such as road name, Title/Position: _______________________
information listed below if known): _______________________ Title/Position: _______________________ route number, GPS coordinates (Lat, Long in dec. deg), E911
___________________________________________________ Phone/email: ________________________ Address, Mile Marker): ________________________________ Recorded by: ________________________
 GPS coordinates From:__________________________ Recorded by: ________________________ ___________________________________________________ Date: _____________________________
To: ____________________________ ___________________________________________________
 E911 Address: _______________________________ Municipal Repair Priority: Bridge/Culvert Number: ____________________________ Municipal Repair Priority:
 Mile Marker _______________________________  High  Medium  Low
Length (feet) of Segment (for roads): __________________  High  Medium  Low
 Bridge/Culvert Number: ____________________________
Residences Stranded:  Yes
 Length (feet) of Segment (for roads): __________________
How Many: ____________
Facility Type: (check all that apply):  Road  Bridge  Culvert  Other Highway
Status:  Closed  Emergency vehicle only  Open with lane/weight restriction  Open, repair needed Facility Type: (check all that apply):  Road  Bridge*  Culvert  Other Highway
If facility is closed, is a detour route in place?  Yes  No *Will a Temporary Bridge be needed before Winter?  Yes Length in feet if known: _______
Damage description: _______________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________ Status:  Closed  Emergency vehicle only  Open with lane/weight restriction
__________________________________________________________________________________________  Open, repair needed  Open, Fixed
Have temporary repairs been made:  Yes  No Cost of Temporary Repairs ________________________
Describe temporary repairs: ___________________________________________________________________ If facility is closed, is a detour route in place?  Yes  No
Describe immediate repair needs (repairs that must be made before winter): ___________________________ Will the detour be in place for more than one week?  Yes
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Damage description: ________________________________________________________________
Describe resources needed for immediate repairs (equipment, staff, etc.): _____________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________
Estimated immediate repair costs, if known: ______________
Have temporary repairs been made:  Yes  No Cost of Temporary Repairs _________________
Will additional repairs be needed? Yes  No Will an engineering study be needed?  Yes  No Describe temporary repairs: ___________________________________________________________
 Don’t know
Location is Important for (check all that apply):
 Critical access point for residents  Critical access point for businesses Does Town need assistance in getting repairs started?  Yes
 Critical access route for school buses  Other (describe) _________________
Number of Homes Accessed: _________ Number of Businesses Accessed: __________ Describe resources needed: ____________________________________________________________
Other Highway Issues: ___________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

25. Example Base Map of Stockbridge

26. Compile and Report
Local Highway Damage Assessment
As of September 30, 2011
Road Segments
Total Damaged 2,260
Still Closed 175
12/21/11 12/14/2011 12/7/2011
Emergency Only 33
Closed
Bridges 43 49 52
Bridges
Total Damaged 289
Still Closed 90 Closed Road
Emergency Only 6 Segments 21 85 89
Culverts
Total Damaged 992
Still Closed 335

27. 3. RPC work at the SEOC
SEOC – State Emergency Operation Center
 Incident Command System’s Planning and Logistics
Sections role
 Assisted FEMA
 Incident Command System (ICS) structure was set up
for the RPCS to report to VTrans with status updates
to the SEOC
 Staffed multiple positions at SSF1 (State Support
Function 1)

28. Lessons Learned
Photograph by SWCRPC staff

29. Strengths
 Pre-established relationships with municipalities
 Transportation
 GIS mapping and infrastructure inventories
 Pre-established working relationships and
partnerships with state agencies and volunteers
 Inter-RPC mutual aid assistance – less impacted
RPCs help more impacted RPCs

30. Areas for improvements
 No pre-defined role for RPCs to assist VTrans in the
manner requested
 Not all RPC staff had adequate knowledge and/or
training for tasks
 Communications challenges
 Continuously changing expectations
 Collecting too much information

31. Recommendations
From the November 2011 After Action Report
 Plan to include RPCs in emergency response
 Create funding provision for approved emergency
activations
 Train RPC staff
 Facilitate clear, concise and coordinated communications
 List of FAQs ahead of time
 Central website/ clearinghouse
 Distill and prioritize information needs for local officials

32. Where are we now?
Photograph by SWCRPC staff

33. Update – June 2012
 2011 construction season extended into December
 April 2012 – New construction season started
 May 16, 2012 – Federal Disaster Declaration
amended
 May 30, 2012 - Governor Shumlin signed largest
transportation budget in Vermont’s history
 Ongoing discussion

34. Picture from Town of Weathersfield facebook page
Questions?
Contact:
Katharine Otto kotto@swcrpc.org
Pam Brangan pbrangan@ccrpcvt.org