BALTIMORE, Md. (Nov. 7, 2012) -- For the second time in 14 months, Baltimore District's flood risk management projects and recovery teams were placed into action in response to Hurricane Sandy, an historic storm bringing with it rain, wind and snow along the Atlantic Coast.
PREPARING FOR THE STORM
Before the first raindrops and wind gusts touched Baltimore District's region in Maryland, Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., Central Pennsylvania and Southeast New York, engineers, water resource and crisis management planners worked on contingency plans, alerted teams of engineers for possible deployment, reached out to our project partners, and stood up its emergency operations center for 24-hour support.
The district's water control team also began 24-hour operations, closely monitoring the Corps' 14 dams throughout the region to determine which flood gates to open, close, and by how much.
"We started watching Hurricane Sandy particularly closely on Thursday, Oct. 25, when the National Hurricane Center's advisories indicated a potential impact to the mid-Atlantic, said Juilia Fritz, Water Control Team chief. "We monitored river and reservoir levels, and coordinated with our dam operators on reservoir regulation plans, in particular with project staff where we saw the highest potential impact," she said.
Officials said that the Indian Rock Dam, located in York, Pa., -- an area which saw some of the most significant rainfall -- used about 20 percent of its capacity. Raystown Lake in Central Pennsylvania, reached about 10 percent of its capacity, while the rest of the projects used less than four percent.
"From a reservoir standpoint, we were very fortunate since the rainfall moved quicker than anticipated. That, in combination with the actual track of the heaviest rainfall, proved not to be as significant as it could have been," said Fritz.
The Corps eventually closed two gates at two dams during the event, Indian Rock and Stillwater, and restricted or reduced releases at many other projects to store water to reduce downstream river levels. After the storm passed, the dams returned to normal operations the afternoon of Oct. 31, Fritz said.
RECOVERY
As the keepers of the Port of Baltimore, experts surveyed the channel bottom of the authorized federal navigation project leading to the Port to determine if Hurricane Sandy caused the channel to fill in with material. This work is being coordinated with the Maryland Port Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard, who has responsibility for keeping the Port open to vessel traffic, said Robert Pace, the district's chief of Operations Division.
"The Baltimore District will also resume its debris removal mission and remove floating debris that poses a hazard to navigation within the federal navigation channel," Pace said.
The Corps is responsible for removing debris from the Potomac River federal navigation channel as well as the Baltimore Harbor.
The Atlantic Coast of Maryland Shoreline Protection Project, which includes a series of seawalls and dunes along the coastline in Ocean City, Md., experienced the most impact out of all of the district's projects. The day after Hurricane Sandy battered the shoreline, district commander Col. Trey Jordan visited the project and inspected the seawall and the vegetated sand dunes between 4th and 27th streets.
"My initial assessment was that the project performed better than expected," he said. A team of specially trained engineers conducted a more comprehensive assessment of the project and will use those results to evaluate how much repair the project will require.
SUPPORT TO THE REGION
The Corps has provided a nationwide response to New York and New Jersey by providing teams of experts from around the country to assist with the recovery efforts.
As part of that mission, Col. Jordan deployed to New York to establish and command a recovery field office.
Additionally, 11 Baltimore District employees have deployed to the disaster, including seven employees supporting efforts such as power and debris removal, while four employees are operating Mobile Command Vehicles located in Manhattan and Massachusetts.
As the recovery efforts progress, another 12 employees are standing by to head north and offer their expertise.
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