Managed Emergency Response and Contingency Plans for Your Business or City

Leaders in both the public and private sectors must successfully anticipate disruptive events to mitigate loss. Natural disasters, power outages, and equipment failures are expensive for the unprepared.

Contingency plans reduce the adverse impact of extreme events. Hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, earthquakes, and lightning strikes are some examples. Contingency planning makes it possible to get out ahead of sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) before the flooding begins. Playing defense as stormwater rushes everywhere is not where you want to be. Ever.

Why is a Contingency Plan Important for Your Business?

A well-conceived emergency response plan is your first line of defense. It is a road map back to normalcy when bad things happen. The right plan facilitates quick action when it matters the most.

Comprehensive emergency planning delivers peace-of-mind now and essential loss mitigation in the future. It is about protecting your assets as well as your workers. It is also about protecting local populations and the environment.

Developing a Contingency Plan

You always want to prepare in advance for a fluid handling crises by working with your pumping provider to develop a solid contingency plan. You must work with an engineering team with relevant experience. They’ll deal with the many safety and technical issues. They’ll recommend protocols and equipment to protect you from the pain of loss.

A contingency plan often includes:

• ☐ A statement of site conditions
• ☐ Directions and site access information
• ☐ 24/7 contact info for your emergency team
• ☐ Lists of equipment needed to sustain operations
• ☐ Information in different languages (as appropriate)

Emergency response plan development disciplines planners to think through various scenarios in advance.

SSOs occur for many reasons, including:

• • Weather events, from heavy rain to lightning strikes
• • Pipe blockages or pipe movement
• • Lift station and other failures due to aging equipment

Contingency planning must also navigate the regulatory landscape. A plan follows local codes while addressing OSHA safety standards. Once a plan is adopted, it is time to get the equipment lined up or on standby.

Responding to Natural Disasters

Rain for Rent’s engineers help craft detailed emergency response plans that are vital when extreme events strike. Well-articulated processes and competent equipment assessments empower everyone involved. When disaster does strike, Rain for Rent responds with the required equipment and expertise.

Hurricane response

After Superstorm Sandy, Rain for Rent dispatched more than 520 pumps and 100 personnel to New York and New Jersey. Following Hurricane Katrina, Rain for Rent assisted in New Orleans. Temporary pumps moved floodwaters back through the repaired 17th Street Canal levee. When Puerto Rico endured widespread flooding after Hurricane Maria struck, Rain for Rent crews installed nine pump stations across the island.

Heavy rains and snowmelt

In the spring of 2011, Omaha faced a severe Missouri River flood threat. Backed up storm sewers threatened businesses and residences alike. Rain for Rent’s customized 576 MGD emergency bypass plan provided relief.

Lake Agnew is a reservoir high in the California Sierras. Rain for Rent engineers designed a custom solution to a difficult problem when unprecedented snowmelt threatened to overwhelm the reservoir. It including designing a 90,000 GPM system on a floating barge using heavy-duty helicopters to place the pumps and related equipment due to terrain limitations.

Case Study: A Plan to Save a Historic Lodge

The 10-mile-long Lake McDonald is the largest body of water in Glacier National Park. Its namesake waterfront lodge is a century-old haven for outdoor enthusiasts and features distinctive Swiss chalet architecture.

In the summer of 2017, surrounding forests of pine and larch grew tinder-dry in drought conditions. On August 10, a barrage of 150 lightning strikes struck the area. One of them ignited what would become the 16,982-acre Sprague Fire, the first such fire in the area since the 1700s. It was just three miles from the Lake McDonald Lodge. This happened at a time when fire fighting crews were already overwhelmed.  More than 15,000 personnel were busy battling 83 other wildfires across the western United States. There were already 369 hand crews, 578 engines, and 141 helicopters deployed.

Given the scarcity of resources, fire officials came up with a novel contingency plan to protect Lake McDonald Lodge. If necessary, crews would pump large amounts of water from the lake to add humidity  to put up a “curtain of water” to save the structure.  They turned to Rain for Rent for sprinklers, pipes, and high-capacity pumps. The setup delivered the high capacity discharge required for success.

Rain for Rent Develops Emergency Response and Contingency Plans

Rain for Rent helps develop emergency response plans for natural disasters and other catastrophic events. When emergency pumping or bypass needs arise, Rain for Rent has the resources to respond rapidly.

Rain for Rent stocks critical equipment, such as tanks, pumps, pipes, hoses, and fittings, supply filtration systems, spill containment resources, and instrumentation for when disasters strike.

For prompt, professional help creating an emergency response and contingency plan, contact Rain for Rent today.