Port in a Storm – StormReady Partnership Makes All
the Difference During Harvey (63)
Thomas Johnstone, National
Weather Service, Corpus Christi, TX
Greg Heavener, National
Weather Service
John Metz, National
Weather Service
Abstract:
Just 10 days before Hurricane
Harvey struck the coast of Texas, the National Weather Service formally recognized
the Port of Corpus Christi as StormReady. The Port is the 4th busiest in the
nation by tonnage and is the economic heart of south Texas -- 80,000 direct
jobs and $350 million in daily economic activity are driven by the port.
Emergency managers at the
port tracked Harvey more than a week before landfall using multiple weather
sources including NWS email briefings and the National Hurricane Center
website. On Monday, August 21st, while Harvey was little more than a cluster of
storms over the Yucatan, the port's emergency manager activated the EOC and
launched the StormReady-approved emergency plan. As Harvey strengthened through
the week, and the threat to the port grew, port authorities safely shut down
every port-based facility and safely evacuated all non-essential personnel and
most vessels. Because of their preparedness efforts, the port users and the
Port Authority were ready for ships almost immediately after Harvey passed, and
the port opened as soon as federal channel assessments were complete. The
result: hundreds of millions dollars worth of positive economic impact.
This presentation will focus
on how StormReady and a strong partnership helped the Port of Corpus Christi
minimize the effects of Hurricane Harvey and return to operations in record
time. Additionally we'll discuss how innovative Impact-based Decision Support
Services (IDSS) from the local NWS office in Corpus Christi helped emergency
managers make life-saving decisions as Harvey ravaged the coast. Finally, we'll
look to the future and discuss how other cities, businesses and facilities can
better prepare for high-impact weather events.