"This will not be the Superdome!"

The mismanagement of the New Orleans relief effort after Hurricane Katrina is by now legendary. Less heralded is the success of Houston relief center, "Reliant City," which sprang to life almost overnight to shelter over 27,000 Louisiana refugees, evacuees from a city which could no longer provide them with even the most basic of human necessities.

27,000 houseguests on 19 hours notice
On the morning of August 31, Harris County Judge Robert Eckels received orders from the Texas Director of Emergency Management to mobilize a team of public and private officials to lead a shelter operation at the Houston Astrodome. About 2,000 people were expected to arrive at the Dome, but that number would eventually skyrocket to over 27,000 at the height of operations and over 44,000 throughout the duration of the response. The Area Command center was established at Houston's Reliant Park Complex, which included the Astrodome, the Reliant Center, Reliant Arena, and the George R. Brown Convention Center. The first group of evacuees arrived at 10:30 p.m. that evening, seven hours earlier than expected.

Largest relief effort in history
Here are the statistics: 65,000 Superdome refugees were transported to Houston in a parade of buses that lasted for six days. Some 8,000 were housed in the Reliant Center, 17,000 in the Astrodome, and 2,000 in Reliant Arena. Another 38,000 were processed and sent to other shelters. It was the largest relief effort in U.S. history. For three weeks, a team of Harris County and City of Houston public and private agencies worked together to efficiently and effectively feed and shelter the Katrina victims, as well as help them get medical care, locate missing family members and plan their future. In addition to cots, blankets, food, clothing and showers, Reliant City provided a barber shop, day care facilities, a playground, religious services, and a post office with its own unique zip code. There was a fully staffed medical clinic with over 5,000 licensed professionals that treated 11,245 patients over a two-week period for conditions ranging from hypertension and acute gastroenteritis to mental health issues. Volunteers assisted evacuees with relocation, jobs and permanent housing.

LCDR Joe Leonard of the U.S. Coast Guard was appointed by then-FEMA Administrator Mike Brown as the Area Commander of Shelter Operations in the Houston-Galveston area. His task was monumental, but with an effective group of well-trained staff he succeeded in nearly every goal set forth. He was quoted in the Houston Chronicle newspaper as saying "Let’s be clear about two things. This will not be the Superdome. Failure is not an option." Reliant Park, the George R. Brown Convention Center, the Carnival Cruise Ships, and the Texas In-Processing Center were all treated as separate incident sites, hence the establishment of an Area Command.

When asked why the Houston relief effort went so smoothly relative to the struggles in New Orleans, Leonard observed "I believe the success was a direct result of previously established relationships amongst the key participants, and an effective implementation of the National Incident Management System (NIMS). Fifty percent of the NIMS Incident Command System (ICS) instructors in the region served in key command roles (Area Commander, four Deputy Area Commanders, Planning Section Chief, and Liaison Officer). Over the past year we have had an extremely active and effective NIMS training program."

Before Katrina
Harris County experienced its own weather disaster in 2001 when Tropical Storm Allison struck, flooding the region and causing 22 deaths. Over 73,000 houses were destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people were forced into shelters. Out of the $5 billion disaster came the Tropical Storm Allison Recovery Project, a joint effort by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Harris County Flood Control District to develop products to help the community better understand and recover from floods.

Also in 2001, in response to both Tropical Storm Allison and the terrorist attacks of September 11, the Harris County Citizen Corps was formed to organize volunteers and work with faith-based groups and other nonprofits to respond to emergencies. The Citizen Corps, under the direction of Harris County Judge Robert Eckels and Mark Sloan, was critical in organizing the 60,000 volunteers who worked throughout the post-Katrina incident to assist the emergency responders.

According to Leonard, the incident did point out some holes in the response network. "Many federal governmental and other non-governmental workers and responders, including supervisors and managers, demonstrated a limited understanding of NIMS ICS, Unified Command operations, and the Planning Process. This led to an unacceptable level of freelancing on their part and numerous miscommunication issues. In addition, there were many key personnel from these agencies, in particular federal governmental agency representatives, who were hampered in their ability to make on-scene decisions in a timely and effective manner."

But by and large, Unified Command worked very well throughout the incident, with all participating response organizations working and communicating effectively. "Safety was managed throughout the incident by the Houston Fire Department’s Life Safety Division (Fire Marshal)," said Leonard. "They maintained safety protocols to ensure life safety throughout the entire Reliant Complex and the George R. Brown Convention Center. They were assisted by members of the Channel Industries Mutual Aid (CIMA) organization – the largest fire-oriented mutual aid organization within the US. CIMA representatives looked at those areas not covered by the Fire Marshall, including health issues and medical waste disposal, and made appropriate recommendations for improving the facility conditions for the evacuees."

Public Information
In an incident of this nature, effective communication with the public is critical. This was accomplished with a partnership between members of the Harris County Judge’s Office and Media Consultants, who also trained most of the members of the Area Unified Command. The effectiveness of this partnership was evidenced with the massive amounts of good press received for the response efforts. "We were fortunate to have Media Consultants on board to facilitate managing the Joint Information Center (JIC), and ensuring that all participants were knowledgeable and well-versed in their duties and responsibilities," praised Leonard.

Planning
Fire Chief Rick Deel of the Lubrizol Corporation and a member of the Channel Industries Mutual Aid, and Mr. Steven Kastensmidt, Vice Chairman of the Greater Houston Local Emergency Planning Committee, headed the Planning Section and were successful in developing highly effective Incident Action Plans to address all jurisdictional issues (Steve would later be promoted to Deputy Area Commander and lead the Night Shift). Both individuals are area NIMS ICS instructors. The Harris County Fire Marshal provided an electronic version of the basic Incident Action Plan that facilitated rapid development and distribution to all concerned parties. According to Leonard, "This enabled the planning process to proceed much more smoothly during the incident."

Operations
An Operations Section Chief was initially assigned and the Section staffed by members of the Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office and the Houston Fire Department. Later, as the organization developed, the Houston Police Department and U.S. Coast Guard were also added to the mix. Leonard has high praise for this group of individuals: "The persons serving in the role of Operations Section Chief or Deputy Operations Section Chief were among the most active and energetic I have seen during my response career. They rapidly addressed issues, modified the plan, and reported to Command on these changes. Their efforts ensured that evacuees were provided with water and ice, moved into air conditioned facilities, and had the opportunity to meet with service providers in a relatively timely manner."

The Operations Section managed a wide array of Branches and Groups, including the Shelter Operations Branch (with three Divisions, one in each facility at Reliant Park), Park Operations Group (with Reliant Ops and Donations Management Task Forces), a Security Group (with Perimeter, Traffic Control, Dome, Center, and Arena Task Forces at the height of operations), a Social Services Branch (with Houston, Transportation, and Financial Services Groups).

Security
Law Enforcement issues were addressed jointly by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, the Houston Police Department, and the Metro Police Depart. All were represented by personnel in supervisory or executive authority within the Command Post throughout the incident. In addition, Reliant Park/SMG also had their unarmed security force involved in operations within the park.

Wristbanding of evacuees was the solution to managing who could go where. At times it worked very well and at other times, it was difficult to manage. This was especially true when persons started to depart the facility for several days and then wished to come back, but found their bands were not longer valid or recognized. At other times, evacuees removed their bands (for a variety of reasons). Other problems surfaced when it became evident that outsiders were obtaining similar bands and seeking access to the facility. While the Area Command was reluctant to adopt a hard-line approach to dealing with this issue, it became necessary to do so during the third week of operation.

Three weeks after Katrina, with Hurricane Rita threatening the area, the shelter was finally closed, officially ceasing operations as of 7 p.m. Tuesday, September 20.