Assessment Scenarios
Bottom Line Up Front
Six post-disaster scenarios. Each one presents observations your sweep team actually collected. Your job is to translate those observations into a complete Community SITREP—rated lifelines, one-sentence basis for each rating, and specific priority needs. The answers are behind the Reveal button on each scenario. Do not press Reveal until you have completed the blank form in your companion guide.
Scenarios progress in complexity. Scenario 1 is a single-cause event. Scenario 6 is the capstone: a full hurricane-type multi-lifeline cascade where you must rate all eight lifelines, rank them by priority, and state your first actions with only MAG resources available.
Instructions — Read Before Starting
The companion guide (Part 5: Assessment Scenarios) contains a blank Community SITREP worksheet for each scenario. Complete it by hand before pressing Reveal on this page. This is not optional—pressing Reveal without completing the form first means you are checking an answer you have not attempted, which is not learning.
If you do not have the companion guide, download it here: Companion Guide (PDF) — or order the printed workbook at fortunefavorstheprepared.com/product/wb-pln01/.
Severe Thunderstorm — Localized Power Outage
Situation
Hour 4 post-storm. Your MAG covers a 40-household residential block. A severe thunderstorm hit at 1900 hrs. Grid power is out across the entire block. Downed trees block both main roads but foot travel is possible. You have completed your first sweep. All 40 households contacted. No injuries. 3 households have generators with 24–48 hours of fuel. 37 households are on flashlights and coolers. 2 households have residents using refrigerated insulin—one has 3 days remaining, one has 11 days. Cell service is degraded but 911 is reachable. No gas or sewage smells. Municipal water pressure normal. No boil order.
Your Task
Rate all eight lifelines, write a one-sentence basis, and identify your priority needs. Then answer: Which lifeline is your top priority, and why? When do you conduct your next sweep?
Assessed Answer — Scenario 1
1. Health & Medical [address]: Insulin-dependent resident requires cold storage or medication resupply—3-day window before supply runs out. Coordinate with CERT or health resources.
2. Transportation: Tree removal or heavy vehicle access needed to main routes—blocks emergency vehicle access and resource delivery.
3. Energy: Generator fuel coordination for vulnerable households if outage extends past 24 hrs.
Top priority: Health & Medical. The 3-day insulin cold-chain window is a time-constrained life-safety need—the only RED with a specific clock running. Energy is also RED but affects everyone equally; the medical dependency converts that Energy RED into a Health RED with a narrower window.
Next sweep: Hour 6 (per 0–12 hour cadence, every 2 hours). Priority focus: cell service degradation check and fuel status on generator households.
Winter Storm — Road Closures and Pipe Burst
Situation
Hour 18 post-storm. 22 inches of snow overnight. Grid power intact. All three vehicle access points impassable—two by snowdrifts, one by a non-live fallen pole. Foot travel possible with difficulty. You completed a full foot sweep. 55 households contacted. No injuries. A water main serving the north end burst at 0600 hrs—18 households have had no tap water since. Utility repair crews cannot reach the area. The remaining 37 households have normal water pressure. All households have working heat. Two elderly residents living alone on the north end have no water and cannot travel. Grocery deliveries are suspended; most households have 2–4 days of food on hand. Cell service fully functional.
Your Task
Rate all eight lifelines. Remember: the color reflects the worst condition in your reporting area, not the average. What is your top priority need for the EOC, and what is the specific address-identified request?
Assessed Answer — Scenario 2
1. Water Systems / Transportation: Utility crew access required for water main repair at [north end main address]—all vehicle routes impassable. Priority: road clearance on [specific route] to enable repair crew entry.
2. Food, Hydration / Water: Bottled water or emergency hydration delivery to [names/addresses of 2 elderly isolated residents, north end]—no water access and unable to travel.
3. Transportation: Route clearance for emergency vehicle access across entire block—no vehicle egress or ingress currently possible.
The worst-condition rule in practice. 37 of 55 households have normal water. But Water Systems is still RED because 18 households have none. The EOC rates by worst observed condition, not by majority. Your report reflects that correctly. The two elderly isolated residents are the most acute vulnerability and require the most specific address-identified request.
House Fire — Injuries, Displacement, Gas Concern
Situation
Hour 2, Tuesday afternoon. House fire at 14 Elm Court, a 28-household cul-de-sac. Fire suppressed in 45 minutes. Structure total loss. Family of four displaced—currently at a neighbor’s home. One adult sustained burns to both hands and forearms, treated on scene, transported to hospital. The six-year-old uses a prescribed seizure medication that was inside the destroyed home and was not recovered. Fire investigator flagged a potential gas line concern at the property. Utility notified but no technician yet. As precaution, three adjacent households (16, 12, and 10 Elm Court) temporarily evacuated while gas line assessed. All other 24 households unaffected. No grid power outage. Roads clear. Cell and 911 fully operational. No other damage.
Your Task
Complete the SITREP. Consider: how do you rate lifelines where impact is localized to one or a few households? What is the specific priority need requiring address-identified reporting? How do you phrase the prescription medication situation?
Assessed Answer — Scenario 3
1. Health & Medical [current host address]: Minor child (age 6) requires prescription seizure medication—supply destroyed in structure fire at 14 Elm Court. Emergency medication access needed within hours; child is currently at [neighbor address]. Contact: [family contact / physician name if known].
2. Hazardous Materials [14 Elm Court]: Gas line integrity at fire origin unconfirmed—utility technician not yet on scene. Three households (10, 12, 16 Elm Court) temporarily displaced pending assessment. Request expedited utility response.
3. Food, Hydration, Shelter [14 Elm Court family]: Family of four requires emergency shelter placement—total structure loss, currently hosted informally by neighbor. FEMA/Red Cross registration needed.
Localized impact, still rates RED. Only one household is fully displaced and only one child needs medication. But the worst-condition rule applies: if one person in your reporting area has a life-safety gap, the lifeline is RED. The seizure medication is a time-critical medical need that the MAG cannot resolve—it requires outside resources and goes into Priority Needs as a specific, address-identified request.
Framing the medication request: The report identifies the need (seizure medication), the location (host address, not the destroyed home), the time sensitivity (child is currently unmedicated), and the action required (emergency access to prescription). That is an actionable request. “Child lost medication in fire” is not.
Regional Flooding — Displacement and Shelter Loss
Situation
Hour 36 of a major flood event. Your 62-household neighborhood spans mixed elevations. The lower 22 households flooded at Hour 6. Residents evacuated by vehicle and two MAG member boats before unsafe water levels. Of those 22: 14 households are at the community center (operating on generator, ~24 hours of fuel remaining), 6 households are with friends/family outside the area, 2 households are staying with neighbors on higher ground in your zone. The upper 40 households were not flooded and remain in place. Grid power out block-wide since Hour 8—utility estimates restoration no sooner than Day 5. Main route still underwater. Alternate route passable by high-clearance vehicle only. Municipal water operational throughout. Cell service intermittent. A boil-water advisory is in effect for the lower 22 addresses due to suspected sewage infiltration during flooding. No injuries reported.
Your Task
Rate all eight lifelines. After rating each, rank your top three priority needs in order. Then answer: What lifelines fail if the shelter generator runs out of fuel in 24 hours? This is your cascade analysis question—trace the chain.
Assessed Answer — Scenario 4
1. Energy / Shelter [community center address]: Shelter generator fuel depleted in approximately 24 hours. 14 households (est. [number] persons) currently sheltering. Fuel resupply or generator swap required before [time]. This is a time-critical cascade trigger.
2. Transportation: High-clearance vehicle access only via alternate route. Fuel delivery, medical response, and utility crew access all require pre-coordination with response assets capable of alternate route transit.
3. Food, Hydration [boil-water zone]: 22 lower-zone addresses under boil-water advisory with no power to boil. Bottled water distribution or Point of Distribution needed for those households—currently at shelter or on elevated ground.
If the shelter generator runs out of fuel in 24 hours: (1) Energy for the shelter fails immediately. (2) Food, Hydration, Shelter escalates from RED to critical—14 households lose their emergency shelter environment, including heat/cooling, lighting, and any refrigerated medical supplies. (3) Health & Medical escalates if any sheltering resident has power-dependent equipment or refrigerated medications. (4) Communications for the shelter loses any powered communications equipment. The cascade turns a time-limited problem (24 hrs) into a multi-lifeline simultaneous failure. This is exactly why the generator fuel resupply is Priority 1 even though no one is injured yet.
Extended Grid Failure Day 3 — Medical Dependency Crisis
Situation
0700 hrs Day 3, ice storm. Grid power out for 77 continuous hours. Utility estimates Day 5–7 restoration. Roads passable by all vehicles since yesterday. Cell service intermittent (~50% of the time). 911 reachable with delays. Morning sweep findings: Resident at 22 Pine Street operates a home oxygen concentrator 24/7. He has been using a portable oxygen tank since the outage—approximately 6 hours of supply remaining. His physician cannot arrange delivery before the tank runs out. Resident at 7 Pine Street uses a powered home dialysis machine. She has missed her last scheduled self-treatment. Her next clinical dialysis appointment is 36 hours away. She has transportation but does not know if the center is operational. Four generator households are running low on fuel—two estimate less than 4 hours remaining. Grocery stores in area are open but shelves partly depleted. No structural damage. No HAZMAT concerns. Municipal water operational throughout.
Your Task
Complete the SITREP. Draft your Priority Needs section in full—include address, need, time constraint, and what resource is required. Also answer: What can your MAG handle right now with its own resources? What requires EOC or external action?
Assessed Answer — Scenario 5
1. URGENT — Health/Medical, 22 Pine Street: Resident [name if known] on 24-hr supplemental oxygen. Home concentrator non-functional due to power outage. Portable tank has approximately 6 hours of supply as of 0700 hrs Day 3. Physician cannot arrange delivery. Requires: portable oxygen tank resupply or emergency transport to medical facility within 6 hours. Contact MAG Lead at [callsign/number] for access.
2. Health/Medical, 7 Pine Street: Resident [name if known] on home dialysis. Missed last scheduled self-treatment due to power outage. Next clinical appointment in 36 hours; center operational status unknown. Requires: confirmation of [center name] operational status and, if closed, alternative dialysis access within 36-hour window. Resident has vehicle and can self-transport if destination confirmed.
3. Energy, Block-wide: Two generator households (addresses: [addresses of households with under 4 hours fuel]) will exhaust fuel within 4 hours. Both have medically vulnerable residents or are providing shelter support. Generator fuel delivery or coordinated refuel required.
MAG can handle now: Station a MAG member at 22 Pine Street to monitor resident and maintain contact. Contact 7 Pine Street resident to confirm she is stable and advise her to call the dialysis center directly. Check fuel levels at the two low-generator households and physically transfer any available spare fuel from MAG resources to extend their window.
Requires EOC / external resources: Oxygen tank resupply (medical supply chain, requires dispatch coordination). Dialysis center status confirmation and alternative access (health sector coordination). Generator fuel delivery (logistics, not available at MAG level). These go into the SITREP as specific, time-constrained requests—the EOC tasks them to the appropriate sector desk.
The 6-hour window on the oxygen need means this cannot wait for the next scheduled SITREP. This is a spot report trigger: transmit via your Tier 3 channel immediately upon completing the sweep, before the formal SITREP cycle.
Hurricane — Multi-Lifeline Cascade
Situation
0600 hrs Day 2, hurricane landfall. Your MAG covers 75 households in a coastal-adjacent neighborhood. Second sweep complete. Grid power out across neighborhood and region—utility describes transmission damage as “catastrophic”; no restoration estimate. Three structures have significant damage; one has partial roof collapse—family of three still inside, declined to leave, structure flagged as unsafe. A second structure has confirmed gas smell; occupants evacuated; gas utility not yet responded. Primary route blocked by downed power line (utility notified, crew not arrived). Secondary route passable. Cell service completely down; landline out. Your RACES-affiliated member has established EOC contact on the amateur radio net. 911 not reachable by cell. Municipal water pressure severely reduced; county-wide boil-water advisory in effect. Twelve households reported insufficient food supply for 48 hours; three have infants requiring formula. Resident at 44 Shore Road is on home dialysis; missed treatment; clinical appointment in 48 hours; center’s status unknown. Two residents on supplemental oxygen: one has approximately 12 hours of tank supply, one has approximately 8 hours. Two minor injuries (laceration, sprained ankle) treated on scene by MAG medical lead. No confirmed fatalities.
Your Task
Complete the full Community SITREP. Rate all eight lifelines. Then: rank all eight by priority and justify your top three. Write your Priority Needs section as an actual EOC transmission. Finally: with only MAG resources available right now, what three actions do you take in the first 30 minutes?
Assessed Answer — Scenario 6 (Capstone)
1. LIFE SAFETY — Health/Medical, [address nearest to 44 Shore Road area]: TWO oxygen-dependent residents. Resident A [address]: 8-hour tank window as of 0600 hrs. Resident B [address]: 12-hour window. Both require portable O2 tank resupply or transport to medical facility. Window is closing. Requires immediate medical coordination via EOC.
2. HAZMAT, [gas smell address]: Confirmed gas odor; occupants evacuated to [neighbor address]; gas utility has not responded. Requires expedited utility response. Do not attempt re-entry. Adjacent households notified.
3. Safety/Shelter, [roof collapse address]: Partial roof collapse, family of three inside, declined evacuation. Structure flagged unsafe by MAG assessment. Request structural safety assessment and evacuation support. MAG is maintaining welfare contact every 30 minutes.
4. Food/Hydration [three infant households, addresses]: Infant formula required; three households identified. Request CERT or supply distribution within 24 hours.
5. Health/Medical, 44 Shore Road: Dialysis patient missed treatment; clinical appointment 48 hrs; center status unknown. Requires health sector confirmation of nearest operational dialysis center.
1. Health & Medical (RED) — Two oxygen windows (8 and 12 hours) are the most time-constrained life-safety needs in the event. Clock is running. If these are not addressed first, someone dies before the next sweep cycle.
2. Safety & Security (RED) — Occupied unsafe structure is a life-safety risk that is worsening with any aftershocks, rain, or structural settlement. Also: live power line blocks primary route for all emergency response.
3. Hazardous Materials (RED) — Confirmed gas odor with unknown status is explosive risk to adjacent households. No utility crew on scene.
4. Communications (RED) — Single EOC contact point via amateur radio is fragile. If RACES link is lost, the neighborhood goes dark. This is a force multiplier issue: every other priority need depends on being able to transmit.
5. Energy (RED) — No restoration estimate; drives cascade into Health, Water, and Food. Not higher because it requires utility-level intervention—MAG cannot address it directly.
6. Food, Hydration, Shelter (RED) — Infant formula is acute within 24 hours; other food at 48 hours. Structural damage at three addresses needs assessment.
7. Water Systems (YELLOW) — Pressure severely reduced but some water available; boil-water advisory cannot be complied with (no power) but hydration workaround possible via bottled water.
8. Transportation (YELLOW) — Secondary route is passable; not the immediate constraint.
First 30 Minutes with MAG Resources Only
1. Station one MAG member at the address of the 8-hour oxygen resident. Do not leave that person alone. Begin active monitoring of tank level. Attempt to locate a spare tank through MAG networks immediately.
2. Transmit full SITREP via RACES to EOC now—do not wait. The oxygen clock, the gas leak, and the unsafe structure are all in the Priority Needs section. Every minute of delay on the EOC tasking is a minute off the response window.
3. Establish a welfare contact rotation for the family in the unsafe structure—every 30 minutes. Do not attempt to force evacuation. Document their condition and the MAG’s recommendations in the log. If structural condition worsens, escalate immediately via RACES.
Course Complete
You have completed all lessons and assessment scenarios in PLN-01 Community Situational Awareness. If you have not already done so, download the companion guide and keep it with your go-bag. The sweep question card and blank SITREP form are in the companion guide for use during actual events.
The recommended next step is FEMA IS-2901 Introduction to Community Lifelines (free at training.fema.gov), which covers the EOC-side processing of the reports your MAG now knows how to produce. Taking IS-2901 after PLN-01 completes the picture: you will understand both sides of the transmission.