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Disaster Response and Recovery
Service Graphic Part
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Definition:The Disaster Response and Recovery service enhances the ability of the surface transportation system to respond to and recover from disasters. It addresses the most severe incidents that require an extraordinary response from outside the City of Wichita, Sedgwick County and Suburban local communities. All types of disasters are addressed including natural disasters (earthquakes, floods, winter storms, etc.) and technological and man-made disasters (hazardous materials incidents, nuclear power plant accidents, and national security emergencies such as nuclear, chemical, biological, and radiological weapons attacks).
The service supports coordination of emergency response plans, including general plans developed before a disaster as well as specific tactical plans with short time horizon that are developed as part of a disaster response. The service provides enhanced access to the scene for response personnel and resources, provides better information about the transportation system in the vicinity of the disaster, and maintains situation awareness regarding the disaster itself. In addition, this service tracks and coordinates the transportation resources - the transportation professionals, equipment, and materials - that constitute a portion of the disaster response.
The service identifies the key points of integration between Wichita area transportation systems and the regional public safety, agencies, and other allied organizations that form the overall disaster response. The interface between the Sedgwick County 911 and the other regional agencies provides situation awareness and resource coordination among transportation and other allied response agencies. In its role, Wichita area traffic operations implements special traffic control strategies and detours and restrictions to effectively manage traffic in and around the disaster. Regional maintenance and construction agencies provide damage assessment of road network facilities and manage service restoration.
Wichita Transit and the Sedgwick County Transportation Brokerage System provide a similar assessment of status for transit facilities and modify transit operations to meet the special demands of the disaster. As immediate public safety concerns are addressed and disaster response transitions into recovery, this service supports transition back to normal transportation system operation, recovering resources, managing on-going transportation facility repair, supporting data collection and revised plan coordination, and other recovery activities.
This service builds on the basic traffic incident response service that is provided by the Traffic Incident Management service. This service addresses the additional complexities and coordination requirements that are associated with the most severe incidents that warrant an extraordinary response from outside the local jurisdictions and require special measures such as the activation of the Sedgwick County Emergency Operations Center.
Disaster response and recovery is also supported by the "Disaster Traveler Information" service that keeps the public informed during a disaster response.
Elements Associated with Disaster Response and Recovery
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