A Time to Prepare - FEMA Program - updated 02082017 - JCB final

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Copyright © 2016 James C. Breckinridge. All Rights Reserved.
Contributor: Andrew S. Fellows
A Time to Prepare
Rapid Response Force in Times of a Disaster Utilizing the Logistics Supply Chain
James C. Breckinridge, Esq.
BFD Group, LLC’s FEMA Program
BFD Group, LLC (BFD) is building state of the art Tri-Modal Service Centers (TMSC) in the heartland of
America along the Nation’s inland waterways. In order to meet the needs of the Nation for the 21st
Century and beyond, the transportation industry in America requires a transformation. The
development of TMSCs is part of the transformation process. Each TMSC offers access to the global
logistics network via rail transportation, trucking and barge transportation.
FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work
together to build, sustain and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover
from and mitigate all hazards.1
Because of our experience with disaster recovery events, BFD developed a plan to provide logistical and
service resources to aid of our fellow citizens in time of National crisis in concert with federal
government agencies (FEMA, USACE), Non-governmental Organizations (NGO) and other entities
involved in providing goods and services. Our objective is to take the Public-Private Partnership2
to
another level of commitment and performance.
Although the objective of all the organizations and agencies involved in humanitarian assistance is to
reduce human suffering and casualties, the duration and severity of the human toll during a natural
disaster is largely dependent upon the speed and scope of the response, which is often a function of the
level of preparedness that has been established prior to the disaster event.3
A component of the BFD plan is to partner with FEMA, NGOs and other entities that offer disaster
recovery support services or goods. Each TMSC will have a dedicated facility to use for the
prepositioning of disaster relief supplies. We have titled the dedicated facility a Disaster Relief Staging
Center (DRSC). Each DRSC will have access to the truck, rail and barge transportation options. Rail and
trucking are the most common sources of transportation currently used in disaster recovery operations.
We are introducing the use of the waterway as an additional and critical mode of transportation to
deliver disaster assistance.
From each DRSC, deployment of assistance to devastated areas when a disaster occurs will be swift,
comprehensive and sustainable.
This document provides a high level view of the DRSC and the benefits associated for all participants.
1
https://www.fema.gov/about-agency.
2
Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) - In an era of economic constraints, it is imperative for the National
government to incentivize the establishment of PPPs. The development of a Tri-Modal Service Center requires
partnerships with the federal government and host state governments.
3
Dr. Aruna Apte and Dr. Keenan D. Yoho, Strategies for Logistics in Case of a Natural Disaster, Graduate School
of Business & Public Policy, Naval Postgraduate School, Sept. 28, 2011, p. 13, found at
http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a555606.pdf .

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Introduction
Dr. Aruna Apte and Dr. Keenan D. Yoho at the Naval Postgraduate School explored four policy options to
deliver relief assistance in a disaster event:4
1. prepositioning supplemental resources in or near the incident location;
2. proactive deployment of assets in advance of a request;
3. phased deployment of assets and supplies, analogous to the “just in time” inventory control
philosophy practiced by many commercial manufacturers; and
4. “surge” transportation of manpower and equipment from locations outside the disaster area.
Apte and Yoho looked at each policy as a standalone option. BFD believes that our TMSCs containing a
DRSC offer a combination of all four options that can be adapted to the need at the time.
Responding to a disaster event requires the ability to transport response personnel and goods, in large
numbers, to an event region. Relief has to be supplied quickly and in a disciplined, ongoing manner to
insure the rescue, security and safety of the citizens that have suffered from a devastating event.
The unpredictability of the timing of a disaster, as well as the scope of its human and
material destruction, raises several serious questions for emergency planners and first
responders. For example, how can a state of supply preparedness be established and
maintained? How should adequate prepositioned disaster relief inventory be
established and sustained over time, to include the rotation of perishable stocks? How
can information regarding the location, quantity, and condition of prepositioned
inventory be shared, and what effect would this information sharing have on the total
investment of prepositioned stocks? Is prepositioning the best strategy for all types of
disasters? How reliable are the potential supply lines if it is determined that supplies
should be virtually stockpiled (that is, a detailed list or database of supplies by type and
quantity is created and maintained, as well as reliable sources that can provide the
supplies quickly)? Should the supplies be sourced locally or from outside the disaster
zone? Answers to these questions depend on the expected onset speed of the disaster,
the volume and weight of supplies to be moved, the expected magnitude of
humanitarian relief required, and the expected likelihood of a disaster in the area.5
In June 2016, FEMA conducted an emergency preparedness exercise in the Pacific Northwest dubbed
“Cascadia Rising.” The exercise involved Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and FEMA to prepare for a mega
8.0-9.0+ earthquake in the PNW. Kenneth Murphy, regional director for FEMA, said “It’s really going to
require the entire nation to respond to an event like this.”6
4
Ibid. at p. 14.
5
Apte and Yoho at p. 14.
6
Sandi Doughton, Nearly 6,000 emergency, military personnel to conduct PNW megaquake exercise, Seattle Times,
Feb. 28, 2016, found at http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/science/preparing-for-the-really-big-one-cascadia-
earthquake-tsunami-drill/.

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Challenges to the Nations’ Transportation Infrastructure
The United States’ overall infrastructure quality currently ranks 16th, behind Germany, France and
Japan.7
Further, “in the absence of significant reinvestment and capacity expansion — the ability of the
nation’s infrastructure to provide a sufficient and supportive foundation for economic growth and
productivity is set to further diminish over time….”8
Nearly one in four bridges in the national highway system is structurally deficient or functionally
obsolete.9
The Department of Transportation's Conditions and Performance report, based on 2010 data,
estimates all levels of government would need to spend between $123.7 billion and $145.9 billion per
year to both maintain and improve the condition of roads and bridges alone.10
Infrastructure deficiencies impact the ability to deliver relief in times of National crisis, such as was
experienced from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the Gulf region. If the Nation’s infrastructure is in a
deficient condition in normal conditions, a plan to address the delivery of goods in a crisis period must
be provided, accounting for the status of the infrastructure capabilities.
We believe a crisis management solution to the challenges of providing relief to our fellow citizens when
faced with a catastrophic events and the strained condition of the U.S. transportation infrastructure is
found in the heartland of America along its inland waterways. Our project is the development of Tri-
modal Service Centers (TMSC), which provide transportation industry logistics via road, rail and
river/barge. Air service is in close proximity to the TMSC site.
We are creating a new alliance between terminal operating companies and rail companies that will
outperform the challenges posed by a strained infrastructure system to normal commercial activities of
moving goods. The coordination of this alliance will occur at the TMSCs. The service capabilities at the
TMSC can be utilized for times of national emergency declarations.
Solution to Infrastructure Challenges
In order to meet the needs of the Nation for the 21st
Century and beyond, the transportation industry in
America requires a transformation. In an organizational context, transformation is defined as “a process
of profound and radical change that orients an organization in a new direction and takes it to an entirely
different level of effectiveness. Transformation implies a basic change of character and little or no
resemblance with the past configuration or structure.”
Most inland ports have a small footprint. We are building inland ports of the size and magnitude of
some deepwater ports. Our concept synergizes different business streams on the same property and
provides necessary services for those business streams. We look for opportunities for the strategic
integration of businesses in order to maximize the use of property, the use of labor and the use of
7
Business Roundtable, Road to Growth: The Case for Investing in America’s Transportation Infrastructure, Sept.
2015, p.4 citing to National Association of Manufacturers and Building America’s Future Educational Fund. (March
2013). “Infrastructure: Essential to Manufacturing Competitiveness.”
8
Ibid.
9
Ibid.
10
Found at: https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/new-department-transportation-report-highway-transit-
conditions-points-need-more.

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technologies to make for a more profitable and durable enterprise. There is a natural synergism of
providing delivery services during times of a FEMA declared emergency.
Each site will offer access to water, rail and highway transportation with the ability to transfer from
one mode of transportation to another in order to deliver goods to final destination. The site will have a
regional impact, offering employment benefits to the citizens of the host state and surrounding states.
See picture below.
We have designated this intermodal format as a “Tri-Modal Service Center” (TMSC). The development of
a TMSC will include partnering with municipal, county, state and federal agencies to leverage public
funding sources and programs that significantly increase the likelihood of success for the projects and
ensure public goals are achieved. These public goals include job creation; economic development; help
address environmental concerns and the opportunity for exponential business growth.
While serving the transportation needs of the Nation, the capabilities of the TMSC provide a superior
source for the delivery of disaster assistance to stricken areas within the Nation, such as occurred with
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
Copyright © 2012
Inland Ports Defined
A Convergence of Logistics Trends
Short Sea Shipping Technology Intermodal Rail
Distribution Center
Logistics Automation
The size of each TMSC will be at least 1000 acres. The port operation will serve as the anchor tenant.
The majority of the acreage will be utilized by businesses that bring synergies to the TMSC in what is
designated as Planned Integrated Industrial Center (PIIC).
Each TMSC will take advantage of the inland waterways as a viable alternative to transportation, in
addition to rail and trucking. Each facility will have three (3) integrated features: Omni Port (OP), Tri-
Modal Service Center (TMSC), and Planned Integrated Industrial Center (PIIC).

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The OMNI PORT functionality will provide the capabilities to handle many different types of material:
bulk, dry bulk, special project cargo, and containers to name a few. This functionality is critical to ensure
we can ship bulk materials, while allowing for the flexibility to handle many other types of cargo like
special cargo and containers. Most inland waterway ports handle only bulk cargo, such as coal.
The inland waterways have significant capacity to handle large volumes of goods and alleviate
congestion on the roads and rail. The following chart graphically depicts the amount of cargo that can be
handled through a barge system compared to both rail and truck. As can be seen a barge can carry 58
times more than a single truck and 2.25 times more than a 100-unit car train.
Copyright © 2012
Advantages of Moving Freight Via the
Inland Waterway System

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Recent FEMA Preparedness Exercise – Earthquake and Tsunamis
Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ)11
- “Cascadia Rising” was an emergency preparedness exercise in the
PNW conducted June 7-10, 2016. The exercise involved Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and FEMA to
prepare for a mega 8.0-9.0+ earthquake in the PNW. “Cascadia Rising” focused on a possible rupture on
the offshore fault called the Cascadia Subduction Zone.
Kenneth Murphy, regional director for FEMA, which coordinated the exercise, said “It’s really going to
require the entire nation to respond to an event like this.”12
In February 2001, the region suffered the Nisqually earthquake which measured magnitude 6.8. A
Cascadia megaquake could likely hit magnitude 9 — which is nearly 2,000 times more powerful. It will
affect the entire West Coast from British Columbia to Northern California, including Seattle, Portland,
Tacoma and Vancouver, B.C. The quake will be closely followed by tsunamis 30 feet high — or bigger.13
The damage and casualty estimates in FEMA’s quake scenario are sobering:14
• More than 10,000 fatalities, mostly due to the tsunami
• 30,000 injuries
• 7,000 highway bridges and 16,000 miles of highway with high to moderate levels of damage
• 90 percent of port facilities destroyed or damaged
• Natural-gas and refined-fuel pipelines out of service
• 70 percent of electrical power systems damaged
• Serious damage to water-treatment and sewage plants
Case Study – Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
The devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 across the gulf states of Mississippi,
Louisiana, Alabama, and Texas stunned the nation. The storm surge devastated the coasts of Mississippi
and Alabama, making Katrina the most destructive and costliest natural disaster in the history of the
United States.
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast. Once the storm had passed, more than
80% of the city of New Orleans was under water, approximately 1,700 people were dead, 1 million
persons were displaced, and an estimated $135 billion in damage along the Gulf coast was incurred.15
Less than 30 days later Hurricane Rita, the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded caused
$11.3 billion in damage. The threat of Hurricane Rita prompted mass evacuations in coastal Texas. An
11
Sandi Doughton, Nearly 6,000 emergency, military personnel to conduct PNW megaquake exercise, Seattle
Times, Feb. 28, 2016, found at http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/science/preparing-for-the-really-big-one-
cascadia-earthquake-tsunami-drill/.
12
Ibid.
13
Ibid.
14
Ibid.
15
Apte and Yoho at p. 23 citing to Plyer, A., Facts for features: Hurricane Katrina impact, Apr. 15, 2010, found at
the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center website:
http://www.gnocdc.org/Factsforfeatures/HurricaneKatrinaImpact/index.html.

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estimated 2.5 – 3.7 million people fled prior to Rita's landfall, making it the largest evacuation in United
States' history.16
Between the two hurricanes, more than 3 million people were displaced from their homes. Federal
disaster declarations covered 90,000 square miles of the United States, an area almost as large as the
United Kingdom.17
One of the difficult tasks immediately after a natural disaster is getting sufficient relief supplies into
stricken areas. In major disasters, major arteries of transportation suffer extensive damage and inhibit
the delivery of relief materials and food and water. For example, US 90 to I-10 Interchange over Mobile
Bay in Alabama was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. When there is a massive displacement of the
population out of a disaster area and at the same time a surge of emergency assistance trying to get into
an area, all means of gaining ingress and egress are vital.
Harsh criticisms of protracted delays and disordered relief efforts by the federal, state and local
governments were summarized by the LACK OF: Preparation - Planning – Positioning.
The unpredictability of the timing of a disaster, as well as the scope of its human and
material destruction, raises several serious questions for emergency planners and first
responders. For example, how can a state of supply preparedness be established and
maintained? How should adequate prepositioned disaster relief inventory be
established and sustained over time, to include the rotation of perishable stocks? How
can information regarding the location, quantity, and condition of prepositioned
inventory be shared, and what effect would this information sharing have on the total
investment of prepositioned stocks? Is prepositioning the best strategy for all types of
disasters? How reliable are the potential supply lines if it is determined that supplies
should be virtually stockpiled (that is, a detailed list or database of supplies by type and
quantity is created and maintained, as well as reliable sources that can provide the
supplies quickly)? Should the supplies be sourced locally or from outside the disaster
zone? Answers to these questions depend on the expected onset speed of the disaster,
the volume and weight of supplies to be moved, the expected magnitude of
humanitarian relief required, and the expected likelihood of a disaster in the area.18
As noted earlier in this document, Dr. Apte and Dr. Yoho at the Naval Postgraduate School explored four
policy options for the delivery of disaster relief assistance:19
1. prepositioning supplemental resources in or near the incident location;
2. proactive deployment of assets in advance of a request;
3. phased deployment of assets and supplies, analogous to the “just in time” inventory control
philosophy practiced by many commercial manufacturers; and
4. “surge” transportation of manpower and equipment from locations outside the disaster
area.
16
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Rita.
17
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina.
18
Apte and Yoho at p. 13-14.
19
Ibid. at p. 14.

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We believe that our TMSCs offer a combination of all four options that can be adapted to the need at
the time.
Using Hurricanes Katrina and Rita as a case study, relief supplies would have been prepositioned at the
TMSC in warehouses. Trucks would have been loaded for immediate dispatch to the stricken areas in a
proactive manner. The driving time to New Orleans is 12 hours. Trucks would have been on the road
before the storm hit. Simultaneously, railcars would be loaded with goods in greater volumes for a
phased deployment. The transit time to New Orleans is approximately three days. Finally, a “surge” of
supplies would be provided via barges. Maysville, KY is about 1430 river miles from New Orleans. The
transit time averaging 5 knots is 286 hours or about 12 days. While trucks and railcars are being loaded,
barges would be loaded at the same time.
“Prepositioning would be a desirable logistics strategy for disaster events such as…Hurricane Katrina
because it would shorten the lead-time to provide supplies. However, locating the supplies outside the
potential disaster impact zones would be necessary, and the investment in such inventories could be
large.”20
The US military has been successful in using prepositioned stocks and “has developed interest in the
prospect of using such a strategy to support operations other than war (Brown, Schank, Dahlman, &
Lewis, 1997; Salmeron & Apte, 2010).”21
“Non-governmental organizations [NGOs] also preposition items in advance of a disaster to reduce the
response time of providing relief (Duran, Gutierrez, & Keskinocak, 2011).”22
In conversations with the Port of New Orleans, we were told that 85% of their port was functional within
48 hours after Hurricane Katrina passed through on August 29, 2005. Power was restored and the port
was back working on September 13, 2005, two weeks after Katrina, not six months as expected.23
Barges loaded with relief goods could have been moved in large quantities to the region to alleviate the
damage caused by the destruction.
Not only would the plan serve well in the distribution of needed supplies, but post-cleanup, we would
coordinate the recovery of equipment such as trailers for refurbishment in a much more cost effective
way than was experienced with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Following is the history of trailers used to
house displaced families:
20
21
Ibid. at p. 26 citing to Brown, R. A., Schank, J. F., Dahlman, C. J., & Lewis, L., Assessing the potential for using
reserves in operations other than war (MR796), 1997, Santa Monica, CA: RAND and Salmeron, J., & Apte, A.,
Stochastic optimization for natural disaster asset prepositioning, Production and Operations Management, 19(5),
561–574, Sept. 2010.
22
Ibid at p. 27 citing to Duran, S., Gutierrez, M., & Keskinocak, P., Pre-positioning of emergency items
worldwide for CARE International. Interfaces [volume and issue not yet assigned], 2011.
23
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/13/AR2005091302073.html.

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Less than 24 hours after the New Orleans levees broke, trailer companies were in touch
with local officials for FEMA, setting up contracts to provide housing for people whose
homes were destroyed in the flood. Since 80 percent of New Orleans, plus a whole lot of
Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama coastline, had been flooded, the need for housing
was overwhelming. At the time, there were about 14,000 trailers in lots around the
country, waiting to be sold; FEMA needed 120,000. It ordered nearly $2.7 billion worth
of travel trailers and mobile homes from 60 different companies, and the production
lines cranked into overdrive.
Still, a month after Katrina and Rita hit landfall, Louisiana had only managed to get 109
families into trailers. The alternatives were overcrowded shelters, or squatting in the
wreckage of the flood.
FEMA ultimately succeeded in deploying 140,000 trailers up and down the ravaged Gulf
Coast. Then it had to start figuring out what to do with them as people began to rebuild
their lives and leave them behind. The agency had planned on getting rid of the trailers
by selling them, possibly even to the people who were living in them, but that was no
longer an option. In July of 2007, FEMA suspended sales of the trailers to the public, and
in November, it announced plans to move as many residents as possible out of the
trailers — partly, a FEMA spokesperson said, because of formaldehyde levels, which
were [confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to be
dangerous]….
The trailers were costing nearly $130 million a year to store, according to federal
records. Congressional hearings held in spring 2008 established that the trailers were
unsafe. There was a massive class-action lawsuit filed by trailer residents against FEMA
and the trailer manufacturers continued to work its way through the court system.
But on Jan. 1, 2010, a court injunction banning the sale of the trailers expired, and FEMA
handed them off to the General Services Administration (GSA) to auction them off, for
about 7 percent what FEMA had originally paid for them.24
If storage payments by FEMA stopped in 2010, then the federal government paid approximately $130
million per year for storage for four years for defective equipment. The cost amounted to approximately
$520 million on top of the $2.7 billion dollars to purchase the trailers. The GSA auction recouped about
$189 million.
An alternative solution, as the recovery progressed, would have been to pay for the trailers to be loaded
back on barges and return them back to the port of loading; put them through a refurbishment process
and correct of the formaldehyde issue. Then the trailers could have been auctioned off or stored for the
next disaster with an ongoing maintenance program in place. Alternatively, the hazardous material
could have been removed and the trailers sold for scrap metal.
24
Heather Smith, People are still living in FEMA’s toxic Katrina trailers — and they likely have no idea, Aug. 27,
2015, found at http://grist.org/politics/people-are-still-living-in-femas-toxic-katrina-trailers-and-they-likely-have-no-
idea/

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Prototype Disaster Relief Staging Center (DRSC)
Our tri-modal ports along the inland waterways will be able to serve as FEMA disaster staging facilities.
We will have the unique capability to move large volumes of disaster relief to the Gulf area and areas in
between via truck, rail and tug/barge in the event of a disaster such as Hurricane Katrina. From our
facility in the Memphis region and the one on the upper Mississippi River we can move relief supplies to
the Pacific Northwest region via rail and truck in the event of a tragedy of the magnitude of the Cascadia
Rising scenario. Additionally, it should be noted that three of the most powerful earthquakes to occur in
American history, took place on the New Madrid fault line. This seismic zone covers parts of seven U.S.
states: Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi. Our disaster relief
staging facilities are strategically positioned to meet this need.
Our plan to partner with FEMA, NGOs and other entities to position disaster relief supplies to
devastated areas across much of the United States, when a disaster strikes, is unique. We have
presented this concept to the DOT/MARAD and received support.
We will be the prototype staging facility for FEMA disaster relief supplies for the three major disaster
events that confront FEMA and the disaster recovery community.
1. Hurricanes – the Gulf and East Coast regions
2. Floods – June 2008 - The National Weather Service called flooding in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a "historic
hydrologic event" Thursday as the swollen river poured over its banks at 500-year flood levels, forcing
the evacuation of nearly 4,000 homes (8 hours by truck from points in Kentucky).
3. Earthquakes – Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) and New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ). The highest
earthquake risk in the United States outside the USWC is along the New Madrid Fault. Damaging
tremors are not as frequent as in California, but when they occur, the destruction covers over more than
20 times the area because of underlying geology. A damaging earthquake in this area, 6.0 or greater,
occurs about every 80 years (the last one in 1895). The results would cause serious damage to schools
and masonry buildings from Memphis to St Louis.
In addition, we will establish a cadre of FEMA trained staff, OSHA certified safety staff and first-
responders (Emergency Medical Responders and paramedics) to deploy in reaction to a disaster event.
In addition, we will create teams of monitors for cleanup supervision and teams and equipment for the
actual cleanup activity. We will partner with the appropriate engineering firms for their expertise.

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TMSC Locations
We plan to develop four inland tri-modal ports over the next several years. We believe that strategically
located inland ports developed for commercial purposes can be used for staging disaster relief
provisions.
1. Ohio River – Maysville-Mason County, Kentucky
The property is located near the point where the West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky boarders
meet and has many additional advantages unique to its location:
 The target properties comprise more than 1100 acres of land with more than
5000 feet of prime water front shoreline.
 The property is Greenfield; and served by CSX rail
 Kentucky is at the center of a 34-state distribution area in the eastern U.S.
 Kentucky’s borders are within a day’s truck drive or within 600 miles of over 60
percent of the nation’s population.
2. Upper Mississippi – Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois
The Upper Mississippi location will be in the Quad Cities Area near Davenport, IA provides:
 Service for heavy equipment industry
 Major hub for FEMA disaster activities to serve the Western Gulf area, the New
Madrid Fault Line and to the Pacific Northwest.
3. Lower Mississippi – Memphis, Tennessee or West Memphis, Arkansas
The Lower Mississippi location will be near Memphis, TN.:
 Support western Tennessee, Arkansas and surrounding area
 Connection with major rail carriers in Memphis area
 Response location for FEMA efforts for Gulf and New Madrid fault line
4. Tennessee-Tombigbee – TBD
We will identify a location between Paducah, Kentucky and Epes, Alabama.
 Access to main Burlington Northern/Santa Fe Rail line and CSX
 Proximity to Gulf regions for FEMA relief in case of natural disasters
 Service to and from the Port of Mobile

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Source of “Rapid Response Force”
We want our TMSCs to be the main source for “Rapid Response Force” needs in the Nation. In the first
60-90 days while other contractors are being mobilized and contracts are being written and bid on by
other private companies, FEMA will be able to mobilize resources from our TMSCs to meet the
immediate needs. We will stay engaged in whole or in part for the duration of the disaster recovery.
Partnership with Community Colleges
Part of our plan for the development of our terminals is to partner with state community college
systems to offer programs to employees that add skills. The following courses for certification:
 OSHA qualified safety inspectors
 FEMA courses
 Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training / Paramedics
 First Responder Training
Ohio River
Upper MS
Lower MS
TN TB

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Additional Services
Legal services for communities: We will provide a referral to communities to law firms to assist with the
handling of disaster claims.
Insurance services: We will provide a referral to communities to an insurance source to assist with the
handling of disaster claims.
Future opportunities to expand Public-Private Partnership
We propose that FEMA and/or DOD purchase barges for the TMSCs, with the cost to be offset by
commercial use with reimbursement to the federal government to cover the cost.
Similarly, we plan to operate a fleet of vessels/self-propelled barges for commercial purposes. We
propose that FEMA and/or DOD purchase these vessels, but that the cost is offset by commercial use.
Joint training response exercises with all modes of transportation - rail, truck and tow boat/barge – to
be coordinated at TMSCs. Air service is available in close proximity to the TMSC.25
25
Airports near Maysville, KY - 10 miles: Flemingsburg, Kentucky Fleming-Mason Airport; 65 miles:
Lexington, KY Creech Army Air Field ; 67 miles: Hebron, KY Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International
Airport

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Benefits
Deployment of goods and services assistance to devastated areas when a disaster occurs must be swift,
Federal Government (FEMA/USACE) – The BFD plan with its DRSCs provides the federal government:
 The ability to strategically preposition goods and three modes of transportation to initiate a
broad based plan to deploy goods and services to a stricken area. The modes of transportation
that are created for normal transportation businesses can be switched in an expeditious
manner to focus delivery of goods and services.
 The ability to gather up equipment deployed during a disaster response and return the
equipment for refurbishment or another planned disposition to prevent problems such as with
the trailers used during Hurricane Katrina described above.
 “Rapid Response Force” - In the first 60-90 days while other contractors are being mobilized and
contracts are being written and bid on by other private companies, FEMA will be able to
mobilize resources from our TMSCs to meet the immediate needs. BFD will stay engaged in
whole or in part for the duration of the disaster recovery.
 BFD will partner with state community college systems to offer programs and certifications:
o OSHA qualified safety inspectors
o FEMA courses in emergency management
o Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training / Paramedics
o First Responder Training
State and local governments
 BFD will partner with state community college systems to offer programs and certifications:
o OSHA qualified safety inspectors
o FEMA courses in emergency management
o Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training / Paramedics
o First Responder Training
o Disaster recovery monitors
 Legal services for communities - BFD will provide a referral to communities to law firms to assist
with the handling of disaster claims.
 Insurance services – BFD will provide a referral to communities to an insurance source to assist
with the handling of disaster claims.
NGOs – The BFD plan with its DRSCs provides NGOs:
Other Entities / Companies supplying assistance in time of need - The BFD plan with its DRSCs provides:

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Conclusion
BFD Group, LLC (BFD) is building state of the art Tri-Modal Service Centers (TMSC) in the heartland of
America along the Nation’s inland waterways. In order to meet the needs of the Nation for the 21st
Century and beyond, the transportation industry in America requires a transformation. The
development of TMSCs is part of the transformation process. Each TMSC offers access to the global
logistics network via rail transportation, trucking and barge transportation.
Because of our personal experience with disaster recovery events, the partners of BFD added a disaster
recovery component to its TMSCs in order to provide logistical and service resources in concert with
federal government agencies (FEMA, USACE), Non-governmental Organizations (NGO) and other entities
to aid of our fellow citizens in time of National crisis.
Each TMSC will have a dedicated facility to use for the prepositioning of disaster relief supplies. We
have titled the dedicated facility a Disaster Relief Staging Center (DRSC). Each DRSC will have access to
the truck, rail and barge transportation options. Rail and trucking are the most common sources of
transportation currently used in disaster recovery operations. We are introducing the use of the
waterway as an additional and critical mode of transportation to deliver disaster assistance
The objective of BFD is to take the Public-Private Partnership model to another level of commitment and
performance by creating a disaster assistance plan to meet the needs of the Nation when a Hurricane
Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf Coast or there is an earthquake in the New Madrid Fault Line region. As
Kenneth Murphy, a regional director for FEMA said in June 2016 after conducting an emergency
preparedness exercise in the Pacific Northwest, “It’s really going to require the entire nation to
respond to an event like this.”26
Like the response to Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, the duration and severity of the human toll
“is largely dependent upon the speed and scope of the response, which is often a function of the level of
preparedness that has been established prior to the disaster event.”27
From each DRSC, deployment of assistance to devastated areas when a disaster occurs will be swift,
26
Sandi Doughton, Nearly 6,000 emergency, military personnel to conduct PNW megaquake exercise, Seattle
Times, Feb. 28, 2016, found at http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/science/preparing-for-the-really-big-one-
cascadia-earthquake-tsunami-drill/.
27

16
Photos of different modes of transportation

17

A Time to Prepare - FEMA Program - updated 02082017 - JCB final

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A Time to Prepare - FEMA Program - updated 02082017 - JCB final