NADO.org » Training

RPC Involvement in the Recovery of Vermont’s Transportation Network After Tropical Storm Irene

Kate Humphrey — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 20:25:04 +0000

The next presenter was Katharine Otto from the Southern Windsor County Regional Planning Commission in Vermont who spoke about recovery of the state’s transportation network after Hurricane Irene in August 2011. She first detailed the damage caused by the storm, which was primarily due to heavy rainfall on land that was already saturated. Five weeks after the storm, a large portion of local roads were opened but damaged, while others remained closed with access only for emergency vehicles. Major state roads in Southern Windsor County, which serve as the major paved routes in the area, were also damaged. Many bridges collapsed as flooded rivers rerouted, also tearing up sections of road and co-located utilities, causing more problems for power and services.

Otto explained the traditional roles of Vermont’s RPCs, including transportation, land use, emergency, and natural resource planning, as well as GIS mapping and analysis assistance. After Irene, the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) requested help from the RPCs to restore the state’s transportation networks. This primarily involved assisting municipalities with tasks such as mapping, data collection, resource matching, communications, and technical assistance. In Vermont, counties are not responsible for maintaining roads and the towns are small—ranging from 250 to 9,000 in population in this area, with an average of 3,000—and often lack resources and capacity. The Southern Windsor County RPC was well-suited for this task because of existing relationships with local staff and other officials, as well as strong working relationships with state agencies and the network of RPCs helping each other.

Otto also identified areas where the recovery process could have been improved. First, there was no established role for RPCs to assist VTrans in this context. Some staff members lacked the appropriate knowledge and training for the assignments requested. The large size of the task often led to conflicting messages and an inundation of information, as well as changing expectations that made it difficult to keep up with the demanding process. Despite these challenges, the RPC was able to help towns restore a large proportion of their roads that were damaged.

The RPCs’ work was discussed further in the webinar Lessons Learned from Irene: Regional Planning Commission Involvement in Recovery of Vermont’s Transportation Network, which occurred in June 2012. For more information on the Southern Windsor County RPC, click here.

Otto rpo2012

View more presentations from RPO America

Return to Overview | Next >> Rita Seto, Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Planning Commission (VT)

NADO Holds Webinar on Transportation and Disaster Recovery

Carrie Kissel — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 14:15:32 +0000

On Thursday, June 7, 2012, the NADO Research Foundation held the webinar “Lessons Learned from Irene: Regional Planning Commission Involvement in Recovery of Vermont’s Transportation Network,” which featured a joint presentation from two regional planning commissions (RPCs) that make up the statewide network, the Vermont Association of Planning and Development Agencies (VAPDA). Pam Brangan, Chittenden County RPC, and Katharine Otto, Southern Windsor County RPC, shared the impacts wreaked by Tropical Storm Irene last August and the work completed by the state’s regional planning commissions to assist with response and recovery of the state’s transportation infrastructure.

Following the severe flooding that damaged infrastructure, utilities, buildings, and communities, the Vermont Agency of Transportation asked the state’s RPCs to assist with mapping and data collection, resource matching, communications, help with FEMA Public Assistance, and technical assistance to communities. Although these tasks were related to the transportation and hazard mitigation planning that RPCs regularly conduct, they went far beyond the typical scope of the RPCs’ training and work. As a result, the members of VAPDA divided responsibilities, with organizations whose regions were less impacted providing support to those regions with more damage.

View the webinar recording below.

Download the speakers’ slides:

Part I (large PDF)
Part II (large PDF)

View the presentation slides without downloading the large files:

Lessons Learned from Irene: Regional Planning Commission Involvement in Recovery of Vermont’s Transportation Network

View more presentations from RPO America

Contact NADO Associate Director Carrie Kissel at ckissel@nado.org or 202.624.8829 with questions or feedback.

Install Adobe Reader to view PDF files.

Disaster Recovery Webinar

NADO Admin — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 17:36:37 +0000

Opportunities for Regional Development Organizations in a Post-Disaster Environment

In late 2010, the NADO Research Foundation hosted a webinar on the role of regional councils and economic development organizations in disaster recovery.

To download a PDF version of the speaker slides, please click the name of the corresponding presenter below:

Nationwide, the involvement of regional councils and economic development organizations (EDOs) in disaster recovery has been as diverse as the regions they represent. Some have entire programs dedicated to disaster-related issues, whereas others administer recovery funding only in a limited capacity.

The goal of this webinar was to provide a more formalized framework for regional councils and EDOs on a national level, and to better define their role in post-disaster recovery.

The NADO Research Foundation conducted this web broadcast in cooperation with the U.S. Economic Development Administration under grant agreement #08-79-04379.