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On August 14, 2003, a major power outage stretched across the northeast
from New York City, Cleveland, Ohio, and Detroit, Michigan, to Toronto
and Ottawa, Canada, affecting approximately 50 million people. Several
camp directors from the Cleveland/Northern Ohio area recently responded
to a brief survey — answering questions about the blackout dilemma
from their individual experience and insights. They shared risk management
procedures, challenges faced, and their sheer resiliency during a time
of unsettling concern.
What procedure, that you already had in place, proved
most helpful to you?
David Birkhead — As with all
ACA-accredited camps, Centerville Mills has procedures in place for just
about anything. The same is true regarding our water-treatment plant for
a variety of scenarios. For the “Blackout of 2003” the procedure
was followed regarding long-term power loss. This procedure addresses
issues regarding depressurization of our holding tanks, the location of
water main shut-off valves, and a list of emergency direct-dial numbers
to power companies, generator suppliers, and water-supply companies.
Tim Fox — Due to the timing of
the blackout, our first thoughts were how to provide food and how to provide
enough light to keep safe. From previous power outage experience, we had
already purchased battery and propane-powered lanterns. We had already
discussed appropriate places to place each of these lanterns to provide
sufficient light and to keep campers safe. Thus, each cabin was given
a minimum of two lanterns, the bathhouse had multiple lanterns, and then
we utilized the propane lanterns and mounted them to our light poles around
our pathways and mounted a lantern at our nurse’s station. The food
was an easy solution since it was the last day of camp. We were able to
pull out charcoal, and grill hamburgers that we had available in the freezer.
We added chips and had a cookout with the kids.
Rich Garbinsky — In all honesty,
we lost power for only ten minutes. Parents called our office to see if
everything was fine, and our response was that we had 275 people in camp
who had no idea of what was going on in the rest of the world. We have
a call list and phone tree ready for emergencies that we would have used
if we lost power.
Doris Rudolf — We used the emergency
action plan for the facilities and the section on what to do in case of
a power outage.
What changes have you made or what procedures have you
developed because of this experience?
David Birkhead — Just through
coincidence, Centerville Mills had reviewed our emergency procedures regarding
water supply just the week before the blackout. We realized that as a
facility without any back-up generators, we did not have a back-up supply
of water. As a result, the day before the blackout we received an order
of enough back-up water to supply the camp’s capacity with a twenty-four-hour
supply of drinkable water. This then allows a period of time for adjustment,
location of generators, and additional water if needed. Despite the blackout,
power outages are not rare to our area, and in the future, we are planning
the installation of back-up generators. The last area of change/preparation
comes from our Port-a-Potties that supplement our existing facilities
for day camp use. We hate them. They are an eyesore and often smell, but
when your power is out and you can’t flush toilets, they are a miracle
invention.
Tim Fox — Like I mentioned, we
had a previous power outage; however, the earlier power outage only lasted
a couple of hours, and the lights were restored before dark. Due to that
outage, we had a plan already put in place. The only addition we made
to the plan as we were enacting this was that our evening program was
automatically switched to a campfire gathering, and we had staff do additional
bed counts, staying aware that kids may be afraid of camp being a little
darker than normal.
Rich Garbinski — The change we
made on the fly was to check with other area camps and recreation departments
to make sure they were ok and had contingency plans. One area recreation
department day camp did come and spend the day with us on Friday because
they had no water or power.
What was the most difficult part of the lackof power
to handle? How did you handle it? Will you now do something different/additional
to address this contingency?
David Birkhead — The most difficult
part was the management of calls from day camp parents stuck in traffic
and trying to pick up their kids as well as the incoming calls from resident
camper parents concerned about their children. With an adequate number
of phone lines, this was just a staffing situation of manning phones and
assuring parents that procedures were in place for the safety of campers
and quality of the water. This same message was placed on our outgoing
voice mail as well as a reassurance that camp would continue for the remainder
of the week.
Tim Fox — I think the most difficult
part of the lack of power was running short on water. We now know we need
to have a larger bottled water supply available at all times and have
a contingency plan to handle that as well. I feel the overall effectiveness
of the lanterns worked well, and the food was well prepared too. I think
we will be purchasing more lanterns now that we see what was needed to
better light more areas of camp.
Doris Rudolf — The most difficult
part was the lack of water and communication. We used walkie-talkies to
communicate to other staff members that were not in the building. We did
evacuate and close our building.
Can you estimate the financial impact this blackout
had on your operation (for example, lost food, purchase of generator or
bottled water, etc.)? Was any of this impact covered by insurance?
David Birkhead — Centerville
Mills did not have any significant financial impact with exception to
the creation of a back-up water supply.
Tim Fox — Nothing was covered
by insurance, but I would estimate loss being approximately $2,000. Luckily,
this was our last night of camp, and we had very little amounts of food
left over in the kitchen. Added costs included the purchase of batteries
and additional propane.
Doris Rudolf — Close to $1,500.
I sent out “REC BUCKS” (parents/children can use them toward
any future program or merchandise) instead of refunds for day camp.
What was the most unexpected situation that arose during
the blackout?
David Birkhead — With cell phone
towers being overwhelmed by the increased communication, it was difficult
to contact our out-trips group. Fortunately, through the remote design
of our out-trips program, they don’t rely on electricity and were
unaffected.
Tim Fox — I don’t believe
anything unexpected took place. We felt we were well prepared.
Rich Garbinsky — We actually
only received less than ten phone calls regarding the power outage. I
thought we would have had more.
Doris Rudolf — The length of
time of the blackout was unexpected. We closed day camp on Friday, August
15.
What were you able to do to address communication needs
— with parents, with groups out of camp, with any necessary emergency
transportation needs?
David Birkhead — After providing
customer service to the large majority of incoming calls and concerns,
a clear and reassuring outgoing voice mail message seemed to handle most
communication needs.
Tim Fox — Our community is very
aware of our program and knew we could have needs. Our phone system does
have a battery backup, so we were able to maintain phones to notify parents
that their children were safe and not to try to drive during this situation.
The local hospitals all have emergency generators and operated as normal,
so emergency needs were well covered.
Doris Rudolf — There was a meeting
with the assistant fire chief the evening of the blackout; parents were
not called to pick up their kids early from day camp because the phone
lines were down. We called parents early Friday morning to inform them
that the facilities were being closed and that day camp was being cancelled.
Originally published in the 2003 Fall issue
of The CampLine.
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