Item 26 - Adoption of the City of Santa Ana Emergency Operations Plan

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City of Santa Ana Emergency Operations Plan Part I Basic Plan 2.4.7 Communications Failure The US Department of Homeland Security has identified the communications sector as a fundamental lifeline critical to government and business functions and essential to human health and safety and economic security. Residents, business and government are dependent on, or receive critical services from organizations dependent on, landline and cell phone communications, internet and data communications, two-way radio communications, and cable, broadcast and satellite information sources. Potential Causes of Communications Failure Communications networks involve both physical infrastructure (buildings, switches, towers, antennas, etc.) and cyber infrastructure (routing and switching software, operational support systems, user applications, etc.) and many of these components are highly interdependent. This infrastructure can be susceptible to numerous natural or human -caused disruptions. Some of these may disrupt some communications networks and leave others operating, and some may disable every communication system at once. Some disruptions may remain local to the city or county area, and some may extend across several states or be national or international in scope. Physical equipment may fail or be damaged by severe weather events, such as extreme heat, flooding, lightning storms or wildfires. Physical equipment will begin to fail if a power outage extends beyond the capacity of backup batteries or fuel supply for generators. Foreign or domestic terrorists may attack equipment with explosives or other damaging devices. A cyberattack may be used to disable or shut down networks or equipment. Because communication systems are operated by many different vendors or providers and physical equipment is dispersed geographically, most of these events would likely cause only some communications systems to fail and would likely be regional in scope, not national or international. Some events however, may be capable of disabling every form of electronic communication simultaneously and extend across the region, nation or beyond. One example is an Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP). An EMP can occur if a hostile actor, either a foreign state or a well -advanced terrorist organization, detonated a nuclear weapon high in the atmosphere above the Earth. Unlike a nuclear detonation close to ground level, an EMP would cause no damage related to blast, heat or radiation and would have little or no effect on human health. However, the sudden burst of radiation released into the Earth's electro-magnetic field (at about 20 miles altitude) would shower the Earth below with an intense burst of electrical energy over a vast region. This overwhelming burst of energy would instantly overload power grids and burn out any device or equipment operating with electricity, including any type of electronic communication, any computer equipment, any electrical appliance, or even any motor vehicle or mode of travel with electronic components. Another example is a solar or geomagnetic storm (also called space weather). This occurs from a solar flare or Coronal Mass Ejection (CME), which is a sudden burst of plasma and electro-magnetic energy from the surface of the sun. If this is ejected in the direction of the Earth and is strong enough to collide with Earth's atmosphere, it may cause similar damage as an electro-magnetic pulse attack (essentially a naturally occurring EMP). Solar storms impacting Earth occur regularly through history, perhaps every few centuries, but we have not yet experienced a major impact from one during the modern communications age. The most intense solar storm in recorded history was the Carrington Event occurring in September 1859. This caused auroral displays ("northern lights") to appear all over the world and brighten the night sky enough to wake people from sleep. Telegraph systems (the only electrical equipment in use at the time) throughout Europe and North America received strong enough electrical charges to destroy equipment, start fires and shock telegraph operators. In July 2012, a solar storm of similar strength occurred, but passed just outside the Earth's orbit. Impacts of Communications Failures Virtually every element of modern life is dependent on electronic communications, and modern society has never had to try to function without them. In addition to the widespread disruption this would cause to residents, businesses and government, it would also eliminate three critical tools that public safety and emergency management officials rely on to respond to and manage any emergency: First, we would lose the ability to receive information or calls for help from the public or to gain awareness of what is occurring. Second, we would lose the ability to dispatch first responders and emergency workers to where they are needed or to coordinate their m