This four hour tabletop exercise provided neighborhood leaders and residents an opportunity
to learn the importance of working together when disaster strikes. Participants worked within
their neighborhood group as they undertook coordination of activities such as neighborhood
planning and preparedness, threat assessment, needs assessment, debris removal and damage
assessment.
Neighborhoods participating in the exercise were asked to recruit a minimum of four residents
to represent the entire neighborhood.
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Jack Pitman with the Leon County Health Department helps to prepare the auditorium for
Hurricane Zolo - A Neighborhood Tabletop Exercise. |
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Disaster Services volunteers from the Capital Area Chapter of the American Red Cross
were also on hand to help prepare the auditorium for the exercise. |
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Set up continues! |
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All of the Hurricane Zolo - A Neighborhood Tabletop Exercise
materials were placed where each participating neighborhood would sit. |
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The NEIGHBORHOOD DISASTER RESPONSE KITS that were
given to each participant were un-packed. |
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Ready to go! |
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Neighborhood residents begin to arrive and are greeted by various Subject Matter Experts
representing the Hurricane Zolo - A Neighborhood Tabletop Exercise partners. |
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The participant materials were set and ready to go when the neighborhood residents arrived. |
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Captain Gene Revell with the Leon County Sheriff's Office welcomes everyone to the
Hurricane Zolo - A Neighborhood Tabletop Exercise. |
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Subject Matter Experts then introduced themselves. |
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After all of the introductions were made, Chris Floyd Emergency Services Director
for the Capital Area Chapter of the American Red Cross facilitated an overview of how the exercise would be
conducted. |
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Then the neighborhood participants were asked to break the seal on their Situation Manual
and begin the planning / preparedness portion of the exercise. |
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Throughout the exercise, neighborhood residents had to work together as they faced
different challenges presented to them in the Situation Manual. |
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Throughout the exercise participants were encouraged to ask questions of the various
Subject Matter Experts as the Situation Manual presented them with challenges. By doing this the participants were
able to obtain information to solve the challenge at hand as well as to gain a better understanding of what the
response agencies do during a hurricane or other disaster. |
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Several Subject Matter Experts gather to discuss some of the challenges that have been
presented to them. |
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The FAMU neighborhood receives assistance from a Subject Matter Experts
form the City of Tallahassee Police Department. |
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An important aspect of the exercise was to develop team work in addressing all phases of
disasters. From planning and preparedness, to response and recovery all of the exercise injects required team work. |
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Each participating neighborhood had a map of their neighborhood indicating the
level of destruction. The color coded maps indicated if a home had minor or major damage or if they were destroyed. |
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Chris Floyd, Emergency Services Director for the Capital Area Chapter of
the American Red Cross leads the exercise participants into the response and recovery portion of their Situation Manual. |
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Another Subject Matter Experts, Richard Smith, Emergency
Management Director for the Leon County Sheriff's Office Division of Emergency Management (standing) assists
one of the neighborhood's with the response and recovery portion of the exercise. |
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The response and recovery portion of the exercise proved to be the greatest challenge of
the exercise. |
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Lasting almost one and one half hours, this portion of the exercise had participants working
together to conduct needs and damage assessment and communicate that information in the proper response agency. |
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NEIGHBORHOOD
DISASTER RESPONSE KITS ready to be distributed to the exercise participants. |
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FROM DOWNED TREES |
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TO LOOTING |
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FROM BROKEN GAS LINES |
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TO MOSQUITOS |
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The exercistrulyly tested the
capabilities of neighborhoods during a disaster! |