HURRICANE FLORENCE:

AFTER ACTION REVIEW SUMMARY

OBJECTIVE OF SUMMARY INTRODUCTION

This document serves as a summary
of UNCW’s After Action Review (AAR)
following Hurricane Florence in
Hurricane Florence was the most devastating storm in UNCW’s history, having
September 2018. a significant impact on students, faculty, and staff. This summary offers an
analysis of both the strengths in place at the time of the event and the
Specifically, this summary provides a
opportunities for improving UNCW’s response to future storms. Each area of
connection between the university’s
actions pertaining to the hurricane and improvement includes at least one recommendation. Recommendations are
the university’s emergency operations compiled in the Improvement Plan, which includes information about the
plan (EOP). It was developed with the timeframe to implement the action and department(s) responsible for
primary intent of enhancing leadership
and campus awareness of lessons
implementation.
learned during the weather event and
recovery period, and to share action
items resulting from those lessons.

UNCW enlisted the support of a third-

party independent contractor to
facilitate the review of operations,
including conducting a campus survey
and its analysis. The
recommendations presented in this
summary and in the comprehensive
ANALYSIS AREAS
improvement plan encompass current
university operations, nationwide best The report and ongoing analysis includes observations and review of best
practices, subject matter expertise, practices related to the following areas:
and stakeholder experiences
surrounding Hurricane Florence.
» Command and Control: The capability to provide oversight and
leadership of the operation, coordination with internal and external
QUESTIONS?
agencies and organizations, and clear and concise communication
For more information about the report,
future actions, or response operations, throughout the response.
please contact: » Evacuation: Procedures and decision-making for the evacuation of
students, faculty, and staff from campus.
Deborah Tew
Interim EH&S Director
» Security Access Control: Procedures to maintain a safe and secure
tewdg@uncw.edu campus environment through law enforcement and related security and
protection operations for persons located within affected areas, as well as
Eric Griffin for response personnel engaged in lifesaving and life-sustaining
Emergency Management Coordinator operations.
griffinek@uncw.edu
(Continued on the following page)
Prepared by Hagerty Consulting
Drafted June 26, 2019
© 2019 Hagerty Consulting, Inc.

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ANALYSIS AREAS (CONTINUED)
» Internal Communications: Communications occurring within the UNCW emergency operations
center (EOC) and among emergency personnel responding to the event.
» Public Information: Communications occurring outside of emergency personnel responding to
the event. This includes the ability to deliver accurate, synchronized, readily available, and
actionable information to the whole community using consistent, accessible, and culturally and
linguistically appropriate methods to relay threat or hazard information that ensures public safety
and well-being.
» Human and Behavioral Health: Protective measures, mental health services, and medical
assistance for personnel during and after the response.
» Operational Tools: Tools to prepare personnel to respond efficiently during an incident. Examples
of these are the EOP and WebEOC.
» Continuity of Operations: Processes for continuing UNCW’s essential functions under all
conditions. Specific elements of COOP planning include ensuring the personnel, equipment,
authorities, systems, and other resources that support essential functions are in place and that
there are contingencies available should any of them fail.
» Contract Management: Practices relating to contract creation, execution, and analysis to
maximize operational and financial performance during response and recovery, while
simultaneously minimizing financial risk and waste.
» Financial Management: The planning, directing, monitoring, organization, and control of
monetary resources during response and recovery.
» Academic Recovery: Planning and execution of practices for bringing academic programs back
to pre-event operational functionality.
» Housing: Programs for providing on- and off-campus resources to those displaced by a storm or
another emergency.
» Infrastructure: The physical systems that constitute the university, including utilities, housing,
academic buildings, and IT systems.

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IMPROVEMENT PLAN
Recommendations have been consolidated into an Improvement Plan to facilitate implementation and
tracking. The Improvement Plan allows for the assignment of responsibility and/or leadership and offers
a quick reference for action-oriented recommendations intended to improve capability and future
response operations.

The actions outlined in the Improvement Plan have been evaluated and prioritized for implementation
based upon the following criteria:
» Relative cost
» Anticipated benefits
» Estimated level of effort (LOE) in staff time
» Capabilities needed to implement
» Approximate timeframe for completion

Specifically, the Improvement Plan includes 12 high priority, 22 medium priority, and 16 low priority
actions. In addition, the plan provides a suggested roadmap for how UNCW should prioritize its relevant
work plans in the short-, intermediate, and long-term.

10 Actions for Immediate Implementation

Ten actions were identified for immediate implementation. The university will begin implementation of as
many of these actions as possible prior to the peak of the 2019 hurricane season, with some actions
requiring additional time to fully implement. These actions are as follows:

1. Develop well defined responsibilities for the CDT Liaison to ensure all relevant information and
decision points are conveyed to the CDT from the EOC in the most efficient and effective manner.

2. Create a staffing matrix that identifies UNCW personnel whose functions are essential,
mandatory, or otherwise responsible for the continuity of their department's and/or the university's
operations. Modify their contracts or employment responsibilities to include requirements to
perform their responsibilities under all conditions. Through this process, identify which personnel
must be physically present on campus to perform their work and which personnel can perform
their work remotely. Identify and provide the resources and training that these individuals need to
perform their role. Include plans in the EOP to house, feed, and care for the individuals who
operate on campus during and immediately following an incident. As part of the UNCW COOP
program, annually evaluate the staffing matrix and update as needed.

3. Conduct monthly EPG coordination meetings to discuss updates to UNCW's emergency

management procedures, schedule trainings, and coordinate the implementation of the
Improvement Plan. Backup personnel should be identified for each EPG member, who can attend
in their place. These meetings should also be used to discuss SOP development and changes to
documentation. Dedicate approximately 15-minute portions of each meeting to familiarize staff

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 with separate components of the EOP and information from each department’s policies on specific
emergency response functions, thereby facilitating inter-departmental information sharing at
established intervals.

4. Develop and deliver training for new CDT members to brief them on UNCW's emergency
management program and on the leaders' responsibilities during an incident. Deliver these
briefings on an annual or bi-annual basis.

5. Store emergency policies in a data warehouse (i.e., hard drives, flash drives) and as hard copies
in the EOC available for quick reference and easy access.

6. Establish standby contracts with third-party vendors to provide services during and after an event.
If possible, contract with more than one vendor for services to ensure redundancy. In the
contracts, specify the terms and conditions for pre-disaster deployment of personnel and
equipment, local staging of resources, personnel qualifications and background checks, and
special considerations for specialty services. In the contracts, identify UNCW personnel who are
authorized to execute the contract and include alternates if the primary individual is not available.

7. Develop communication templates that can be customized during an event to disseminate

information to all budget officers about the specific procurement processes that will be followed.

8. Conduct annual coordination meetings between UNCW Purchasing and Emergency

Management to reevaluate P-card and travel card assignments and procedures.

9. Develop a university Emergency Power Plan. This plan will identify the location of all generators
servicing each academic building, outline a priority for power delivery to these different locations,
identify where UNCW will preposition fuel tanks throughout campus and how many are needed,
identify third-party contracts and mutual aid agreements in place to supply fuel and service
generators; and describe the process to restart power operations. The university will coordinate
with New Hanover County Emergency Management to determine the possibility of accessing fuel
from the fuel terminal in Wilmington, NC.

10. Develop department-specific emergency storage and relocation plans. These plans will identify
procedures for what, how, and where research and academic materials will be relocated in the
event of an emergency. The plan will identify first and second priority sites for relocation.
Document and regularly update the unique considerations and quantities of materials needing
storage. Environmental Health & Safety will work with each academic and administrative
department to develop this plan as part of the COOP process.

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PROCESS
The recommendations were developed using a five-step process including documentation review,
interviews, and surveys. The process is depicted below.

Step 1: Data Collection & Review

Documentation relevant to Florence was
gathered, organized, and classified
through a process called indexing and
referencing.
The Project Management Team collected
and analyzed
60+ documents
pertaining to the university and its
specific departments.
Step 2: Interviews
A series of interviews with individuals in the
identified key stakeholder groups were
conducted.
Why?
To gain knowledge and insight of
best practices, lessons learned,
and success stories from
UNCW’s response to and
recovery from Hurricane
Florence.

The data gleaned from this review Interviews were conducted with individuals
provided necessary background and and in smaller focus groups. A total of
contextual information used by the team
when conducting stakeholder interviews. 100+ interviewees
participated in the AAR process.
Interviewees
Step 3: Online Survey included representatives from the following
organizations:
Following the interviews, the Project
Management Team initiated an online
survey.
› CDT › Facilities
Three surveys were developed to › EPG › Finance
capture the unique perspectives of › Office of › Housing
faculty and staff, students, and the University › Research
Emergency Planning Group. Relations › Student
› Environmental Affairs
Health and Safety › Academic
How were the surveys different?
› Emergency Affairs
 Faculty + Staff, Student Survey – Management › Other
focused on the breadth of operation contributors
 EPG Survey – detailed and narrowly › Information
targeted toward planning and Technology
responding to the event Services

Step 4: Data Analysis & AAR Drafting

Step 5: AAR Review & Finalization The information gathered during the
interviews and surveys was analyzed to
This draft was presented to the Project develop an initial draft of the AAR.
Management Team and CDT.

Following the University’s review of the

document, comments and feedback were
incorporated into the final draft.

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IMPROVEMENTS MADE

Between October 2018 and spring 2019, UNCW made significant progress in
restoring normal services and taking steps to improve preparedness for
potential future disasters. Some notable actions include:

 Academic infrastructure is now online using the platform Canvas.

 ITS has begun to migrate additional systems online.

 The Provost has worked with deans on instructional time contingency plans for faculty.

 Emergency Management personnel have met with Cameron School of Business and the College of
Health and Human Sciences leadership to begin COOP processes.

 The Department of Purchasing Services (Purchasing) has issued RFPs for required services and
expanded standby contracts to include multiple providers.

 UNCW has joined a UNC System grant to update its Hazard Mitigation Plan.

 Finance and HR have developed more specific plans for paying employees if the university is
closed for more than two weeks.

 UNCW has initiated early contracting to obtain recovery and damage assessment resources.

 ITS has worked to migrate the UPD system to the cloud to provide a backup if the network goes
down in the future.

 Emergency Management unit of EH&S has moved to a monthly (more frequent) EPG meeting.
Established agendas for each meeting will include short training sessions on emergency
management topics and guest speakers from different departments to share information on new
policies and procedures.

 International Programs has updated their existing plans to recommend that international students
evacuate to a sister campus.

 Housing is updating messaging to improve clarity of public messaging and better advise students
on evacuation procedures.

 UNCW continues to conduct testing on generators throughout campus as well as develop plans,
guidebooks, and controls for emergency power.

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