Foundations of Emergency Management Cameron Crowson

5-25-2015

The Threat of a Major Bridge Collapse In Tampa, Florida

Figure 1: Disaster Photos of the Skyway Bridge Collapse in Tampa, FL

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Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 2

Community Planning and Preparedness ....................................................................................................... 4

Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................... 7

Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................... 11

Business Letter ............................................................................................................................................ 12

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Introduction

Research from the disaster on May 9, 1980, indicated that a major bridge collapse in

Tampa, Florida regarding the Skyway Bridge would have major consequences. The Sunshine

Skyway collapsed earlier in the morning on May 9, 1980 around 7:30am Eastern Standard time

and was the cause of 35 deaths, in which 26 people were traveling on a Greyhound bus and the

rest in cars of their own. Figure 2, on page 3, shows a list of individuals that were victim of the

first bridge catastrophe. The cause of the collapse was said to be anticipated from the low visibility

that morning. Therefore, on account of the weather, a ship, called the Summit Venture, hit a major

beam of the bridge causing over 1200 ft. of the platform to plummet into the depths of the Gulf of

Mexico. As you can see in Figure 1, on the cover page, the aftermath was considerably mild in

regards to other bridge disasters in the past. The bridge collapse had a major effect on the Tampa

community in 1980. As of today, the threat of a major bridge accident under natural circumstances,

is low, but terrorism is a greater and much more consequential problem.

Furthermore, the Skyway Bridge is made of ‘cable-stayed’ reinforced concrete. Although,

the bridge is “reinforced” it is harder for the bridge to collapse, but if a strong ship hit the concrete

beams, weather patterns became very extreme for the suspension to hold, or a terrorist attacked the

bridge, then the possibility could turn into an actuality. Since the latter of the threats has been a

considerable threat in the 21st century it would be feasible to think that there is a higher probability

of this happening. Moreover, a contingency plan needs to be established in way of preventing a

large-scale emergency.

In writing the following pages, the intention is to write and apply the principles and

planning considerations and outline a community planning and preparedness program that would

aid the community in a plan of emergency for a major bridge collapse.

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Figure 2: Victims of the May 9, 1980 Skyway Bridge Collapse

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Community Planning and Preparedness

In following the plan established in the textbook, Introduction to Emergency Management

(2007), by Michael K. Lindell, Carla Prater, and Ronald W. Perry, there are two phases to consider.

The first phase is to identify all the hazards, estimate the probability of the hazard, and project the

consequences. The second phase involves (1) understanding the cause of the disaster, (2) preparing

for the emergency response by identifying the agencies that should be involved and contacting

them with a disaster plan, (3) responding to the situation by protecting the populous and

minimizing damage, (4) recovering the damage by clearing debris, renewing, restoring, and

providing economic relief for the people; what implications does this have for preparing and acting

in way of a bridge collapse? And is the plan effective?

In this scenario, a bridge collapse has several different hazards: (1) a water vehicle hitting

the concrete beams, (2) the sway/resonance of the bridge becomes too much, for example the

Tacoma bridge collapse had too much resonance — chaotic reflection from the sound or surface

accruing from chaotic vibrations — caused by wind, that resulted in a collapse, and (3) a terrorist

attack on the bridge, concluding in the destruction of the support beams. The probability of each

of these scenarios greatly increases as incidents of other bridge disasters become known.

Looking at past events, there have been several cases in which bridge collapses

culminated: water vehicles crashing into the major supports, forced wind resonance and vibrations,

and terrorist attacks. Boats, ships, and barges striking major support beams in the 21st century have

become prevalent in such areas like New Hampshire, Tampa, Brooklyn, Sturgeon Bay, etc… There

have been few instances in which a bridge collapsed from wind, forced vibrations and resonance,

but the leading example is the Tacoma Bridge; which has been modeled by way of a Second-Order

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Differential Equation. Additionally, another rising issue in the world is terrorist disasters mainly

by way of fire or bombings. There have been successful attempts on such bridges like the Orontes

River Bridge and Islamic Bridge. The consequences of a major bridge collapse in Tampa Bay

could be very consequential depending on how many people are on the bridge at the time of the

incident, and the extremity of the shock. The incident that occurred in the 1980 resulted in only

35 deaths, but due to population increase, the amount of people that cross the Skyway Bridge, and

the change in vehicle structure, it could result in the deaths of over 100 people.

In response to the situation, there are several measures of disaster preparedness that would

immediately go into effect. The first would be understanding the extremity of the disaster. There

are different spectrums of disasters ranging from a few people to a great amount of people in line

of danger or deceased. In the circumstance where the bridge collapsed due to a terrorist attack, the

best measure is to have a special division team proceed forward, analyze the situation, and detain

the terrorist(s). If in this case the verdict is that this is a severe threat to the major public then a

specialized American Red Cross team will come in to investigate the threat of the situation and

calm the people. According to the American Red Cross (2015), in the case there is a terrorist attack

there are several concerns to take into account: (1) there could be a “significant” amount of

casualties and damages to buildings, (2) there is a certainty of “heavy” law enforcement at the

levels of the state and federal, (3) resources involving mental and physical health may be affected

and “strained”, (4) there is going to be “extensive media coverage”, (5) there may be closures at

educational institutions, (6) there could be evacuations, and (7) “clean-up may take several

months.” In this case, the building in question is that of a major bridge.

After the incident, the best course of action, provided by the Red Cross (2015) is to (1) stay

calm and patient, (2) follow the advice and orders of law enforcement and “local emergency

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officials”, (3) listen for further instructions from news media, (4) check for injuries; give-get first

aid, (5) check and see if other people are okay. Since the best course of action may not always be

the most favorable or even possible it may be best to wait for further instructions from law

enforcement and/or a trained team for the best plan of action.

The best plan of action would be to analyze the situation and contact either the “FBI” or

“Coast Guard”. In a case where the collapse was due to weather patterns or a water vehicle crashing

in the support beams, then the best option would be to have the coast guard come in and rescue the

people in the water. The second group on the scene should be the EMS. The EMS, the Emergency

Medical Services, should deal mainly with the injured. For the people that are deceased, there is

nothing more that can be done. To minimize the damage and protect the lives of the people it

would be best to get everyone off the bridge along with the vehicles; for the water vehicles near

the bridge it would be best for them to go around the bridge and perhaps help the people that fell

into the water. The major issue is in making sure that all of the people are safe from falling debris.

Of equal importance, the cleaning of the debris and the safeguarding of the accident site.

The best way of cleaning up the debris is to have a highly qualified organization come in, like a

disaster response team, to carefully remove hazardous items that could cause problems for water

vehicles. All throughout the entire process the disaster response team will be looking for ways to

safely remove debris without causing harm to themselves. Over the entire process the Skyway

Bridge would be gated off so that no one could cross until the bridge is cleaned, repaired, and

tested. The tests should consist of resonance, shock testing, and if so have second opinions from

engineers to reassure the safety measures required for safe passage across. In this process the

cleaning of the debris may be quick, but the repairs and replacements of the bridge platform can

take several months or even years to replace, depending on the severity of the damage.

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Conclusion

In establishing a plan for a major bridge collapse it is crucial to know and contact which

agencies need to participate in the process, which emergency response actions are possible, the

resources that are needed, and how the plan will be “maintained” (Lindell, Prater, & Perry, 2007).

In this case the agencies that need to be involved include FBI, if there involves a case of terrorism,

community emergency management teams, coast guards and/or ECSAR (Eckerd College Search

and Rescue), and a few EMS teams. In any case, the emergency procedures for these type of

incidents: wind, collision, and terrorism, causing a bridge collapse, the emergency response teams

need to immediately act when told to do so by a governing agency. It may not be safe to act right

away, but in any case the governing agency will tell the EMS teams and coast guards when they

are cleared to move in on the disaster. The next problem comes with the “secondary impacts”,

which could be that another piece of bridge falls, or perhaps a fire or explosion occurs due to a gas

leak. In addition, we also need a fire rescue team on hand in case the resultant secondary impact

creates more injuries and more tension then the bridge can withstand.

In the text, Introduction to Emergency Management (2007), the authors state that “during

the response stage, emergency managers must constantly assess damage.” Therefore, if damage

becomes too much to determine for the state emergency managers then there is a possibility that

the federal emergency management teams may have to get involved. The National Disaster

Recovery Framework (2011), by FEMA, is a booklet that explains the “concepts and principles

that promote effective Federal recovery assistant.” The booklet explains the role of the emergency

managers when dealing with severe or “scalable” issues. Along with having to assess damages,

the emergency managers, must also “coordinate the arrival of equipment and supplies…” (Lindell

et al., 2007). With that being said, the next step is to give medical attention and send out resources

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to individuals involved in the bridge collapse. It is of vital importance to set-up emergency

response as soon as the event begins. It may not always be possible for emergency response to

have access to the victims, or people that need care, but they can be on watch and resume when

they feel they are safe to do so.

As for maintaining the plan of action, the most important part is to keep information

accessible to the people and agencies fully participating in this mission to minimize causalities,

while at the same time keeping in mind the potential hazards. As stated it is important that the

people constantly “receive information”, “pay attention to available information”, and for “people

to comprehend the information” (Lindell et al., 2007); which means that the obligation of the news

and other media is to get the information out to the people. If the people are not understanding or

comprehending the information given to them it is in their best interest to ask specialized

individuals, like the police force or a community emergency management team.

As for the tasks of the agencies, the most important is that the people are out of the line of

danger or potential hazards. Therefore, risk assessments need to be assessed for understanding the

potential hazards and/or immediate dangers a bridge collapse could have on the public at any given

moment or time. In this case, the text by Lindell, Prater, and Perry, states that “the primary question

at this stage is Do I need to take protective action?” Another question that also needs to be asked

is Are the people in the line of danger? As far as the question that the authors ask it is still relevant

at this point, but it needs to be prompted for the emergency managers assessing the situation and

applied towards the emergency management teams. The most important part of the entire process

is in recovering the disaster and getting proper resources/necessities out to the individual people.

As the authors state: “Recovery begins as the disaster is ending and continues until the community

is back to normal” (Lindell et al., 2007).

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In conclusion, the resources utilized in this research are relevant towards today’s

understanding in dealing and assessing situations concerning a bridge collapse. The hazards posed

are different, but the way people handle the situation remains for the most part the same. The only

difference with the plan of actions are depending on if the cause of the collapse is due to an

explosive or terrorist threat then the FBI would need to get involved. In each case the main plan

of action is to get several groups on scene: Coast guard, EMS, Firefighting team, Police force,

Community Emergency Management team, Red Cross, and News Media. In the extreme case

FEMA may have to get involved; While the emergency medical teams work together: EMS,

Firefighters, Red Cross, and the emergency management groups need to act fast to prevent any

hazardous secondary impacts. The police force has an important job to prevent people from going

further into danger by blocking off the impacted areas.

As Lewis Killian concludes, in his book An Introduction to Methodological Problems of

Field Studies in Disasters (1956), “Some types of research related to disaster present no unusual

methodological problems… It is the analysis of significant psychological and sociological

variables as they affect human behavior…” The immediate thought is going to be, for some, to

save the people falling off the bridge, but if you cannot swim then you are going to pose a problem

for yourself while trying to save the person falling if you fall too. So what does this mean? Does

this mean that we put others first before ourselves? In any case a selfless act of saving someone is

important, but you have to make the decision on whether it may be worth your own life. As stated

in the Methods of Disaster Research (2002), edited by Robert A. Stallings, it is important to

understand the “methods of research – that, is the techniques of data acquisition and analysis – that

are presumed to prevent personal values and biases from seeping into the conduct of inquiry.” By

understanding the methods of quantitative and qualitative research and analysis we can better

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understand the betterment of research problems like the bridge collapse and perhaps fix the

problems easier the next time.

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Bibliography

Agency, F. E. (2011). National Disaster Recovery Framework. FEMA.

Cross, T. A. (2015). Terrorism Preparedness. Retrieved from American Red Cross:

http://www.redcross.org/prepare/disaster/terrorism

FBI. Terrorism. Retrieved May 17, 2015, from http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/terrorism

Killian, L. (1956). An Introduction to Methodological Problems of Field Studies in Disasters.

Washington D. C: National Acadmey of Sciences-National Research Council.

Lindell, M. K., Prater, C., & Perry, R. W. (2007). Introduction to Emergency Management. New

Jersey: Wiley.

Ringwald, E. (2011, December 31). The Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Retrieved from

interstate275Florida: http://interstate275florida.com/ssb.htm

Stallings, R. A. (2002). Methods of Disaster Research. United States of America: Internatioal

Research Committee on Disasters.

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Business Letter

6/5/2015

Cameron Crowson

Southern States Emergency Management Committee

300 South Adams Street,

Tallahassee, FL 32301

City of Tampa, FL

306 East Jackson Street

Tampa, FL 33602

To the City of Tampa Florida:

We are writing to inform you of a recent decision regarding a plan of action for the Skyway Bridge.

In order to prevent any unnecessary accidents or damages to the bridge we at the Southern States Emergency

Management Committee would like to hold a meeting at our district office, located at 300 South Adams

Street, Tallahassee, FL 32301. Attendance is highly recommended. The upkeep of the bridge as well as the

safety, in regards to future threats to the bridge. The committee will discuss mainly how to prevent

accidents, prepare for natural disasters like weather patterns and hurricane force winds, and the best ways

to properly evacuate the people on the bridge. The meeting day will be discussed when we contact your

department and the other potential agencies involved.

As far as the other stakeholders, we are writing to notify agencies like Eckerd College Search and Rescue

(4200 54th avenue S, Saint Petersburg, FL 33711), Tampa General Hospital (1 Tampa General Cir, Tampa,

FL 33606), FEMA (500 C Street S.W, Washington, D.C, 20472), Bay News 9 (700 Carillon Parkway, Suite

9, St. Petersburg, FL 33716), Tampa Fire Rescue (2100 E 11th Ave, Tampa, FL), U.S Coast Guard Auxiliary

(5108 W. Gandy Blvd, Tampa, FL), U.S Coast Guard (155 Columbia Drive, Tampa, FL), Sunstar

Paramedics (12490 Ulmerton Rd, Largo, FL 33774), American Red Cross (3310 W. Main Street, Tampa,

FL 33607), and Tampa Police Department (3818 W. Tampa Bay Blvd, Tampa, FL), to engage in the

meeting. Copies of this letter will be sent to the addresses listed above.

We hope to speak with your agency soon,

Cameron Crowson

Project Manager of SSEMC

Southern States Emergency Management Committee