FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 1, 2023
Industry and States Conduct Hurricane Season Exercise
Streamlining Information Sharing to Accelerate & Coordinate Hurricane Response
Frederick, Maryland - On Thursday, July 20, 2023, the 3rd Annual Cross-Sector Virtual Tabletop Exercises was conducted to help states and industry prepare for the upcoming 2023 hurricane season.
The private sector's SISE-net Cross-Sector Virtual Tabletop Exercise is an annual, operations-focused tabletop exercise designed to enhance disaster communications and coordination between multiple industry sectors and state operations centers on the six most requested information topic areas.
Before landfall, industry needs information from state and federal government in the areas of emergency declarations, executive orders, waivers for transportation and fuel, and operational guidance or situation reports to relieve intra-state and inter-state regulations or controls so they can pre-position power restoration crews and resources, food, water, supplies, and other hurricane response related materials.
After landfall, state governments need information from industry regarding facility status for important facilities, infrastructure disruptions for power, communications, fuel, and transportation, and information requests from industry to know where impacted and non-impacted states can assist industry in their response efforts.
The exercise provides a place and safe conversations and access to a suite of private sector-provided tools to aggregate this information into a single place online.
By "sync-ing" these six areas of information across industry sectors and their supply chains, state/local/federal governments, and trade groups, this cross-sector exercise will reduce operational delays during responses, identifies areas of opportunity for future problem solving, and streamlines the information flow during an incident in a way that gets the appropriate vetted people involved "on the same page" at the same instant.
Exercise participants included representatives from Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Illinois, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration, and industry sector, including communication, electric, fuel, finance, medical, pharmaceuticals, retail transportation, water, and food.
“This exercise is unique – in its participants, linking industry leads for critical infrastructure sectors directly with emergency management officials for numerous states; its focus – on identifying pressing problems or challenges in scenarios based on actual events; and its impacts – producing practical solutions in information sharing and cooperative efforts that make differences for protection and response. The embodiment of why we exercise and the advantages that can, and should, result,” said Tom Farmer, Assistant Vice President – Security, Association of American Railroads (AAR).
“Hurricanes ignore state boundaries, cut across federal regions and industry sectors. This exercise provides a wonderful opportunity for multiple states to better understand the private sector’s informational and operational needs. It helps everyone understand how we can work together to support impacts to states and sectors so that businesses and communities can recover faster following a hurricane or any disaster,” said Persia Payne-Hurley, Assistant Director, Office of Partnership Engagement, North Carolina Department of Public Safety, Division of Emergency Management.
Exercise Impacts
Since the first exercise was conducted in 2021, the cross-sector exercise has achieved actual operational results that reduce delays, emails, and misinformation while expanding the trust community of active professionals to work on issues identified in the exercise.
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About The All Hazards Consortium
The All Hazards Consortium (AHC) is a state-sanctioned, 501c3 non-profit organization focused on public/private sensitive information sharing and problem-solving in crisis management, business continuity, cyber security, research transition, homeland security, and supply chain resilience. The AHC focuses on improving public/private planning and operational information sharing to get businesses and communities back to business faster following disruptions and/or disasters. Website: www.ahcusa.org
For More Information, Visit:
https://www.ahcusa.org/cross-sector-exercises.html
The private sector's SISE-net Cross-Sector Virtual Tabletop Exercise is an annual, operations-focused tabletop exercise designed to enhance disaster communications and coordination between multiple industry sectors and state operations centers on the six most requested information topic areas.
Before landfall, industry needs information from state and federal government in the areas of emergency declarations, executive orders, waivers for transportation and fuel, and operational guidance or situation reports to relieve intra-state and inter-state regulations or controls so they can pre-position power restoration crews and resources, food, water, supplies, and other hurricane response related materials.
After landfall, state governments need information from industry regarding facility status for important facilities, infrastructure disruptions for power, communications, fuel, and transportation, and information requests from industry to know where impacted and non-impacted states can assist industry in their response efforts.
The exercise provides a place and safe conversations and access to a suite of private sector-provided tools to aggregate this information into a single place online.
By "sync-ing" these six areas of information across industry sectors and their supply chains, state/local/federal governments, and trade groups, this cross-sector exercise will reduce operational delays during responses, identifies areas of opportunity for future problem solving, and streamlines the information flow during an incident in a way that gets the appropriate vetted people involved "on the same page" at the same instant.
Exercise participants included representatives from Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Illinois, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration, and industry sector, including communication, electric, fuel, finance, medical, pharmaceuticals, retail transportation, water, and food.
“This exercise is unique – in its participants, linking industry leads for critical infrastructure sectors directly with emergency management officials for numerous states; its focus – on identifying pressing problems or challenges in scenarios based on actual events; and its impacts – producing practical solutions in information sharing and cooperative efforts that make differences for protection and response. The embodiment of why we exercise and the advantages that can, and should, result,” said Tom Farmer, Assistant Vice President – Security, Association of American Railroads (AAR).
“Hurricanes ignore state boundaries, cut across federal regions and industry sectors. This exercise provides a wonderful opportunity for multiple states to better understand the private sector’s informational and operational needs. It helps everyone understand how we can work together to support impacts to states and sectors so that businesses and communities can recover faster following a hurricane or any disaster,” said Persia Payne-Hurley, Assistant Director, Office of Partnership Engagement, North Carolina Department of Public Safety, Division of Emergency Management.
Exercise Impacts
Since the first exercise was conducted in 2021, the cross-sector exercise has achieved actual operational results that reduce delays, emails, and misinformation while expanding the trust community of active professionals to work on issues identified in the exercise.
###
About The All Hazards Consortium
The All Hazards Consortium (AHC) is a state-sanctioned, 501c3 non-profit organization focused on public/private sensitive information sharing and problem-solving in crisis management, business continuity, cyber security, research transition, homeland security, and supply chain resilience. The AHC focuses on improving public/private planning and operational information sharing to get businesses and communities back to business faster following disruptions and/or disasters. Website: www.ahcusa.org
For More Information, Visit:
https://www.ahcusa.org/cross-sector-exercises.html
What is the Cross-Sector Virtual Exercise??
The private sector’s SISE-net Cross-Sector Virtual Tabletop Exercise is an annual, operations focused tabletop exercise designed to increase disaster communications and coordination between multiple industry sectors and state operations centers on six topics areas:
Information needed from states by industry BEFORE landfall: 1) Emergency declarations and executive orders from government 2) Transportation and fuel waivers from government 3) Operational guidance or alerts from government Information needed from industry by states AFTER landfall: 4) Facility status from industry 5) Disruptions from industry 6) Information requests from industry By "sync-ing" these six areas of information across industry sectors and their supply chains, state/local/federal governments, and trade groups the exercise will reduces operational delays during responses, identifies areas of opportunity for future problem solving, and streamlines the information flow in a way that gets everyone involved on the same page at the same instant. TTX Focus:
The TTX will focus on the top six (6) information requests that occur during every hurricane (see graphic below). These items was identifies and agreed to by industry and state participants during the 2021 TTX and has helped everyone focus on the people, processes and information involved to get this information and distributed quickly to save time, reduce email traffic, and get the information from the correct sources who generate it. 
TTX Approach:
TTX Objectives
Identify opportunities to improve operational coordination and communications between industry sectors and government (States & Feds) by:
TTX Deliverables
Identify opportunities to improve operational coordination and communications between industry sectors and government (States & Feds) by:
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Cross-Sector
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| 2023_cross_sector_ttx_brochure_06222023.pdf |
Overview of the SISE-net Initiative to "SYNC" information between industry and state government during crisis preparedness, response, and recovery efforts
Watch how the TTX works
2023 Cross-Sector TTX Session Recordings
Part 1 REPLAY of "LIVE" Virtual Exercise: July 22, 2023: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/847093827
Part 2 REPLAY of "LIVE" Virtual Exercise: July 22, 2023: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/847093826
Part 2 REPLAY of "LIVE" Virtual Exercise: July 22, 2023: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/847093826
2022 Cross-Sector TTX Session Recordings
- Session 1: Pre-TTX Education: Friday July 15, 2022 at 9:00am ET, 1.5hrs, - Designed for Beginners new to the SISE, AHC, and the SISE-net initiative: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/4QSR_GTtjI8cw9g0S_g22taZ2yDpPi2Ji0t7MDT6UXv8wzYyqJHizOwWdi57nGw3.eVc6jfv2KUv-2mP2
- Session 2: "LIVE" Virtual Exercise: Friday July 22, 2022 at 9:00am ET, 3hrs: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/anYJYkaEIoTM1EexpeRh501KWo1kDbXiGqMR1GvRBQ974qi_3GbUW0tkUXEXRRZd.4o_bA5Jvf7E0zM2N
- Session 2.1: After Action Review (AAR): Friday July 29, 2022 at 9:00am ET, 3hrs: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/-BagVAziEdnXQoMz96n49vtfeIZhmFpR24eXGlldv9ZCO5mXWCtE5G5Ku3S4CJ16._ZfK6H1KFhtkAtcY
- Session 3: Post TTX Training: Friday August 12, 2022 at 9:00am ET, 2hrs, - Training on SISE-net Operational Playbook to use during future hurricanes: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/e6eJrrm3hNdisAgPZQH_ExdaMCCuMmR3HCcsgMMX5ICbQGLC-5zYTuKWOi24eetc.swqGaZkOnvh6AnOK
2021 Cross-Sector TTX Session Recordings
Day 1 of 3: https://vimeo.com/722677477
Day 2 of 3: https://vimeo.com/703009884
Day 3 of 3: https://vimeo.com/703008959
Day 2 of 3: https://vimeo.com/703009884
Day 3 of 3: https://vimeo.com/703008959