The Wire - PRIORITY - September 30, 2024

//The Wire//1830Z September 30, 2024//
//PRIORITY//
//BLUF: HURRICANE DAMAGE IN SOUTHEASTERN US CATASTROPHIC. DOCKWORKER UNION STRIKE TO BEGIN TOMORROW, SHUTTING DOWN MOST EAST COAST PORTS.//
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-HomeFront-
USA: A nationwide Verizon outage was reported this morning, affecting most of the United States. AC: As cellular communications have been strained due to the increased demand throughout the southeast, localized outages have been reported. The cause of this national outage has not been disclosed however, and is possibly unrelated to storm damage. The widespread telecoms issues throughout the southeast already present an exceptionally vulnerable target for malign actors, both foreign and domestic.
Throughout the East Coast, the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) labor union has voted to conduct the first total port strike since 1977, starting Tuesday, October 1. Most high-risk rail freight has already been stopped as of last week, so as to avoid HAZMAT or other lootable materials being stuck on the track due to the labor strike. On the west coast, land-based freight is already overwhelmed as cargo operations shift to trucks, of which there are not enough to mitigate the impacts to freight operations. As such long lines and processing times are being reported around the country at every major logistics hub.
AC: The impact that this labor strike will have on logistics will without question be catastrophic due to the devastated American southeast. If this goes forward, the logistical problems already in play will likely result in a near-total breakdown of most cargo operations throughout the eastern United States. East coast ports being shut down, with union members picketing, combined with the apocalyptic damage reported in the southeast, presents a clear and present danger to national security.
Southeastern US: Devastation from Hurricane Helene remains at historic levels due to the sheer scale of the disaster. Potentially thousands remain missing, and NCDOT authorities continue to urge everyone to consider all roads in western NC closed until further notice, even interstates or major highways. Asheville is the largest metropolitan center that has suffered severe damage, largely due to all roads into and out of the city being blocked or unnavigable for most vehicles. Looting has also been reported throughout most of the flood damaged regions.
Florida: The city of Okeechobee is under a state of defacto martial law as the Chief of Police Donald Hagan signs a Local State of Emergency declaration nullifying the 2nd Amendment. The possession of firearms in public and the sale of ammunition has been completely banned. The display of firearms by gun stores has been banned. AC: As it stands in this municipality, this is appears to be a complete and total ban on the possession of all firearms in public. It is unknown as to if law enforcement officials are enforcing this policy or not.
Georgia: A major chlorine processing facility caught fire in Conyers over the weekend. This is one of the most significant factory fires in Georgia’s history, with plume analysis indicating hazardous debris being deposited throughout the region. Initial reports from local responders indicate that chlorine has been detected, leading to mass evacuations around the factory and a shelter-in-place order for the entirety of Rockdale county. AC: Details are unconfirmed regarding the origin of the fire. However the internal fire suppression system itself may have exacerbated the situation as chemicals have reacted with the water, resulting in either the fire starting in the first place, or at minimum the blaze being more substantial. Haze and chemical odors have been reported in Atlanta, prompting local authorities to recommend the closing of exterior ventilation systems for structures and vehicles throughout Fulton county.
Washington D.C. – The White House approved another foreign aid package yesterday, with $567 million being sent to Taiwan for defense.
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Analyst Comments: As the southeast struggles to mitigate the first order effects of such a historic disaster, the secondary and tertiary effects will likely be even more catastrophic.
For instance, Baxter Healthcare is one of the largest providers of dialysis equipment and supplies in the United States. One of Baxter’s major manufacturing facilities was located in North Cove, NC. This facility, which employed 2,500 workers, is underwater. Baxter Healthcare is doing everything possible to ensure that they can increase production at other facilities to prevent shortages of dialysis supplies, however shortages are exceptionally likely to occur over the next few weeks.
Many other single points of failure are scattered throughout the southeast; one factory that is the sole source of a random widget that’s urgently needed by a far-flung company to make something else, a single mine that produces the world’s supply of a certain specific mineral, or water treatment facilities that are the only drinking water source for tens of thousands of people, that rely on aging infrastructure that was at a breaking point even before the disaster.
Another major complicating factor that is directly resulting in increasing tensions is the lack of National Guard soldiers available for disaster recovery. In Tennessee, roughly 700 soldiers from the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR) deployed to Kuwait on Saturday. In North Carolina, though the soldiers themselves are ready, willing, and able to help, the red-tape of bureaucracy has hindered efforts. The efforts undertaken by servicemembers on the ground are outstanding and exceptional in every way, however at higher levels of command the numbers of resources committed to this response indicate the scale of support. Roughly 500 NC National Guard soldiers and 200 aircraft and vehicles have been deployed to aid citizens during this disaster. For scale, this is representative of the forces dedicated for a small training exercise.
According to the NC National Guard statements on social media, roughly 34,000 pounds of cargo has been transported by the National Guard for this disaster as of yesterday. This is roughly one or two convoy’s worth of cargo, and can be sling-loaded by a single UH-60 Blackhawk in about 4-5 trips conservatively. Up to 5,000 soldiers have been slated for recovery efforts, and throughout this week the recovery aid will increase substantially, but again red-tape is resulting in a lethargic response in many states. This is greatly hindering search and rescue efforts (and the movement of cargo) at the moment, but in a few weeks this will become more serious. During disasters of this scale, delays are often cascading…a delay of 24 hours now will cause a week’s worth of problems later on.
Since North Carolina only received a federal disaster declaration yesterday, resources have been slow to flow into the region. Speed and the violence of action have not been a part of most of the response higher than the municipal level, with state-level resources being lethargic. Federal resources have largely been nonexistent in many areas, with the overwhelming majority of aid and rescue efforts being undertaken by local authorities and volunteers paying for food, fuel, and water out of their own pocket. Many truckers are also reporting that FEMA is not posting freight missions for independent truckers to accept, however this cannot be confirmed at this time.
Most recovery efforts are centered on Asheville, due to the population of 100,000 being without food and water for the next few weeks. However, dozens of smaller towns have been hit harder, with many communities simply no longer existing due to flood waters washing away entire streets.
Analyst: S2A1
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