The greater Houston area has been considered by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to be among the urban areas with the highest threat in the nation. By this distinction, the Houston area is eligible to receive funding through the DHS UASI grant program. With support from the UASI and related homeland security grant programs, stakeholders in the Houston urban area engage in multi-disciplinary and multi-jurisdictional partnerships; much like the MCU rally and work group to improve local capacity to prepare for, protect against, and respond to catastrophic incidents. Specifically, this work group assists agencies with best practices for procurement of new equipment thru the UASI grant program, as well as lessons learned from agencies with existing mobile command units and how they are deployed to incidents. The MCU workgroup will also track regional MCU deployments and usage to provide evidence of the need for continued funding for this type of equipment in the region.

The MCU Rally brought together approximately 20 different command vehicles to showcase the different type and operational capabilities of mobile command units that exist in the Houston USAI region, including the Mobile Command Center (MCC) and the Mobile Emergency Response Center (MERC) trailer from the Port Houston Office of Emergency Management.

This was the first Mobile Command Center Rally hosted by UASI. Due to the success of this inaugural event, the workgroup is currently working on plans to make this an annual event.

Photos Courtesy of the City of Pasadena

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First responders play an important role in our communities, protecting citizens and entities from threats and unsafe circumstances. They provide their expertise and utilize countless hours of training to bring safety to people in need.

At Port Houston, public safety plays a big role in ensuring the Port and the Houston Ship Channel continue to operate and drive commerce to the region. We provide security for the entire Channel, which includes Port Houston’s eight public terminals and more than 200 private facilities.

The Port’s Security and Emergency Operations (PSEO) division include emergency management, police, fire fighters, and security, working in partnership with private, local, and state-level entities. Each group performs various tasks and distinct roles, including dispatch, patrol, fire safety inspections, emergency planning, training, and more.

Jessica Montecalvo, Port Houston’s Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, along with the rest of the emergency management staff, acts as a first responder. The Department of Emergency Management is responsible for planning and responding to incidents. In addition, the team is responsible for implementing all emergency management-related activities. This includes driving initiatives like building a hurricane preparedness plan and working through various scenarios that can affect the port’s activity or operations due to emergency disruptions.

Port Police is its own department, separate from the City of Houston’s police. This team helps keep truckers, port employees, and those on Port Houston property safe. Port police takes on a lot of responsibility, answering a large amount of calls across port property. These calls include response at the gates, damage to port property, disabled vehicles, lost or recovered property, making arrests of any persons with an outstanding warrant, and PH vessel calls when a vessel needs help moving.

Port Houston’s Fire department supports all terminals and facilities both waterside and on land, of the 52-mile ship channel. Covering all the way from Bolivar Road in Galveston to Buffalo Bayou and all its tributaries that stem from it, this team takes preventative measures to ensure the Port stays safe by enforcing code, tariffs, providing extinguisher inspections, and reviewing plans for new construction.

Port Houston’s Security department works hard to operate and ensure that the port gates stay secure. Jessica Thomas, Director of Port Houston Security notes, “I have a team of thirteen people, this includes facility security managers who manage the basic security in the facility, I have port security officers that go around the terminal checking fence lines, doing gate requests and access control, and the credentialing department which does all the access control for Port Houston, employees, contractors, and port tenants.”

Extensive training and the right equipment allow the port first responders to act quickly and potentially save lives, making their job a critical part of Port Houston’s workforce. As leaders in the organization, they also are active in volunteering and community service at nearby communities. To learn more about recruitment opportunities and careers in port security and emergency operations, visit: porthouston.com/careers-2/

The post Honoring Port Houston’s First Responders appeared first on Port Houston.

Days before Hurricane Laura stormed the coast between Louisiana and Texas with sustained winds up to 150 miles per hour, Port Houston maintenance workers busily went about the task of protecting assets and securing facilities from the much-anticipated stiff winds. This is necessary anytime a storm as ferocious as Hurricane Laura enters the gulf and threatens the gulf coast’s biggest container facility. While Hurricane Laura spared Houston this time, this was a big wake-up call for what may come.

Hurricane season runs from June 1st through November 30th, keeping the port on high alert for several months. Port Houston though is always ready to spring into action under the leadership of Roger Guenther, Port Houston Executive Director.

“This [Hurricane Laura] was a massive storm and we were really fortunate to miss major damage in our region, but we were prepared,” Roger Guenther wrote in an email to employees after the hurricane made landfall. “I am extremely pleased with the coordination of our Emergency Management Team and all of our employees working together to protect our Port employees and assets during preparation.”

Though the work that goes into preparing for a major storm is time-consuming, Hurricane Laura made us even better prepared for future events, Guenther noted.

The true backbone for running smoothly during these critical situations are our Emergency Management and Operations teams. Just like when COVID-19 hit earlier this year, both teams have essential personnel that work the front lines of our terminals making sure the port is prepped in case of a catastrophe.

The Operations team handles most of the heavy lifting and prepping at port terminals. They are responsible for gathering and replacing all emergency supplies, stacking loaded containers in an orderly and strategic fashion, organizing cranes to function as barriers, and making sure all portable buildings are properly secured. In addition, they secure all terminal equipment, fill extra drums with fuel, lubricants, water, and hydraulic fluids for use after the storm, board up all windows, and keep all transportation vehicles supplied with fuel (boats, cars, vans, trucks, etc.).

The Port Houston Emergency Management team, part of the Port Security and Emergency Operations (PSEO) division, works closely with the U.S. Coast Guard in keeping the Houston Ship Channel safe. Port Houston Emergency Manager Colin Rizzo said one of his greatest fears is that a hurricane could hit the port and damage crucial infrastructure like ship-to-shore cranes at the container terminals, which could take a months to repair or replace.

“You can’t take these huge cranes down and hide them from the wind,” Rizzo said. “The maintenance department does a great job of tying them down.”

When there are potentially big storms looming, the National Hurricane Center updates the storm tracks morning and night, and Port Houston monitors those updates, Rizzo noted. The Emergency Management team then weighs matters carefully, conferencing daily with Port Houston chiefs, and other local jurisdictions, taking note of what actions other agencies are taking. Once the storm is less than 24 hours from impacting the area the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is activated. The EOC is staffed around the clock until the hurricane threat passes.

Though most of the work goes into prep, the recovery process can be tireless depending on the amount of damage caused. The potential for such serious damage keeps the Port Houston Office of Emergency Management officials ever vigilant. The Coast Guard, Port Officials, Emergency Management, Operations, and Port Executives all do various assessments to determine the amount of damage that may have occurred.

While hurricanes pose the greatest threats to property and life, tropical storms and depressions can also be devastating. It’s important for us to prepare before storms arrive, clean-up damages in the area, and help our community recover from these destructive storms.

The post How Port Houston Preps for Hurricane Season appeared first on Port Houston.

Port Houston Commission Chairman Ric Campo recognized the efforts of those responding to the ITC tank fire on the Houston Ship Channel that impacted the channel and surrounding neighboring communities.

“The response to the emergency event along the Houston Ship Channel was an amazing effort led by the port community,” he remarked.

Campo highlighted the “valiant” efforts of the Port of Houston Authority firefighters responding to the emergency. He made the remarks at the March Port Commission meeting.

Guenther reported that between March 17 and March 26, Port Houston firefighters spent 2,300-man hours worked on this incident and at least two of the three fireboats worked continuously throughout the event.

Initially, the tank fire farm was extinguished but re-flashed a few days later. Two fireboats remained in the vicinity conducting air monitoring for the safety of the surrounding communities. On Friday, March 22, the fire re-flashed shortly after chemicals and the water foam mixture from fighting the fire leaked into the channel via a drainage ditch.

Guenther noted that Port Houston’s firefighters immediately moored one of the fireboats and began providing firefighting water, while the other fireboat was stationed at the mouth of the drainage ditch to extinguish any fire before it reached the ship channel.

The post Port Houston Firefighters Recognized for ITC Fire Response appeared first on Port Houston.

More than 200 participants from 13 Houston-area public safety agencies and 20 industry partners participated in a federally sponsored emergency management exercise Dec. 4 and 5.

Port Houston welcomed the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate's Next Generation First Responder Program. The exercise’s purpose was to show how commercial and DHS-developed technologies can be integrated with existing public safety systems in a HAZMAT scenario.

The test also was designed to learn how to improve responder safety and augmented situational awareness, increased operational coordination and enhanced operational communications.

During the exercise, participants assessed technologies on a simulated offshore fuel leak from ships in the port. Technologies included advanced data analytics, HAZMAT sensors, responder and patient physiological monitoring sensors, situational awareness and collaboration dashboards and indoor location tracking.

William N. Bryan, Senior Official Performing Duties of the Under Secretary for Science and Technology, lauded all the agencies involved for their efforts.

“This is a great endeavor and could not have been accomplished without the time and dedication from our Houston-area and Harris County public safety agency and industry partners for their time, dedication, and determination for a successful exercise,” Bryan said. “Homeland security begins with hometown security. It is partnerships like these that help us show the world the future of first responder technology.”

The Office of Emergency Management at Port Houston is responsible for the preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation of emergencies and major disasters at the port.

The post Key Homeland Security Exercise Held at Port Houston appeared first on Port Houston.

Caption: Port Houston Dispatch representatives, Juan Sanchez and Tom Sauls.

Two Port Houston dispatchers served many others during the catastrophic rain events from Hurricane Harvey in late August.

Staying at command during the flood, Juan Sanchez and Tom Sauls continued to take emergency calls for assistance, including many instances and cases of high water.

After arriving for their shift on Friday, August 25, Sanchez and Sauls wound up staying  on duty for the  duration of the storm due to impassable roads and port closure. 

During this time, Sanchez had received word that his apartment had flooded. He lost everything in his apartment, yet he continued to work diligently to keep the port and first responders safe.

“Due to the circumstances they were limited in food and sleep and yet they continued to perform in a flawless manner,” said Robert Unverzagt, Emergency Management Telecommunications Supervisor.

“Their performance during Hurricane Harvey brings great credit upon themselves and the Port Houston family.  Their service and sacrifice truly brought light to the role they play in being a first responder,” added Unverzagt.

A total of 928 emergency calls for assistance were handled by Port Houston dispatchers in 2016.

12 port police officers attributed to the response during the storm as well. A group stayed behind as others could not get to work.

Hurricane Harvey brought with it catastrophic flooding in a four-day period as many areas in Houston received more than 40 inches of rain resulting in hundreds of thousands of homes being flooded out, displacing more than 30,000 people in the Houston region and prompted more than 17,000 rescues around Harris County.

The post Port Dispatchers Called to Duty During Hurricane Harvey appeared first on Port Houston.