Final AAR paper

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Jan 9, 2024

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1 Final AAR Dedric Johnson EMM-605-O500 Economics and Human Issues Professor Dr. Scott Downs September 13, 2023

Contents Contents .................................................................................................................................... 2 Executive Summary… ............................................................................................................... 3 Agency Involvement .................................................................................................................. 4 Recommendations for Future Mitigation Overview .................................................................. 5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 7 Appendix—Improvement Plan .................................................................................................. 8 References. ................................................................................................................................ 10 2

Final AAR Executive Summary This Executive Summary examines the effects of the severe storms that passed through Memphis and Shelby County, leaving most of the area without power for several days. These observations in the report are made to improve the response to events in the future. Serve thunderstorms are not unique to the city of Memphis. This event was made memorable by the number of storms that came through the area in succession and the damage the storms left (FOX13 Memphis News Staff, 2023). Shelby County experienced three severe winds and thunderstorms in less than five days. The storms caused the community heavy damage from the seventy-five-mile-per-hour winds. The storms brought havoc to seven hundred thousand customers who lost power. Data from the aftermath of the storm brought many things to light. The data was gathered and collated by the city of Memphis and MLGW (Daniels, 2023). The utility and the town reviewed the response to the storm. The county commission reviewed the information. The interviews of the citizens were comprehensive and involved all stakeholders in the city. The city met on the storm responses (Daniels, 2023). A strength of Emergency Operations is the swift response to alert the centenary to incoming storms. The ability to track and monitor the direction and force of the storm down to the street level. The utility's ability to keep essential buildings operating during the storm. The power of emergency operations to pull in other crews to speed up the restoration process. Weakness in the system showed the city and county are slow to remove debris from damaged areas. It has been a month, and trees remain in most neighborhoods. Many residences were in the dark for too long. The poorer area areas in the city seemed to get help last. 3

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Agency Involvement On top of all the other damages, another severe wind and thunderstorm came through the area and disrupted restoration efforts again. The third storm undermined infrastructure but did not lead to any loss of life. The storm caused the community, neighbors, businesses, and government entities to unite in the lack of utility power. There are many areas where the response was vital to the storm damage, and several regions were observed for improvements (FOX13 Memphis News Staff, 2023). The recommendations will help the utility prepare for another severe wind and thunderstorm. The report shows the role of the entire community during times of need. The information is organized by MLGW and Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) at the request of the Shelby County Commission and the Memphis City government. The report examines the City and County response, recovery, and preparedness efforts (FOX13 Memphis News Staff, 2023). The damage was so severe. Memphis Light Gas and Water (MLGW). The company mobilized crews from many outside contractors to restore power to the customers. These crews worked with MLGW crews to make repairs caused by trees falling on power lines. The company had to remove the debris before the massive maintenance could be done (FOX13 Memphis News Staff, 2023). The company called in fifty tree and seventy line crews to complete the work. While repairs were being initiated, the company's kelp powers, water, and sewer services functioned at the county's hospitals and other essential services. The company kelp the water pressure reasonably, so a boil water advisory would only be needed for a small rural part of Shelby County. The first storm came through and knocked out power. The MLGW went to work restoring power to the community. Well into the first restoration, a second storm came through the area. This second severe storm knocked out power 4

again in the city. The power restoration efforts were reset (FOX13 Memphis News Staff, 2023). People had to plan to be without utilizes for several days. People with power have given a hand to family and friends without power. The goal is to get the ability back on quickly. The city and county collaborated through the use of people. Management used its relationship with other energy companies to get more crews in town to help restore power. This move was adequate to help get power fixed. Managers were able to coordinate efforts to keep energy going at essential buildings (Bolden & Gray, 2023 ). The city government and county commission mobilized services to ease cleanup efforts across jurisdictional boundaries. The professionalism and skills needed to recover were displayed by government leaders and MLGW. The collective action led to each entity listening and showing respect for each agency in this cross-agency collaboration. These cross-boundary teams worked outside the standard hierarchies. These teams functioned well and made significant progress for the community. The different agencies used a collaboration process through cohesive management and teams. The efforts were practical. Recommendations for Future Mitigation There are three short-term goals for the Emergency Operation Plan. The first is to replace broken infrastructure that hinders restoring power. The second short-term goal is removing the remaining debris from the city for safe travel to the town. (Turner, 2023). The third short-term goal is to ensure the outage system stays updated and presents real-time data to customers. A long-term goal is to continue to cut trees that might fall into power lines and cause prolonged outages. A second long-term goal is to replace aging infrastructure on the power grid (Daniels, 2023). A third long-term goal is to move some power lines underground to minimize outages during severe weather. The city and county want to ensure positive strategic outcomes for the 5

citizens. The process of cross-agency collaboration can become standard procedure in times of emergencies. The agencies involved in recovery can have specific goals to leverage multiple forms of assistance. This will lead to better advocacy and extended outreach (Turner, 2023). Each agency involved can have a review process to evaluate its response. The agencies can be streamlined with help from the government. Review can lead to more vital coordination in times of disaster. The city and county government entities can use social media to disseminate information (Turner, 2023). In the future, for storms of this magnitude, the government needs to be accountable, have resources flow quickly through the bureaucracy, and get to the citizens. These agencies need to get this aid to the people affected. These storms that happened back to back led to many people being without power for days. To some people, the response to the emergency may have seemed inadequate. In the eyes of disasters like Hurricane Katrina, the answer was adequate for the situation. In the future, the traditional concept of individual departments working separately should be abandoned, and the cross-collaboration of agencies should always be employed. Working together will bring greater accountability to the people in charge. There should be one plan that all agencies follow. Less bureaucratic noise in a recovery effort will yield better results. Cross-agency collaboration should be used more often so the lines of authority and accountability are not blurred. Administrators should maintain responsibility for their agency's actions during a disaster. Agencies need to have clear interagency policies that help the recovery effort. The interagency collaboration should make arrangements that clarify the labor, authority, and responsibility of each agency in the group. 6

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Conclusion This part of the report outlines the events during the storms in July. This timeline is a view of the events with additional details. The severe storm came into Shelby County and moved expeditiously through the entire county. The storm activated the severe storm warning system for the county and surrounding area. The city and the county opened emergency shelters for people to use utilities (FOX13 Memphis News Staff, 2023). At this point, after the first storm, people were faced with widespread power outages, home damages, and scattered debris. There were many obstacles to the infrastructure and staffing to restore power to the area. Elected officials moved to a set of services to remove debris from the community. The massive need to help the affected areas showed the shortfalls in the response system. Many communities were left without power for days while more affluent parts of the city were restored with utilities. This series of storms impacted the city in several ways. The storm showed vulnerabilities in the utility's approach to restoring power. It also showed how they are a response to incoming disasters. (Bolden & Gray, 2023 ). The county was able to keep essential places like hospitals, police, and fire operating after the storm. The elected officials could mobilize and help get restoration action in motion. The utility was able to deploy crews to get power restored. When the other storms came through, MLGW could continue the restoration efforts. These efforts restored power, cleared streets, and provided shelters for the citizens(Bolden & Gray, 2023 ). The Emergency plan was able to be updated for future storms. The area is better prepared for the severe weather becoming more common. The best recommendation for the utility is to update the infrastructure to withstand the power of these new, more powerful storms. Updating the system is the best way to be prepared for these storms. They were doing a good job restoring power and removing debris from critical areas in the city. 7

The efforts were thwarted by a second storm that hit there three days after the first storm. Power was lost again to a majority of the town. MLGW increased its response efforts by calling in more line and tree-cutting crews. The lack of utilities had people suffering through high temperatures during this scorching summer. The temperature stayed in the nineties during this second round of storms (FOX13 Memphis News Staff, 2023). The utility did not have to start from scratch with restoration efforts, but thousands of powerless customers went back up. There was not a Disaster Declaration declared during this time. The utility was operating past its normal compactly to restore power. The city opened its emergency center after this second round of severe weather (Turner, 2023). While the city was well on its way to restoring power to the twelve thousand people who had not been restored from the previous two stores, a third severe weather and wind storm shot the numbers up. The outages went up by forty percent. They were still people without power restored from the first storm. After a week, some residents have not had power. Many people could not work, play, or rest during these days in the city. Many people lost their food while being without power. Some regained power but could not return to work because their workplaces lacked power. Appendix—Improvement Plan Appendix A: Improvement Plan Template Recommendation for Improvement Corrective Action Capability Element 1 Primary Responsible Organization Start Date Completion Date 1. Recommendation for improvement (replace broken infrastructure) Corrective Action 1 Identify old equipment MLGW 8/23 ongoing Corrective Action 2 Remove old equipment MLGW 8/23 ongoing Corrective Action 3 Put in new equipment MLGW 8/23 ongoing 8

2. Recommendation for improvement (Move some power lines underground.) Corrective Action 1 Identify Powerlines to move MLGW 1/24 ongoing Corrective Action 2 Move infrastructure for lines MLGW 1/25 ongoing 9

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References Bolden, B. & Gray, S. (2023, July 24). Memphis Residents Continue to Deal With Power Outages Heading Into the Week. https://www.msn.com/en us/weather/topstories/memphis-residents-continue-to-deal-with-power-outages-heading- into-the-week/ar-AA1ebYQD Daniels, T. (2023, June 18). Over 32,000 MLGW Customers Power Impacted Amid Thunderstorms. https://www.actionnews5.com/2023/06/18/over-32000-mlgw-customers- power-impacted-amid-thunderstorms/ FOX13 Memphis News Staff .(2023, June 28). Full power restoration could take 'multiple days,' MLGW says. https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/full-power-restoration-could-take- multiple-days-mlgw-says/article_406ee222-0dc7-11ee-b2e0-fb039f9a3c28.htm Turner, D. (2023, June 26). FOX13 Investigates: Why do Memphis Power Outages Keep Happening? https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/fox13-investigates-why-do-memphis power-outages-keep-happening/article_e7de7676-1489-11ee-face-23314e080c72.html 10

Final AAR paper

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