Coast Survey hurricane prep starts now

Official hurricane season doesn’t start until June 1, but Coast Survey’s navigation managers are heavily involved throughout April and May in training exercises with the U.S. Coast Guard, ports authorities and NOAA’s National Weather Service.
Why is Coast Survey involved? With our expertise in underwater detection, NOAA navigation response teams and survey ships are often the first ones in the water after a hurricane, looking to make sure that no hidden debris or shoaling poses a danger to navigation. The faster we can advise “all clear” to the Captain of the Port, the faster the U.S. Coast Guard can re-open sea lanes for the resumption of shipping or homeland security and defense operations. So our East Coast and Gulf Coast navigation managers – who are NOAA’s “ambassadors” to the maritime public – engage with response partners during hurricane exercises. Their reports of NOAA survey capabilities and assets are an important factor in testing federal response options.

Port of Morgan City planning
Ports along our Atlantic and Gulf coasts hold planning meetings, like this one at Port of Morgan City last year, to prepare for hurricane response. Photo credit: Tim Osborn

Tim Osborn, the navigation manager for the east Gulf Coast, has been organizing hurricane response for 15 years – since Hurricane Lilli in 2002 – and he brings NOAA priorities to the table.
“Ports and waterways are huge parts of our nation’s economy,” Tim says. “Our core mission at NOAA is to safeguard them and work – literally at ‘ground zero’ – to respond and reopen these very large complexes and job bases as quickly and safely as possible.”
Alan Bunn and NRT - Hurricane Isaac
Navigation manager Alan Bunn advises one of NOAA’s navigation response teams as they prepare to respond to Port Fourchon after Hurricane Isaac. Photo credit: Tim Osborn

Coast Survey navigation managers are planning to participate in hurricane exercises in Hampton Roads (Virginia), Charleston (South Carolina), Savannah (Georgia), Jacksonville (Florida), and in port locations all along the Gulf Coast. Additionally, a joint hurricane task force meeting, organized by the Gulf Intracoastal Canal Association and USCG District 7 office in New Orleans, will include pilots, federal agencies, port authorities, and the navigation community from Panama City (Florida) to south Texas. Plans are also in the works to engage with Puerto Rico and American Virgin Islands hurricane response teams.
“We are fast approaching another hurricane season,” said Roger Erickson, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “We have now gone five years in Louisiana and nine years in Texas without a land-falling hurricane, but there is always work to be done to keep our communities prepared.”
The people along the Atlantic coast can readily attest to Erickson’s observation. In the five years since Coast Survey navigation managers and survey teams responded to Hurricane Isaac’s fury at Port Fourchon, our men and women have worked to speed the resumption of shipping and other maritime operations along the East Coast after hurricanes Matthew and, of course, Sandy.
Kyle Ward - hurricane Sandy
Navigation manager Kyle Ward briefs U.S. Coast Guard officials on NOAA survey progress in the aftermath of Sandy.

For more information: “Port Recovery in the Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy: Improving Port Resiliency in the Era of Climate Change,” by U.S. Coast Guard Fellow Commander Linda Sturgis, Dr. Tiffany Smythe and Captain Andrew Tucci (USCG), examines how an effective private and public sector collaboration enabled a successful and timely port recovery.

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