Vol. 37, Number 8—August 2005

Weather Eye on the Courts

	Continuity of Operations Plans help courts cope with disasters, from hailstorms to hurricanes. To assist in planning, courts may consult the Guide for Developing and Conducting COOP Exercises, on the Emergency Preparedness page of the Judiciary’s internal website.

As residents in the path of Hurricane Dennis boarded up windows of homes and businesses or prepared to evacuate last month, court units throughout the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits also took precautions. Fortunately so far, in what is becoming an active hurricane season, no courts sustained damage and all have rapidly resumed normal work. That's not just luck; that's planning.

On the list of natural disasters that have affected the operations of federal courts, there have been hurricanes and tropical storms from Puerto Rico to Guam, tornadoes in Tennessee, hailstorms in Texas, floods in Des Moines, a blackout in the northeast, and wildfires in Southern California. Whatever the disaster, COOPS or Continuity of Operations Plans are key to keeping a court operational.

"All of our courts are at some stage of COOP development," says William Lehman, chief of the Administrative Office Judiciary Emergency Preparedness Office (JEPO). "Nationally, many courts have completed their COOPS and regularly conduct training programs."

After the terrorist attacks of 9-11, and with considerable input from court groups, experts developed COOP templates for the appellate, district, and bankruptcy courts. These templates made courts ask the tough questions: How will they respond in an emergency? How will they warn the public and employees of potential threats? Where will staff go if the courthouse is damaged? How can vital records, systems, and equipment be protected? And, in the wake of a disaster, who will be in charge and what essential mission-critical functions must be up and running as soon as possible?

The Fifth Circuit was the first of the circuits to examine its readiness in the face of a disaster. As Chief Judge Carolyn Dineen King pointed out, "The practical and moral responsibility for these buildings and their occupants lies with us." Andy Crawford, the emergency preparedness coordinator in the Fifth Circuit, has been at the center of the storm from the start. Two weeks after he was hired, the court evacuated for Hurricane Isidore. Needless to say, the Fifth Circuit's COOP is heavily based on planning for hurricanes. "They are probably our greatest threat," said Crawford. "But with our continuity plan, if we need to evacuate, we can do so in a timely fashion and still continue the court's work with minor interruption."

When a hurricane or tropical storm threatens, Crawford takes National Hurricane Center data, translates it into a map showing the course of the hurricane or tropical storm, and sends it on to court unit heads and all affected districts. He's in close contact with local evacuation authorities, keeps-up-to-date on recommended evacuation routes, and reminds employees to keep their work and home "to-go" kits ready. The work kits include items employees may need to do their jobs at an alternate COOP facility if the court of appeals building is inaccessible after the storm and the home kit has basic survival necessities such as water and non-perishable food.

Because of New Orleans' vulnerable location, evacuation is considered when a storm reaches a Category 3 and is projected to hit the court within 72 hours.

"If need be," he said, "we can relocate to court facilities outside New Orleans, where we have servers with our backed-up data, access to the Data Communications Network, and a court environment."

In any disaster, natural or manmade, the Administrative Office offers a team of specialists to help courts, for example, generate payrolls, replace computer equipment, or find enough generators to keep offices open. The AO has provided all circuits with satellite phones in case local telephone access is impaired, so that communications can be maintained with the outside world. In 2003, when a tornado struck the Jackson, Tennessee courthouse, the AO provided emergency funding to cover additional costs in the court's temporary relocation.

"The AO responds well," says Crawford, "and we keep a listing on hand of AO offices and people we might need to contact in an emergency."

When Clerk of Court Clarence Maddox was contacted in his Miami Office in late July, recent tropical weather systems had steered clear of the most populated areas in southern Florida. During the first part of the month, however, the National Weather Service reported the most named storms ever in the month of July. Last year, the Southern District of Florida suffered through four major storms in just five weeks. Its Palm Beach and Fort Pierce facilities were damaged twice. Fortunately, the district has a COOP plan and knows how to weather a storm.

"Once forecasters are confident we're within the cone of probability and three days from landfall," says Maddox, "we start making our final preparations. We power off our servers, personal computers and phone systems. Cover them, along with our Office equipment, with heavy plastic, and move them away from windows. We have redundant automation capabilities at our West Palm Beach courthouse, where we can access the DCN and still do work."

According to Jim Smith, Assistant Circuit Executive for Information Technology in the 11th Circuit, disaster recovery servers (DRS) also are available for all courts through the System Deployment and Support Division in San Antonio, Texas.

"When a storm nears," says Smith, "we recommend a court ship back-up tapes to the DRS. Then if a court's own site goes down, they can continue to access new e-mail and restore files from the back-up tapes."

The Southern District of Florida also stores extra personal computers in Miami and West Palm Beach, betting the odds that no single storm will affect both courts.

The goal is to provide many of the court's normal services within 72 hours, depending on the severity of the disaster. To this end, the court's COOP includes what Maddox calls a "drive-away kit" for each court section.

"Someone in each unit is responsible for taking away the basic information needed to do the job in the unit," he says. "It could be disks, or signature stamps, or forms, or whatever is needed so that we can get started somewhere else."

"If you don't have automated systems," Maddox says, "you need to fall back on doing the job using manual processes."

In the Middle District of Florida, Bankruptcy Clerk David Oliveria announces changes in the court's operational status through an automated system that pushes e-mail out to employees' home computers. But the real liberator is the Case Management/Electronic Case Files system.

"Thank heaven for CM/ECF," says Oliveria. "When there's a storm approaching, we can shut down the court and attorneys can still file cases." Like the Southern
District, Oliveria's court keeps spare computers in its Orlando and Jacksonville
courthouses, just in case. As an added safeguard, a back-up server for all CM/ECF files is located several hundred miles north, in the Washington, DC area. The district's COOP identifies alternate sites in the area if any of the courthouses are damaged, but it also helps the court make decisions early enough to secure the building and notify staff and the public. "We can replace computers and back-up records," cautions Oliveria. "The safety of our staff is our biggest concern."

In the on-going effort to prepare courts, in August 2005 the Administrative Office hosted a training course for emergency preparedness coordinators, in cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency. This course was similar to regional courses FEMA has given around the country, but was conducted solely for Judiciary employees. A Guide for Developing and Conducting COOP Exercises also is available on-line for use by courts. A CD-ROM on emergency preparedness is nearing completion that will summarize the Judiciary's emergency preparedness policies, describe the key elements of occupant emergency plans and COOPs, profile the Judiciary's emergency response team and its services, and highlight contingency planning best practices in the courts.

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