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How would
your community respond if a 200 mph tornado struck? See how the Vilonia Fire
Department prepared the community for the unexpected. Read their story today!
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Brrr! Cooler
temperatures are setting in, which means winter is on its way. Before winter weather hits your area, talk with your family about how
to stay safe and take action to get prepared! Planning and preparing can help
you manage the impact of severe winter weather.
The
How to Prepare for a
Winter Storm guide from America’s
PrepareAthon! outlines steps you can take now, including:
- Gather emergency supplies;
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Make a family emergency communication
plan;
- Install battery-powered or battery back-up carbon monoxide
detectors;
- If you have access to an outside
generator, have an electric cord long enough to keep the generator at
least 20 feet from any door, window, or vent;
- NEVER use a generator inside your home or in any partially
enclosed area; and
- Be alert to changing weather conditions using local alerts,
battery-operated radios, and other news sources for information and
instructions.
To learn more about preparing for winter weather, take a look at this
animated video, and see what to do “When
the Sky Turns Gray.”
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Veterans Day is Wednesday, November
11. Show our veterans and other service members how much you appreciate their sacrifice
by volunteering in your community and performing acts of kindness.
Organizations like Points of Light, Corporation for National and
Community Service,
Team Rubicon, and Civil Air Patrol support the military community. Find volunteer opportunities in your area or create
your service project using themed toolkits. You can also join a CERT or Citizen
Corps Program in your area. These organizations provide education,
training, and volunteer services to help prepare communities for disasters.
This year, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) is launching Operation Appreciation in
honor of Veterans Day. VFW invites you to demonstrate your appreciation and
share a photo or video illustrating your acts of kindness on social media using
hashtags #IThankedAVet, #YourTurn.
Are local disaster
preparedness efforts reaching everyone in your community? Join an
upcoming discussion on disaster preparedness efforts to serve populations that
are disproportionately impacted during an emergency due to risk factors related
to language, cultural isolation, immigration status, and national
identity.
Title: Community Discussion: Preparing Individuals
Disproportionately Impacted by Disasters
Date: Monday, November 23, 2015
Time:
2:00 - 3:00 p.m. (ET)
Featured
Speakers:
-
Iskra
Gencheva, from Ready New York, New York City
Citizen Corps, and New York City Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) will share experiences preparing New York
City’s immigrant and Limited English Proficiency (LEP) populations.
-
Sarah
Babcock, from New Orleans Medical Reserve
Corps will share experiences preparing the Spanish-Speaking
and Vietnamese communities of New Orleans.
-
Dana
Perry, from Newport News CERT will share experiences preparing refugees
from nations including Afghanistan,
Cuba, Burma, Nepal, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
-
Tom Hipper, from the National
Resource Center on Advancing Emergency Preparedness for Culturally Diverse
Communities will share helpful resources that support
emergency preparedness efforts for culturally diverse communities.
How to Join the Webinar:
We hope that you
will be able to join us on November 23!
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has
improved the online Citizen Corps/CERT Registration System and needs you to
update your information by Friday, December 4. This will help FEMA
provide you with better support. You can use this link
to log into the system. A slide presentation
is also available to help guide you through the update process.
There are several reasons to update your program’s
information:
- You will soon be able
use the registration system to generate a printable report that will
feature your specific program’s information. If your information in your
profile is up-to-date, the information in your individual program report
will be, too.
- We use this
information to develop reports, presentations, and talking points to
promote Citizen Corps and CERT to internal and external stakeholders. The
numbers that we use are far more effective and reliable when more programs
update their information.
- We have begun sharing
some CERT registration data through Open FEMA.
Please help us to ensure that this information is accurate.
- By updating your
information, you ensure that your program’s information is accounted for
in the National Preparedness Report.
-
When members of the
public and other stakeholders look up your programs online, much of the
information you provide through the system is visible on your
public-facing online profile.
We value all of the information that you provide,
but the following data points are of the highest priority for the December 4
deadline:
- Number of Volunteer
Service Hours (Citizen Corps and CERT)
- Number of Volunteers
(Citizen Corps only)
- Number of Individuals
Who Have Completed CERT Basic Training Since Start of Program
- Average Annual
Deliveries of the CERT Basic Training
- CERT Classes Graduated
Since Start of Program
- Citizen Corps Council
Membership
-
CERT Response
Activities
If you have any questions, please direct them to
your state point of
contact. If they are unable to resolve your request, you can also
contact us at citizencorps@fema.dhs.gov
or cert@fema.dhs.gov.
Disclaimer: The reader recognizes that the
federal government provides links and informational data on various disaster
preparedness resources and events and does not endorse any non-federal events,
entities, organizations, services or products. Please let us know about other events
and services for individual and community preparedness that could be included
in future newsletters by contacting citizencorps@fema.dhs.gov.
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