Exercise Situation Manual (SitMan)
Purpose
The Operation 3R’s – A Hurricane Recovery Exercise will serve as an opportunity for agencies and organizations assigned lead or support roles within the Levy County Emergency Operations Center to participate in a hurricane recovery exercise.
Core Capabilities
Capabilities-based planning focuses on planning under uncertainty because the next danger or disaster can never be forecast with complete accuracy. Therefore, capabilities-based planning takes an all-hazards approach to planning and preparation that builds capabilities that can be applied to a wide variety of incidents. The capability selected for this exercise is:
· Community Recovery
This capability provides the foundation for development of the exercise design objectives and scenario. The purpose of this exercise is to measure and validate performance of this capability and its associated critical tasks.
Exercise Objectives
The exercise will focus on the following design objectives to guide exercise play:
1. Effectively manage recovery activities following a hurricane striking the county.
2. Initiate and coordinate a multi-agency recovery operation.
Participants
· Players respond to the situation presented based on expert knowledge of response procedures, current plans and procedures, and insights derived from training.
· Facilitators provide situation updates and moderate discussions. They also provide additional information or resolve questions as required. Facilitators are responsible for keeping discussion on track and ensuring all responses are submitted within the ONX System.
· Evaluators observe and record player discussions and actions. Evaluators complete Exercise Evaluation Guides (EEGs) to provide substantive assessment for inclusion in the After Action Report.
Exercise Guidelines
· This is an open, low-stress, no-fault environment. Varying viewpoints, even disagreements, are expected.
· Respond based on your knowledge of current plans and capabilities (i.e., you may request the use of existing assets) and insights derived from training.
· Decisions are not precedent setting and may not reflect the organization’s final position on a given issue. This is an opportunity to discuss and present multiple options and possible solutions.
· Issue identification is not as valuable as suggestions and recommended actions that could improve response and preparedness efforts. Problem-solving efforts should be the focus.
Assumptions and Artificialities
In any exercise a number of assumptions and artificialities may be necessary to complete play in the time allotted. During this exercise, the following apply:
· The scenario is plausible, and events occur as they are presented.
· There is no “hidden agenda”, nor any trick questions.
· All players receive information at the same time.
Scenario
Day 1 – Monday 12:30PM – Landfall
Hurricane Hanna, with sustained winds of 101 MPH, made landfall just south of Cedar Key at 12:30PM on Monday.
The slow moving storm dropped almost 19 inches of rain as it cut across Levy County.
Day 1 – Monday 2:45PM – Response
Once conditions permitted county, city and town emergency response personnel initiate life safety operations.
From search and rescue operations to conducting preliminary damage assessment law enforcement agencies, fire departments, EMS, emergency management and various volunteer agencies are working together to meet the immediate storm-caused needs of county residents.
Day 3 – Wednesday 8:00AM
Since Monday’s landfall of Hurricane Hanna local agencies and organizations have worked tirelessly to respond to the immediate needs of county residents.
As Day 3 begins the pace of activity in the Levy County EOC starts to shift from solely focusing on response to activities associated with longer term recovery.
Operation 3Rs Exercise 1 www.drc-group.com