Personnel work together at Sector Houston-Galveston to overcome obstacles as they respond to a simulated Category 3 hurricane in the Houston-Galveston region Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Andrew Kendrick)
HOUSTON — Multiple agencies and industry partners are coordinating emergency response operations at Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston’s incident command post at Ellington Airport Wednesday, after a simulated Hurricane Ike level storm made direct impact to the area.
The exercise simulated severe damage to infrastructure in the Houston Ship Channel, several life-saving emergencies, oil and chemical releases, wildlife impacts and more after the Category 3 hurricane made landfall. The exercise controllers are injecting obstacles throughout the drill to see how the players rely on one another to collaborate across agency and industry lines to come up with innovative ways to overcome obstacles for the safety of people on the water and the safety of the environment.
Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston is hosting the two-day full scale exercise with five other federal agencies, nine state agencies, six local agencies and nine industry partners.
The exercise design team hopes the drill will increase communication throughout the region, which will decrease duplication of effort and make response to real disasters a more efficient process. The exercise will also familiarize everyone with the emergency response plans and give players experience for qualification in different positions.
