Objective

To determine if New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM) adequately monitors and coordinates with New York City agencies for natural hazard mitigation, evacuation, and continuity of operations. The audit covered the period from January 2018 through April 2022.

About the Program

Hurricane Sandy, or Superstorm Sandy, hit New York City 10 years ago, on October 29, 2012, and in its wake left hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers without power, damaged critical public and private infrastructure, and left many New Yorkers with limited access to food, drinking water, health care, and other critical services. Made up of several combined storms, it was one of the most damaging hurricanes ever to make landfall in the United States. The storm resulted in the deaths of 44 City residents and inflicted an estimated $19 billion in damages and lost economic activity across the City. Over 69,000 residential units were damaged and thousands of New Yorkers were temporarily displaced, including 6,500 patients who had to be evacuated from hospitals and nursing homes. Over 1 million New York City children were unable to attend school for a week.

NYCEM is responsible for coordinating citywide emergency planning and response for all types and scales of emergencies, including weather-related events. NYCEM helps New Yorkers before, during, and after emergencies through preparedness, education, and response. NYCEM also works to advance long-term initiatives that reduce risk and increase the resilience of New York City through mitigation planning and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) mitigation grant coordination. Hazard mitigation is any cost-effective and sustained action taken to reduce the long-term risk to human life, property, and infrastructure from hazards. Too often after disasters, repairs and reconstruction are completed in such a way as to simply restore damaged property to pre-disaster conditions. Hazard mitigation is a critical step that can break this cycle of repetitive loss by focusing on risk reduction; it is estimated that for every $1 invested in hazard mitigation, an average of $6 is saved in the long term.

NYCEM’s New York City Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) identifies the hazards that pose a risk to the City and actions City agencies are taking to reduce the impacts of these hazards. To be eligible for FEMA post-disaster mitigation funding, including Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funding, the HMP must be updated every 5 years. In 2019, NYCEM released the 5-year HMP update as a website. The HMP includes mitigation actions led by NYCEM as well as other City agencies. A mitigation action is a specific project, plan, or procedure that achieves goals and objectives to minimize the effects from a disaster and reduce the loss of life and property.

NYCEM also creates and maintains four citywide evacuation plans: the Area Evacuation Plan, Maritime Emergency Transportation Plan, Coastal Storm Plan, and Flash Flood Emergency Plan. NYCEM’s Plan Index is the list of all planning documents maintained by NYCEM. Continuity of Operations (COOP) plans ensure an individual organization can continue to perform its essential functions, provide essential services, and deliver core capabilities during a disruption to normal operations. Effective continuity of operations activities provide a baseline capability and represent the minimum standard required by a comprehensive, integrated continuity program.

Key Findings

• We identified significant deficiencies in NYCEM’s HMP. Of the 755 hazard mitigation actions listed in the HMP:
  • 412 (55%) mitigation actions did not have finish dates.
  • 403 (53%) mitigation actions did not have start dates.
  • 281 (37%) mitigation actions did not have cost estimates.
• NYCEM did not update and assess its citywide evacuation plans in a timely manner.
  • The Area Evacuation Plan and the Maritime Emergency Transportation Plan were last updated in 2013 – 9 years ago.
  • NYCEM did not provide any evidence that it completed the required formal assessments for any of its four citywide evacuation plans.
• NYCEM did not provide adequate oversight and guidance regarding COOP plans.
  • On average, 13 of the 46 City agencies (28%) did not always submit quarterly attestations that their plans were complete and up to date.
  • 34 of the 46 City agencies (74%) had incomplete COOP plans.
  • Required COOP plan exercises were not completed as required:
    • 13 agencies (28%) did not complete a COOP plan exercise in 2018.
    • 8 agencies (17%) did not complete a COOP plan exercise in 2019.
    • 20 agencies (43%) did not complete a COOP plan exercise in 2021.

Key Recommendations

• Comply with the HMP Maintenance Protocol and the HMP, including requesting sufficient supporting documentation from City agencies to ensure HMP mitigation action data is accurate, complete, and up to date.
• Establish time frames and implement formal written policies and procedures for updating citywide evacuation plans and conducting plan assessments.
• Review COOP plans submitted by City agencies to ensure, to the extent possible, that the plans are accurate, up to date, and complete.