1. Urban and Regional Planning Northcentral University November, 2012
Disaster Management
Forest Decker
Urban and Regional Planning
Northcentral University
November, 2012

2. Intro Discuss Kansas City Descriptors
Disaster management in Kansas City
Types of Disasters
LEOP
Policy players
Community Assistance
Continuity of Operations

3. Kansas City Descriptors
Located in western Missouri
Located within four counties (Jackson, Platte, Clay, Cass)
13th largest land area of any city in U.S.
36th largest population of any city in U.S.
441,545 people; 183,981 households
Key economic center for Midwestern U.S.
Major transportation hub
400 flights per day at KCI
Missouri river transport
3 intersecting interstates (I-70, I-29, I-35)
600 daily freight arrivals by train; ranked 1st in U.S.
Regional center of government; federal government is largest single employer
In close proximity to Army General Staff College, and Whiteman Air Force Base (home of the B-2 Stealth Bomber).

4. Types of Disasters Natural Disasters Drought Earthquake
Flood (flash flood and riverine)
Heat Wave
Drought: Severe drought can result in water shortages, and increases in dehydration and related health risks marked a local, regional, and national-scale drought that affected Kansas City.
Earthquake: Kansas City lies within the projected affected zone of the New Madrid fault in the southeast Missouri. It is projected that a major earthquake on the New Madrid fault would result in severe tremors in Kansas City. The New Madrid fault experiences dozens of small quakes each year.
Flood: The Missouri River bisects Kansas City, and has flooded as recently as Flooding of the Missouri River displaces residential housing, businesses, and shipping trade along the river. More common than the major river floods are flash floods. In Kansas City, there are many tributaries of the Missouri River, and smaller watersheds such as the Big Blue River, the Little Blue River, Turkey Creek, Indian Creek, and Brush Creek. Heavy rains frequently cause these watersheds to leave their banks, although it is generally for a short duration. Prolonged rain events can cause these watersheds to stay flooded for long periods of time, disrupting travel and displacing residents.
Heat Wave: Heat waves are caused by a combination of high temperatures and humidity. Kansas City generally experiences one or more heat-emergency days each summer, varying in duration. In 2011, there were multiple heat-emergencies lasting for several days each. Heat disasters can lead to power outages and an increase in heat-related illnesses, stressing the capacity of hospitals and emergency cooling centers.

5. Types of Disasters Natural Disasters…continued Pandemic
Tornado/High Winds
Winter Storm
Dam Failure
Pandemic: a pandemic is a widespread onset of an illness or disease in a given population. This can be regional or local. Pandemics in the United States are rare.
Tornado/High Winds: Kansas City does experience tornadoes and high winds. High winds, sometimes called microburst or straight-line winds, are much more frequent in occurrence than tornadoes, and can cover a great deal of the City. In the case of high-winds, the most common damages are downed trees and downed power lines. Downed trees can cause issues with transportation and housing. Power outages can displace residents if the duration is too long. Tornadoes cause more focused, more devastating damage, and can destroy houses and buildings, and even lead to lost lives.
Dam Failure: the Missouri River is dammed in several locations in and near Kansas City. Dams are always in danger of breaching during prolonged high-water levels, although controls are in place to release water downstream if that becomes a danger. Kansas City also has an extensive series of levies that contain the Missouri River during high-water periods. Levies are maintained by Levy Districts, under direction of the Corps of Engineers. Levies can be breached during high-water periods, and this can be devastating to the businesses and houses that the levy protects.

6. Types of Disasters Man-Made Disasters Fire Hazard Materials Spill
Mass Casualty Incident
Utility Interruption
Fire: fires are generally contained and do not spread throughout large portions of the City. However, fires can spread out of control. An example is the 1930’s fire in the West Bottoms of Kansas City that destroyed the largest stockyard in the United States, killing over 30,000 cattle.
Hazard Materials Spill: hazardous materials can be spilled at a fixed facility, on highways, from pipelines, or on railways. Kansas City is home to all of these, with major railway hubs that serve much of the midwest converging there. Also, I-70 and I-35 are major interstate highways that pass through Kansas City. Lastly, there are major pipelines traversing Kansas City. Kansas City is home to Praxair, a major supplier of highly combustible jet-fuel. Praxair pipelines serve the Kansas City Downtown Airport and the Kansas City International Airport.
Mass Casualty Incident: thankfully, mass casualty incidents are rare. Kansas City does contain several entertainment venues that have the potential of mass casualties from some sort of disaster, such as fire or structural failure. These venues are the Sprint Arena, Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City Royals), and Arrowhead Stadium (Kansas City Chiefs). A recent mass casualty event occurred at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in the 1970’s when an elevated ballroom collapsed, killing dozens of people attending a party.
Utility Interruption: a prolonged loss of water or power can displace residents and increase the occurrence of illnesses from loss of heat, loss of cooling, or dehydration.

7. Types of Disasters Criminal Action/Terrorism Disaster Terrorist Attack
Civil Disorder
Terrorist attack: terrorist attacks can take several forms, including biological, chemical, radiological, or nuclear. Biological or chemical attacks can occur anywhere, and are generally caused by an agent that is brought in from the outside or manufactured locally. In Kansas City, there are two nuclear power generation plants operated by Kansas City Power & Light in close proximity. Although neither are within the corporate city limits, they are both within 30 miles of the city.
Civil disorder: civil disorder can occur when large groups of people gather and form into a mob mentality, causing destruction of life or property. In the 1960’s racial divide that was common in several major cities in the U.S. and caused civil disorders also occurred in Kansas City. Since that time, there has been no major civil disaster.

8. Local Emergency Action Plan
Kansas City uses and “All Hazards” plan.
Plan is intended for use in any emergency or disaster.
Plan is divided into the following major areas:
Direction and Control
Communications
Public Information and Warning
Damage Assessment
Law Enforcement, Fire, Rescue, and Hazmat
Resource Management
Infrastructure
Mass Care, Health, & Medical
Terrorism
Catastrophic Event Plan
Long Term Recovery

9. Local Emergency Action Plan
All Hazards Plan major areas:
Direction and Control
Communications
Public Information and Warning
Damage Assessment
Law Enforcement, Fire, Rescue, and Hazmat
Resource Management
Direction & Control: establishes the framework for who is in charge of the local government. The Mayor is the chief political authority, followed by Mayor Pro Tem, then the Council in order depending upon their subcommittee chair positions. The City Manager is the chief executive authority, followed by assistant city managers and department directors.
Communications: establishes the responsibility for emergency communications. The primary communications for emergencies are handled by the Fire Department, followed by the Police Department, and then the Office of Emergency Management.
Public Information: Kansas City has a Communications Officer that is the primary responsibility for public communications. Followed by the Fire Department and the Police Department.
Damage Assessment: All damage assessment is coordinated by the Office of Emergency Management. Specific responsibilities are delegated to various departments, depending on the nature of the disaster.
Law Enforcement, Fire, Rescue, and Hazmat: Lead for law enforcement is the Police Department. Lead for Fire, Rescue, and Hazmat is the Fire Department.
Resource Management: establishes procedures for ordering, dispatching, tracking, and recovering resources to include personnel, equipment, facilities, and supplies. Lead department is the General Services Department.

10. Local Emergency Action Plan
All Hazards Plan major areas:
Infrastructure
Mass Care, Health, & Medical
Terrorism
Catastrophic Event Plan
Long Term Recovery
Infrastructure: Primary City departments for infrastructure are Public Works, Parks and Recreation, and Water Services.
Mass Care, Health, & Medical: the primary City agencies for organizing mass care are the Office of Emergency Management in partnership with the American Red Cross. Health and Medical organization is led by the Health Department, EMS Medical Director, and the Fire Department.
Terrorism: coordination with state and federal agencies is handled by the Office of Emergency Management.
Catastrophic Events: coordinated by the Office of Emergency Management, Fire Department.
Long Term Recovery: Long Term Recovery is coordinated by the Office of Emergency Management, and assisted by various departments depending on the nature of the disaster.
Evacuation & Transportation:

11. Policy Players Mayor City Council City Manager Department Directors
State and Federal level Elected Officials
State and Federal Agencies
The Mayor and City Council are responsible for the declaring local disasters, and directing the City Manager to act. The Mayor also makes formal requests to the Governor for state assistance.
The City Manager is responsible for directing city departments in operations, and may enact internal policies to do so.
Department Directors have control of their specific departments, and may enact policies to achieve the goals and objectives as defined by the City Manager.
State and Federal elected officials. The Governor of the state has the authority to deploy state agencies and the Missouri National Guard to provide assistance to local agencies. The Governor also is responsible for requesting a federal disaster declaration to the President of the United States. Federal level elected officials may support this request to the President.
State and Federal agencies, such as SEMA (State Emergency Management Agency) and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), provide assistance. Although they do not make policy, they do enforce policy for local agencies that receive state or federal disaster assistance.

12. Community Assistance City provided Community Assistance
Emergency medical assistance
Emergency law enforcement
Evacuation assistance
Emergency health services
Assistance with clean-up
Emergency shelters in convention facilities and community centers
Federal disaster assistance coordination
External Agencies
Emergency communication (National Weather Service, amateur radio operators)
Emergency transportation (Federal Aviation Administration, Area Transit Authority)
Emergency utilities (Kansas City Power & Light, Missouri Gas Energy)
Emergency mass care and medical (American Red Cross, Jackson County Medical Examiner, State Dept. of Mental Health)
Anti-Terrorism (Dept of Homeland Security, FBI)

13. Continuity of Operations
Leadership
Political = Mayor -> Mayor Pro-tem -> Council Members
Executive = City Manager -> Assistant City Manager -> Department Directors
Police = Chief -> Deputy Chief -> Board of Police Commissioners appointee
In addition, each city department has a COOP, or Continuity of Operations Plan that includes leadership, purchasing, payroll, facilities, etc.

14. Summary
Kansas City is a major city with important transportation and governmental operations
There are many types of disasters that may affect Kansas City
Kansas City has developed a Local Emergency Operations Plan
There are identified policy makers in Kansas City that can make decisions in disasters and assist the community
Kansas City has a continuity of operations plan that identifies backup leadership for key roles

15. References
Homeland Security. (2012). U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved November 3, 2012 from
Local emergency management plan. (2007). City of Kansas City Office of Emergency Management. Retrieved November 2, 2012 from
Protecting our Communities. (2012). Federal Emergency Management Agency. Retrieved November 2, 2012 from
Public Assistance. (2012). Federal Emergency Management Agency. Retrieved November 2, 2012 from
Red Cross. (2012). The American Red Cross. Retrieved November 3, 2012 from
SEMA. (2012). Missouri Department of Public Safety, State Emergency Management Agency. Retrieved November 2, 2012 from