Hurricane Isabel

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Hurricane Isabel

• Lessons Learned
• James Mock
• Operations Engineer
• Hampton Roads Smart Traffic Center
• April 5, 2004

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In Virginia

• 23 Deaths
• 626 Homes Destroyed
• 6000 Homes Sustained Major Damage
• 16,000 Sought Refuge in 140 Shelters
• 1.6 million without power

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Isabel 9/17/03
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1100 A.M. 9/17

• Governor Warner Authorizes Local Governments to
  Designate Mandatory Evacuations for Low-lying
  Areas in Tidewater
• No noticeable evacuation in Hampton Roads

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Hampton Roads 9/18

• Dawn -- Winds gusting to 45 mph in Virginia Beach
• The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel is closed to
  empty trucks and later to all traffic.
• 1140 a.m. -- Brian Williams of NBC News
  positions himself on the Virginia Beach Boardwalk
  to show viewers the effects of 60 mph winds.
  Mike Seidel of The Weather Channel joins him and
  attempts to get a wind reading with a hand-held
  anemometer. Winds snare him, flinging him about
  30 feet.

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HAMPTON ROADS 9/18

• 1 p.m. -- Waves begin to break over the Virginia
  Beach Boardwalk as winds gust to hurricane force.
• 230 p.m. -- The Midtown Tunnel is closed because
  of flooding. Later, the Downtown Tunnel also will
  close.
• 445 p.m. -- Winds ripping at Portsmouth's
  Pavilion tear the top of the amphitheater

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HAMPTON ROADS 9/18

• 515 p.m. -- Windows are shattered on several
  businesses at the Oceanfront. Throughout the
  afternoon, windows also have been blown out of
  several high-rise buildings in downtown Norfolk
• 530 p.m. -- Gov. Mark Warner asks President Bush
  for federal aid

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HAMPTON ROADS 9/18

• 9 p.m. -- Isabel is a hurricane no more as it
  steers into south-central Virginia with winds
  steadily dropping cities that ordered emergency
  personnel off the streets begin responding to
  calls again.
• 11 p.m. -- With 95 percent of Hampton Roads in
  the dark, Dominion Power reports 1.6 million
  customers in its service area are in the dark

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VDOT
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Lessons Learned

• Maintain Floodgates at Tunnels
• Establish a written policy on Bridge and Tunnel
  Closings.
• Review strategy of having pre-positioned
  equipment at ramps.

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Lessons Learned

• Review inter-agency understanding of when field
  forces are sent to shelter.
• Statewide approach to Hurricane Planning.

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Hurricane Isabel

• Lessons Learned
• James Mock
• Operations Engineer
• Hampton Roads Smart Traffic Center
• April 5, 2004