It’s hard to fathom the magnitude of the devastation inflicted on residentsof Houston and southeast Texas by Hurricane Harvey. In addition tohurricane-force winds and storm surge, up to 50 inches of rain fell in someplaces as the storm stalled for days. Fifty inches. Unbelievable.The images and stories on TV and social media show the desperation ofthousands of people forced from their homes, many plucked from theirrooftops by helicopters or boats after they escaped rapidly rising watersthat engulfed their homes. We saw senior citizens up to their waists infloodwaters waiting to be rescued. Our hearts broke when we learned ofthe lives lost in this horrific tragedy.But media reports are also bringing the heartwarming visuals of peoplehelping their neighbors and complete strangers in their time of need.Whether it be using their boats to ferry others to dry land, or bringingdonations, or standing in long lines to offer their help however and whereverit is needed, we truly saw how Americans band together during hard times.The state of Illinois stands ready to provide assistance requested by Texasand other impacted states through the national Emergency Management Assistance Compact system. We alsoare coordinating with state agencies and our mutual aid partners with deployable personnel and assets to ensurea state of readiness.While the rains have ended and floodwatersare receding, the impact of this disaster willbe felt for many months, even many years.Illinois is committed to helping the state ofTexas and its residents as neededthroughout the response and recoveryprocess.Another tragic event that happened halfwayaround the world recently also has saddenedthe hearts of Americans. Ten sailors lost theirlives after their ship collided with anothervessel near Singapore. The tragedy hit closeto home as one of those sailors, Petty Officer2nd Class Logan Stephen Palmer, was fromDecatur, Illinois. Please keep his family andfriends in your thoughts and prayers.

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In this issue2017 IEMA Training Summit Sponsors ...............................2

Solar Eclipse Brings Crowds to Southern Illinois .................3

Flood Damage Assessments Completed .............................4

Exercise Tests Response, Recovery to Power Outage.........4

Rail Safety Week is Sept. 24-30 ........................................5

How to Help Hurricane Harvey Survivors.............................5

SIREN Enhances State Fair Communications......................6

September is National Preparedness Month .......................6

Earthquake Drill Set for Oct. 19.........................................7

IEMA Participates in RadResponder Drill............................7

Tips for Preventing Ladder-Related Injuries.........................8

From IEMA Director James K. JosephAugust 2017Illinois Emergency Management Agency

Logan Palmer was posthumouslypromoted to Interior CommunicationsElectrician Second Class.

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Breakout Session Wednesday, Sept. 6, 3-4 p.m.Verizon Next Gen Public Safety (BusinessContinuity/Disaster Recovery, 5G, CDMA

Shutdown, Mobile Biometrics, Surveillance,Tactical Mobile Incident Command and

FirstNet) Presented by: Todd Biebel, Manager of Business

Continuity/Disaster Recovery Steven K. Miller, Verizon’s NationalSecurity Team

From the worldwide shutdown of CDMA networks to thelaunch of Verizon’s next gen 5G network, many excitingwireless advancements are happening. All of these arehaving an enormous impact on public safety and emergencycommunications response. Verizon’s national security teamwill provide an overview of the Verizon Wireless BusinessContinuity and Disaster Recovery program along with nextgeneration solutions and Verizon’s value proposition forFirstNet. Verizon Wireless remains steadfast in itscommitment as a viable strategic partner to public safety andfirst response groups and continues to be a leader in theinnovation of emergency communications response.

2017 IEMA Training Summit Platinum Sponsor

Executive Session BadgesEvening Social Event

2017 IEMA Training SummitThank You to Our Sponsors!

Bronze

Platinum Gold

TRAININGSUMMITSEPT. 5-7

2017

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As large crowds flocked to southern Illinois toexperience the total solar eclipse on Aug. 21,emergency management officials, first responders,medical personnel and many others worked behindthe scenes to ensure public safety.Planning for the eclipse and days leading up to therare celestial event began months earlier, when state,county and municipal public safety agencies andpartner organizations began the process to ensuresafety for everyone before, during and after theeclipse. The planning efforts for the eclipse were similar tothose public safety officials undertake for other eventsthat involve large crowds. Officials worked to addressevery possible contingency, including such issues ascrowd control, public health and medicalconsiderations, highway congestion, mass care andcommunications.To facilitate coordination among responseorganizations, IEMA established a State Unified AreaCommand (SUAC) in Effingham, whererepresentatives from the state departments ofTransportation, Natural Resources, Public Health,Corrections, IEMA, the Illinois State Police, IllinoisNational Guard, fire, law enforcement and emergencymanagement mutual aid organizations and theAmerican Red Cross were staged from Aug. 18-22.Two Area Commands, one in Fairview Heights and theother in Marion, reported to the SUAC. Personnel inthe Area Commands interacted with responseorganizations in its nine-county area in order tomaintain close-range situational awareness of issuesrelated to traffic, medical needs, cooling centers andother situations. The National Weather Service in

Paducah was present in the Marion Area Commandto provide regular weather updates for the entire 18-county area.The State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) inSpringfield was activated Aug. 18-22 to support theSUAC and the Area Commands. Representatives fromseveral state agencies and mutual aid partners staffedthe SEOC, prepared to expedite deployment ofpersonnel or resources if needed during that time.State, county and local agencies actively promotedsafety messages related to the eclipse, such as eye,traffic and heat safety. An eclipse page wasestablished on the Ready Illinois website where event-related information from several state agencies couldbe found.The extensive planning appears to have paid off, asfew incidents were reported. Traffic on roads leadingout of southern Illinois was slow moving as manyeclipse watchers tried to leave after the event.Southern Illinois will once again be in the path oftotality for a solar eclipse in 2024.

Solar Eclipse Brings Crowds to Southern Illinois

The SUAC was located at the Effingham County EmergencyOperations Center.

The longest duration of solar eclipse totality was nearCarbondale.

The Advance Planning Cell at the SUAC works on a map recon forJoint Reception, Staging and Onward Integration in the eventadditional resources are required.

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IEMA, FEMA, SBA Conduct Flood Damage AssessmentsThe state of Illinois continues to seek ways to supportrecovery efforts in northern Illinois after torrentialrainfall events in July caused record and near-recordflooding in both northeastern and northwestern Illinois. A joint preliminary damage assessment of homes andbusinesses by IEMA, the Federal EmergencyManagement Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. SmallBusiness Administration (SBA) was conducted Aug.18-22 in Cook, Kane, Lake and McHenry counties.In addition, IEMA and FEMA recently began thepreliminary damage assessment process withmunicipalities, counties and other governmentalbodies in these four counties to validate their costsrelated to the flooding. Information from that processwill determine if the state could meet the $18.3 millionthreshold for federal assistance that would reimbursegovernment entities for some of their disaster-relatedexpenses.IEMA personnel also are working with emergencymanagement officials in northwestern Illinois, whereflooding affected Carroll, Henry, Jo Daviess, Lee,

Ogle, Rock Island, Stephenson and Whitesidecounties. The state requested a joint preliminarydamage assessment for Stephenson County with theSBA to determine if it meets requirements for an SBAdisaster declaration.The State Emergency Operations Center in Springfieldwas activated for two weeks to support flood fightingefforts in these four counties along with subsequentflooding in the northwestern part of the state.

Power Outage Exercise Tests Response, RecoveryThink about the inconveniences you experience whenyour power is out for a few hours. Now imagine thatoutage covers a large portion of the state and lasts forseveral weeks. Grocery stores and other businesses,including banks, remain closed. Schools using powerfrom generators have been turned into shelters. Thearea’s economy has been severely impacted.These are just some of the issues that challengedparticipants in a recent long-term power outageresponse and recovery tabletop exercise in the StateEmergency Operations Center (SEOC). The NationalEmergency Management Association (NEMA) invitedIllinois to participate in a pilot of the exercise, whichenabled the state and its partner agencies to evaluatecapabilities for response to and recovery from suchan event. The exercise focused on several areas, includingpublic and private sector integration, energy sectorand critical infrastructure interdependencies,resources and capabilities related to restorationfollowing a widespread power outage, human andsocietal impacts of a long-term power outage, anddecision-making for power restoration and fuelallocation priorities.

The exercise provided an opportunity for StateEmergency Operations Center liaisons to reviewcurrent plans and procedures, discuss roles andresponsibilities with critical partners and beginupdates on plans to address this type of event. Illinoiswill build on the exercise activities as the planningprocess continues for a wide range of hazardsincluding earthquakes, improvised nuclear devicesand significant power outages.

Participants engage in small group discussion during theexercise.

Assessment team members document flood damage.

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The first-ever national Rail Safety Week, a joint effortby the U.S. Department of Transportation and thenational rail safety education nonprofit OperationLifesaver, Inc. (OLI), will take place Sept. 24-30. Thegoal of the event-filled week is to raise awareness,encourage rail safety education and empower thepublic to make smart decisions near railroad crossingsas a person or vehicle in the U.S. is hit by a train aboutevery three hours.For railroads, safety is an all-year, round-the-clockpriority. Every railroader’s job starts with a focus onkeeping train crews, highway crossings and thecustomers and communities railroads serve safe.Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) statisticsannounced earlier this year show that 2016 was thesafest year on record for freight railroads. Last yearmarked not only the lowest train accident rate onrecord, but likewise the lowest derailment rate, whichdeclined 10 percent from 2015. These gains are notanomalies, but examples of how steady rail investmentpays safety dividends. For example, since railroadswere economically deregulated in 1980, they havespent over $630 billion, and the train accident rate hasdecreased 79 percent.Trains have come a long way since the days of the IronHorse. State-of-the-art technologies like big data,drones, and ultrasound technology are just a few of theinnovations railroads use to advance rail safety. Forexample, while today’s inspection technology currentlymakes it possible for railroads to identify 90 percent oftrack defects before they lead to an incident,multidimensional ultrasonic technology, currently intesting, aims to identify the remaining 10 percent oftrack imperfections.In Pueblo, Colorado, railroads jointly support theworld’s leading rail research and testing facility,Transportation Technology Center, Inc. or TTCI. Manyof rail’s new technologies — like the world’s first laser-

based rail inspection system, or on-board computersystems that analyze track geometry — are developedand tested at TTCI. Also housed at TTCI is the Securityand Emergency Response Training Center (SERTC),which trains thousands of first responders every year.SERTC is a collaboration between railroads and theFRA, where responders get hands-on experience withsimulated hazmat incidents. The center also offersfree, web-based training for those who cannot attendin person.Additionally, thousands of first responders around thecountry have signed up for one of freight rail’s latestinnovations: a mobile app called AskRail. Launched inOctober 2014, the app is designed to prepareresponders for a rail emergency by providingimmediate access to accurate, timely data about whattype of hazardous materials a railcar is carrying.AskRail can only be downloaded by qualifiedemergency responders who have completed railemergency training. Railroads can also offer the appto known emergency responders along their routes. Article provided by GORAIL. For additional informationon rail safety in Illinois, visit the Illinois CommerceCommission website athttps://www.icc.illinois.gov/railroad/.

Rail Safety Week Set for Sept. 24-30

How to Help Hurricane Harvey Survivors in TexasMany people are asking what they can do to help thethousands of people affected by Hurricane Harvey.As with any disaster, the most effective way is todonate money and time to trusted, reputable,voluntary or charitable organizations. The Texas Voluntary Organizations Active in Disastershas a list of vetted disaster relief organizations athttp://txvoad.communityos.org/cms/node/104. A list

of approved national organizations can be found onthe National Volunteers Active in Disasters website athttps://www.nvoad.org/.It’s important to remember that recovery from adisaster of this magnitude will take months, evenyears. So, too, will the need for generosity from caringAmericans.

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Notifying key personnel scattered across the 366-acrestate fairgrounds in Springfield of threatening weatherand other significant issues can be challenging.Coordination between IEMA, the Illinois Department ofAgriculture, the Illinois State Police and others resultedin an enhanced communications system for quicklyalerting officials of potential public safety issues. IEMA offered the use of the State of Illinois RapidElectronic Notification (SIREN) system, which is usedby IEMA and the Illinois Department of Public Healthto simultaneously send telephone, text and e-mailnotifications to staff members and key partners with aclick on a computer. A list of key State Fair staff was developed and entered

into the SIREN system, and the IEMA CommunicationsCenter was enlisted to send messages whennecessary. SIREN proved its value the first night of thefair, when a severe weather front moved throughSpringfield. The National Weather Service sent out fivemessages over SIREN to fair staff via theCommunications Center in a 3 ½ hour period. The weather for the rest of the fair was generally good,so it wasn’t necessary to send that many messages ina single day during the run of the fair. However, thesystem proved its worth, was highly complimented byall, and will continue to be a part of State Fairoperations in the future.

SIREN Enhances Emergency Communications at State Fair

“Disasters Don’t Plan Ahead. You Can.” That’s thetheme for the 2017 National Preparedness Month,which begins Sept. 1. While we never know when thenext disaster will strike, everyone can take actions tobe better prepared for the unexpected.

The goal of National Preparedness Month is toincrease the overall number of individuals, familiesand communities that engage in preparedness actionsat home, work, business, school and places ofworship.

Weekly themes during September will focus on variouspreparedness actions. They include the following:

Week 1: September 1-9 Make a Plan for Yourself, Family and Friends

Week 2: September 10-16 Plan to Help Your Neighbor and Community

Week 3: September 17-23 Practice and Build Out Your Plans

Week 4: September 24-30 Get Involved! Be a part of Something Larger

The national Ready Campaign has several tools tohelp agencies and organizations promotepreparedness during September, including logos,graphics, public service announcements, instructional

videos and other emergency preparednesspublications. These materials are available atwww.ready.gov/september.

In addition, the FEMA app is a great resource year-round for preparedness and disaster information,including alerts from the National Weather Service forup to five locations, safety reminders, tips andemergency checklists, and locations of open sheltersfollowing a disaster. The app is available on the AppleApp Store and on Google Play.

September is National Preparedness Month

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Get ready to Drop, Cover and Hold On during TheGreat U.S. ShakeOut Earthquake drill at 10:19 on Oct.19. The annual earthquake drill centers around theactions people should take when the earth starts toquake: Drop down to the ground, take Cover under atable or other heavy piece of furniture, and Hold On tothat item until the shaking stops.Nearly 500,000 Illinois residents registered toparticipate in the 2016 ShakeOut drill.With two seismic zones in the southern part of the stateand Illinois residents who travel throughout the world,it’s important that everyone know how to stay safeduring an earthquake. In fact, some of the mostpowerful earthquakes to ever occur in the U.S.happened a little more than 200 years ago in the NewMadrid Seismic Zone, which reaches into southernIllinois. That series of earthquakes lasted for severalmonths, and shaking was felt as far away as the EastCoast. Schools, businesses, government agencies, familiesand others can register to participate in the drill at

www.shakeout.org/centralus. Registered participantswill receive additional information about the drill andearthquake preparedness. While the international drillwill take place on Oct. 19, individual drills can beconducted anytime within two weeks of that date.

The Great U.S. ShakeOut Set for Oct. 19

On Aug. 17, personnel from IEMA participated in anational drill to test the data sharing capabilities ofpopulation monitoring in the event of a nuclear powerplant incident. IEMA was one of several organizationsinvited to participate in the drill.The drill was hosted by RadResponder in coordinationwith the Centers for Disease Control, the Conferenceof Radiation Control Program Directors and theNational Association of County and City HealthOfficials.The RadResponder tool enables users to enterinformation on people who come to a reception centerafter a nuclear power plant incident. The total numberof people screened for radioactive contamination,along with numbers of those found to have external orinternal contamination, exhibiting signs of AcuteRadiation Syndrome, and referred to hospitals is alsoentered into the system.The drill gave participants an opportunity to work withthe RadResponder tool within an accident scenario,as well as provide feedback to the developers.

IEMA Participates inNational RadResponder Drill

IEMA was invited to have an exhibit in theGovernor’s Tent at the 2017 Illinois State Fair.The exhibit featured the earthquake risk in Illinoisand the steps people can take to protectthemselves and their homes. Visitors to IEMA’sbooth also could view several earthquakemitigation videos. Those videos and severalmore are available on the Ready Illinois websiteat www.ready.illinois.gov. The display board andinformation materials will also be in theGovernor’s Tent at the DuQuoin State Fair.

State of IllinoisIllinois Emergency Management Agency

For more information on this newsletter, contact:Patti Thompson • Public Information Officer: (217) 557-4756

IOCI 17-0047 8-17 Web

Previous issues of Inside IEMA are available at:http://www.illinois.gov/iema/Info/Pages/Newsletters.aspx.

Recent renovations at IEMA’s Knotts Street facility inSpringfield involved stepladders and overhead work,and served as a reminder of the importance of safetywhen using ladders. The U.S. Consumer ProductSafety Commission states that more than a half-millionpeople were treated for ladder-related injuries in theUnited States in 2014. With proper planning andprecautions, these injuries can be eliminated.According to the National Safety Council, it’s importantto choose the right ladder for the job. The height atwhich you need to work, the weight that will be placedon the ladder and the conditions at the site of use willall factor into ladder selection. The ladder must beplaced on a firm, solid surface. Avoid wet, soft orslippery surfaces, and never place the ladder on topof objects to gain additional height.

Don’t become complacent when using a ladder.Maintain three points of contact on the rungs at alltimes (one hand/two feet or two hands/one foot), andnever stand higher than the third rung from the top. Ifladders are being used near your work location,minimize activities and traffic in the area, and keep aneye out for unsafe conditions.The National Institute for Occupational Safety andHealth (NIOSH) has identified five major causes ofladder fall incidents:

1. Incorrect extension ladder setup angle: Anextension ladder should be placed at a 75°angle relative to the ground. This angle can bereasonably achieved by placing the base ofthe ladder one foot away from the surface it’sresting against for every four feet of ladderheight.

2. Inappropriate ladder selection: The laddermust have the proper duty-rating.

3. Insufficient ladder inspections: Regularlyinspect ladders for damage and followmanufacturer recommendations formaintenance.

4. Improper ladder use: Follow themanufacturer’s safety instructions.

5. Lack of access to ladder safety tools andinformation: NIOSH has an app available foriOS and Android to help prevent ladder fallincidents. The app, “Ladder Safety,” wasdeveloped by the Centers for Disease Controland Prevention and contains helpful selectionand setup tools for safe ladder use.

(Information for this article was obtained from theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention, NationalSafety Council, and U.S. Consumer Product SafetyCommission websites.)

Safety Tips to Prevent Ladder-Related Injuries