Was Nashville prepared to handle a large-scale disaster like Winter Storm Fern and could it handle another? The Mayor's Winter Storm Response Commission has serious doubts, according to an interim report.
Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell called for the commissiona week into the city's response to the unprecedented ice storm, after he publicly criticized Nashville Electric Service saying they were "unequipped to communicate about a crisis." Thousands of Nashvillians were still without power at the time.
O'Connell tapped former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen as the chair of the commission. The group made their first report public Aug. 17.
“Our goal in creating this commission
was to get an honest assessment of our whole of government and key partner performance to ensure that we will be even better positioned to serve Nashvillians when the next disaster strikes,” O’Connell said. “Our office looks forward to the commission’s full report, and I’m ready to get to work addressing their interim findings.”
The commission said Nashville's response to the storm was strong and tactical, but there were serious flaws in the "planning, staffing, training, coordination structures, information management, unified communications and organizational capacity" of NES, the city and the Davidson County Office of Emergency Management.
"Strong personal and professional relationships helped to address shortcomings in organization and training this time, but Nashville has grown to the point where more formalized structures have become essential," the commission wrote.
Here's what the report says.
NES had 'significant shortfalls'
In aftermath of the storm, NES came under intense scrutiny with O'Connell publicly admonishing them.
"Some of the shortfalls were doubtless due to the unprecedented severity of the damage to its infrastructure, but others were foreseeable and exposed weaknesses in its disaster planning and communications," the report said. "The issues NES faced reflected neglect over many years in modifying and upgrading its emergency response planning as Nashville and the NES customer base experienced growth in size and complexity."
The report identified several major failures by NES:
- Poor public communications and inaccurate outage information.
- Outdated technology that hindered outage reporting and restoration updates.
- Weak vegetation management policies.
- Delays in requesting outside assistance.
- Heavy reliance on institutional knowledge rather than clearly defined emergency procedures and command structures.
The commission did applaud NES for hiring an independent auditorwhose report shows where the utility company fells short and their recommended changes.
"The Commission has observed that NES management has taken responsibility for the problems that occurred and has made significant progress in implementing the evaluator’s recommendations," the report said.
Nashville's Office of Emergency Management relied on strong relationships rather than operational structure
The Office of Emergency Management handled operations of the storm well, the commission wrote.
"But this storm event surfaced clear weaknesses in its preparedness planning and capability to integrate information from individual agencies into a comprehensive common operating picture," the report said. "The Commission believes that the current state of its preparedness is not up to the best practice standards that Metro will need in the years ahead."
The commission identified the following weaknesses:
- Emergency preparedness and response work appears to lack consistent, clear, well-understood and operationalized systems and structures that are not dependent on personal relationships.
- Mass care capabilities, specifically sheltering, were confused at first.
- The decision to operate the Emergency Operations Center virtually until several days after the storm was considered questionable by multiple committee members.
"The operational responsibility to modernize Metro’s emergency management response clearly falls to OEM, the agency designed for that purpose," the report said. "The Commission recommends, following in the steps of NES’s approach, that this is best approached by hiring an outside consultant with extensive experience with emergency response and associated organizations across the country."
The commission noted that despite there being an accrediataion process for such department, the Office of Emergency Management is not among those in Tennessee with accreditation.
"Such accreditation provides a structured framework for evaluating emergency management programs, and the requirement to become re-accredited every five years ensures that plans are kept up to date," the report said. "This accreditation is voluntary, but the accreditation concept is a vital part of ensuring the safety and effectiveness in other important sectors such as hospitals and institutions of higher education."
Successes owed to dedicated employees, volunteer partners
Despite the, at times, grave shortcomings from NES and the Office of Emergency Management, the commission found most city department generally performed well noting the Nashville Department of Transportation's work before the storm and debris removal after and Metro Water's mitigation of nearly 200 water-main breaks.
Those interviewed consistently praised the city employees who adapted to the unprecedented conditions.
"This is especially significant in that most of these employees and their families were simultaneously experiencing significant personal hardships from the ice storm," the report said. "The combination of long-standing professional relationships, institutional knowledge, and operational experience allowed the storm response to adapt to changing circumstances and challenges as they arose."
Nonprofits, faith-based groups, hospitals and volunteers played a critical role in Nashville's recovery, but there needed to be better organization, the commission wrote.
"A common theme of these interviews was that the disaster response worked reasonably well, but that their effectiveness could be improved with better communications protocols, a clear delineation of responsibilities, and clarity as to whether and how they could be compensated for extraordinary costs they might incur," the report said. "One important aspect of Nashville’s emergency preparedness that will depend heavily on community partners is the need to communicate with all Nashvillians, including hard-to-reach groups such as non-English speakers and vulnerable communities."
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Winter storm commission calls for urgent overhaul of Nashville disaster preparedness
