Decca Muldowney From: Sent: To: Subject: Attachments: Franks, Stevee (HCOHSEM) Sunday, September 10, 2017 10:58 AM 'Egan, Caroline' RE: DRC 28764.png Hey Caroline! I am so sorry it was so rough, the response part of the storm was hard and heartbreaking for me too. At one point I had to work the phone bank at like 3am when all the stuff was about to hit the fan, and I never want to do that again. All of our 911 systems were busy and all the assets in the region were already in play. Nobody could get to us as I am sure you know. That was really rough when you have to tell people, “I am sorry your son said water was rushing into his car, but just keep calling 911”. Or “No, if water is getting into your house that high, don’t get in your attic, get on your roof and hang something visible…keep calling 911”. For some reason that stuff is really sticking with me. And some of the recoveries, coordinating for a refrigerator truck for the ME. IDK why, and I wasn’t even involved in that process, just helped a bit. I think watching our first responders coordinate from the EOC was brutal too. The stress they were under. But they were magnificent and that is why our death toll is so low. I think we’re at 30. As far as coordinating mass care, GOODNESS we had to do that too. Shelter after shelter and Red Cross was absolutely no help (sorry, I know you used to work for them). We had to open shelters ourselves which was stupid stressful, and thank God I pulled myself out of the bulk of that to handle other business and recovery and FEMA. What was sad was trying to coordinate air drops of supplies for shelters that hadn’t had any provisions for days. In the midst of all this and trying to pick up the slack for our planning team since they were coordinating mass care (poor souls), recovery started and I still haven’t slept a full 8 hours (until I think maybe last night). Things calmed down for the response part, but as you know, we were just ramping up. FEMA sent us a type 1 team, and they were oaky ( I have a huge amount of complaints, but I’ll save those for later)…but they left as soon as Irma came. Rude, but I get it lol. I have attached a funny picture I thought you might get a kick out of. Besides snapping at someone, I am still waiting for my breakdown. And I know it will come and soon. My body and brain are just good at pushing stuff away, I feel like I am always on the verge of tears. This recovery is so massive that I am still trying to wrap my head around it. The whole county flooded, with quite a bit still under water. I think I’m managing okay, just with no sleep and massive amounts of stress… I am so sorry for the vent fest, I just haven’t really talked about it yet. We three need to get together soon to discuss this and to vent. I am just not sure if anyone else will understand. Sorry for the book. Vent to me anytime, it actually helps lol!! Especially because I still haven’t been able to get into the gym. Stay safe, get some sleep madam, and let me know if you need anything at all! See you one day! 1 Thank you, Stevee M. Franks, MS Recovery Specialist Harris County Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management Cell: 281-620-5518 Desk 713-426-9568 Email: Stevee.Franks@oem.hctx.net From: Egan, Caroline [mailto:Caroline.Egan@fortbendcountytx.gov] Sent: Saturday, September 9, 2017 5:11 PM To: Franks, Stevee (HCOHSEM) Subject: RE: DRC Hey Stevee! I saw this email when it came in, but you’re right – it has been so chaotic. The storm itself and days following were completely manic – I have no other words to describe it. And then recovery started. It’s been challenging for me because I served as day shift Planning Section Chief, plus I got pulled into coordinating a lot of mass care activities, and then tried to start juggling recovery activities. It has definitely been interesting. The response from our community has been tremendous. Fortunately/Unfortunately some of our affected communities were affected last year and knew what to do. They were the ones that obeyed evacuation orders right away (in some cases literally taking ALL of their belongings), which meant we had no calls for rescues in that area. (Yay!) These residents are all versed in the FEMA and recovery process are already two steps ahead. That said, we have a lot of other residents that never thought they would be impacted and were. They are still in shock and are now angry. We’re doing the best we can to help them. Unless it occurred inside the four walls of my EOC, I have no idea of what is going on in the world (apart from Irma). I don’t even know how bad y’all were hit. How have things been for you? Is your place ok? At one point in the activation I think I had a mini meltdown – I actually crawled under a desk in our EOC where people couldn’t see me and called Jonathan. He talked me off the ledge.  (Props to Jasmine – one of our planners – she sat the desk I was hiding under and deflected anyone looking for me!) He also was ready to get a hold of you and have the three of us quit our jobs so we could form our Recovery Consulting Company now. I told him I was onboard! ;) What else? (Can you tell I’m procrastinating? I’m so far behind in emails it is not funny.) Our EOC, being an old jail, does not blow over, but it certainly leaks! The roof in Lach’s office (which doubles as our JIC) kind of caved in with all of the rain. We had to set up a trailer in the back parking lot and move the JIC out there. Crazy! Enough out of me – I hope you are doing well and are getting some personal time. I finally made it to swim practice this morning and it was FABULOUS!  Take care! Caroline Egan Disaster Recovery Manager Office of Emergency Management Fort Bend County (281) 342-6185 (p) (281) 342-4798 (f) Caroline.Egan@fortbendcountytx.gov From: Franks, Stevee (HCOHSEM) [mailto:Stevee.Franks@oem.hctx.net] Sent: Sunday, September 3, 2017 6:08 PM 2 To: Egan, Caroline Subject: DRC Hey Caroline, I am so sorry I haven’t reached out to see how you are doing, I know it has been completely nuts, and sad and catastrophic. I hope you are getting some rest, ma’am. So, FYI, Maria requested a DRC from Harris at Katy Mills Mall. We will likely get it, and since its half Harris and Half Fort Bend, I just wanted to keep you in the loop! Let me know if you have questions or need anything at all! Thank you ma’am! Stevee M. Franks, MS Recovery Specialist Harris County Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management Cell: 281-620-5518 Desk: 713-426-9568 Email: stevee.franks@oem.hctx.net Website: ReadyHarris.org Download our App Twitter Facebook Instagram 3