Preparation and Response to Hurricane Irene

1. Preparation and Response to Hurricane Irene Presentation to: UASI Conference May 24, 2012

3. SEPTA Service Profile • 6th Largest U.S. Transit Agency • Population: 4 Million Residents (Philadelphia, Five-County Region) • Coverage Area: 2,200 Miles • Track Miles: 486.6 Commuter, Heavy and Light Rail (Includes Elevated and Underground) • Ridership: 334 Million Annually

4. SEPTA Service Profile Fleet of 954 Commuter and Passenger Rail Vehicles and 1,393 Bus and Trackless Trolley Commuter Rail: 351 Market-Frankford Sub/El: 218 Electric Locomotive: 8 + 53 Coaches 738 Weekday Trips 380 Weekday Trips NHSL: 26 Historic Streetcar: 18 Broad Street Subway: 125 246 Weekday Trips 598 Weekday Trips 193 Weekday Trips Trackless Trolleys: 38 Buses: 1355 Trolley/Light Rail: 141 1936 Weekday Trips 14,037 Weekday Trips

5. Hurricane Irene - Preparation • Conference calls with City of Philadelphia’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM). • Frequent updates by National Weather Service (NWS). • All City departments and external stakeholders participate. • Continued inter-agency conference calls as storm approached. • Internal senior staff meetings. • Constant review of NOAA/NWS data.

6. Hurricane Irene - Preparation • Critical subway vents were covered and pump rooms were prepared. • Busses in flood-prone areas were relocated to higher ground. • Significant portion of the Market-Frankford Line fleet was moved to the Bridge Street Yard due to flooding concerns at 69th Street. • Third-party tree trimming contractors were scheduled to support SEPTA forces.

7. Hurricane Irene - Preparation • SEPTA Flood Warning Procedures in Affect • Appoint field Storm Event Coordinator. • Operate restricted speed for rail services at specific locations. • Positioned Structural Inspectors at specific locations. • Track Inspectors mobilized.

8. Public Information • Final plan to stop all service around midnight on August 27.. • Amtrak and other regional transit agencies also announced service suspensions effective at 5:00 p.m. on August 27. • Advertise suspension of service until 12:00 p.m. August 28. • Identify parking lots prone to flooding. • Identify rail lines prone to service suspension due to flooding. • SEPTA advertised to the public to monitor service suspensions and alterations via the website and other social media tools.

9. Hurricane Irene – During the Storm Crest Flood Stage USGS Hydrograph of Area River • Philadelphia Emergency Operations Center opened. • SEPTA Command Center opened. • Constant review of NWS data. • Review of hydrographs and water gauge data. • Gathered reports from field. • Prioritized incident response. • Assisted in evacuation of several apartment complexes in coordination with City OEM.

10. Hurricane Irene – During the Storm • Service status updates provided on website and social media. • 10:50 p.m. reports of tree down on one rail line, water over the rail head on another rail line, and reports of tornado warnings issued across the five county area. • Decision to suspend service effective immediately. • All vehicles returned to districts by midnight. • Only two rail vehicles affected on entire system due to storm. • Total of 8 passengers from each vehicle were transported to destination via Supervision.

11. Hurricane Irene - Immediate Aftermath Sunday, August 28 • Early morning reports of flooding and washouts. • City of Philadelphia still under declared State of Emergency. • Subway lines inspected and available for service by 8:00 a.m. • Bus routes traveled and inspected and available for service with detours by 8:00 a.m. • Regional Rail service remained suspended. • City requested not to resume service until 10:00 a.m. • Initiate field response to all problem areas.

12. Hurricane Irene - Immediate Aftermath Fallen Tree near County Line Station on the Route 100 Track Washout Fallen Tree on Route 101 Overhead Conshohocken Station on the Manayunk/Norristown Line Manayunk/Norristown Line Flooding

13. Hurricane Irene - Immediate Aftermath Trenton Transit Center Flooding Assunpink Creek • Amtrak suspended service on the Northeast Corridor at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 27, 2011. • Also affected SEPTA and New Jersey Transit.

14. Hurricane Irene - Immediate Aftermath Hydrograph of Assunpink Creek USGS Water Gauge Readings for Assunpink Creek for Past 30 Days Creek crested at 15 feet. Flood Elevation

15. Hurricane Irene - Immediate Aftermath Trenton Transit Center Flooding

16. Hurricane Irene - Immediate Aftermath Trenton Transit Center Flooding • 5 cars, 7 coaches and 1 locomotive suffered significant water damage. • 5 of the cars were scheduled for revenue service at 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. but did not operate.

17. CSX Signal House Fire Damage - SEPTA West Trenton Line Hurricane Irene - Immediate Aftermath PECO Pole SEPTA Transmission Line

18. Service before and after Hurricane Irene * Partial service restored to Levittown 8/30. Bus bridge between Levittown and Trenton started 9/1.

19. Ongoing Customer Communication • SEPTA’s web page was used to provide service announcements as well as photos and updates on the repairs that were being performed on damaged infrastructure. • Over 20,000 followers on SEPTA’s Twitter Service Alerts.

20. Tropical Storm Lee – September 8, 2011 USGS Hydrograph of Area Creek National Weather Service Recorded Rainfall • Experienced gusts of up to 26 mph. • Up to 4 inches of rain fell. • Impacts included flooding, track bed washouts, fallen trees, and an embankment failure on the NHSL.

21. Track Washout South of Jenkintown Track Area

22. Lessons Learned • Effective use of weather data allowed service to remain operational as long as practical. • Include evaluation of Assunpink Creek hydrograph to determine if vehicles need to be moved at Trenton. • Improve inter-agency coordination with Amtrak Operations. • Sandbags on vent wells worked well. • SEPTA’s tree trimming program is very beneficial. • Off property issues (trees, run-off, poorly maintained structures) are becoming a major issue. • Positive feedback about public outreach, especially photos.