By Nicola M. White
Tampa Tribune
Copyright 2008 Tampa Tribune
TAMPA, Fla. — Traffic. Big crowds. Lots of tourists. Into the mix throw one more thing when Tampa hosts the Super Bowl in 2009: the possibility of a disaster.
The city and Hillsborough County have to be prepared for a worst-case scenario, whether that involves a tornado, a gas leak, terrorist attack or something organizers haven’t imagined.
“Anything is possible,” said Pamela Bramblette, a program management specialist from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “There’s no guidebook that says, ‘This happens, do this.’ ”
So on Thursday, local and state officials, along with disaster managers at FEMA, will hold drills at Raymond James Stadium to prepare for things they hope don’t happen during the Super Bowl.
The preparations will involve everyone from the NFL to Tampa Fire Rescue to Seminole Indian Tribe responder groups. Officials from Arlington, Texas, which is hosting the Super Bowl in 2011, as well as the Coast Guard and representatives from MacDill Air Force Base will be on hand, Bramblette said.
Although the drill scenarios are hush-hush for now -- no use giving participants a heads-up so they can prepare; the whole point is for folks to think on their toes -- organizers did say a fake hurricane will be included in the exercise.
And just as they do for hurricanes, officials will develop a plan to evacuate people, secure the area and, afterward, let the right people back in the disaster zone to start reconstruction and relief efforts.
Thursday’s efforts will include giving out the right type of credentials so first responders such as police, fire and paramedics can get to the area -- as well as the people who help with infrastructure, including workers at stores such as Lowe’s Home Improvement and The Home Depot, Bramblette said.
The private sector definitely will play a role in preparing for the worst. A bad storm or a terrorist attack could cripple phone lines and essentially block communications. Inmarsat, a global satellite network company, will provide laptop-size mobile satellite devices to act as backup Internet and phone lines.
“As we saw in Katrina, cell phone systems are vulnerable,” said Jack Deasy, director of civil government programs for Inmarsat. “You have to be able to have a backup where you can make sure that your system is usable.”
About 100,000 people are expected to descend on Tampa for the Super Bowl, and all eyes will be on the city to see how smoothly the event runs.
Officials just want to be prepared.
“We’re putting together things that probably won’t happen. It’s probably overkill to some degree,” Bramblette said.