|
Weekly Watch is a bulletin for emergency managers, partners and stakeholders. If you have topics pertaining to emergency management you'd like included in a future issue, please email OEM Public Affairs. Content must be received by noon on Friday to be considered for the following Monday's report. If you'd like to unsubscribe, you'll find directions at the bottom of this issue. |
|
Director's Message
After numerous fire starts from lightning strikes, Red Flag Warnings remain in place for several parts of the state due to thunderstorms and potentially abundant lightning. We’re in the middle of wildfire season, with dozens of wildfires actively burning across Oregon.
While we’re always focused on protecting our communities and saving the lives of Oregonians, we’re also concerned for our neighbors in other states. This past weekend, OEM’s team worked to help our partners in California currently battling the McKinney Fire in Siskiyou County near the Oregon border. In just three days, this fire has tragically claimed the lives of two individuals while thousands more are under evacuation notice. The fire has burned over 50,000 acres and continues to burn without any containment of note.
Last Saturday, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) requested resources through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), our all-hazards national mutual aid system. Through EMAC, states can share resources from all disciplines, protect personnel who deploy, and be reimbursed for mission-related costs. As a result of this request and the EMAC system, Oregon was able to send three Incident Management Teams (IMTs) from the Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal (OSFM) to help our friends in their time of need.
EMAC partnerships are crucial when it comes to disaster response and recovery. Oregon has relied on EMAC to request assistance during emergencies, most often for wildfires and most recently on last year’s Bootleg Fire and the 2020 Labor Day Wildfires. In return, we’ve deployed IMTs to Florida for a hurricane; natural gas inspectors to Massachusetts for a pipeline explosion; IMTs and call center support to Washington for COVID; and firefighters, IMTs and helicopters to wildfires throughout the country, among many other examples.
As emergency managers, we understand the importance of neighbors helping neighbors. Today we are grateful to our partners at Cal OES and OSFM, who support these same ideals.
Take care of yourselves and take care of each other. Andrew Phelps, Director, Oregon Office of Emergency Management
|
FEMA Approves Second Extension to Direct Temporary Housing Program
FEMA has granted a second extension to the Direct Temporary Housing Assistance program for FEMA-DR-4562-OR – the 2020 Labor Day Wildfires – for Jackson, Lane, Lincoln and Marion counties. FEMA’s Direct Temporary Housing Assistance is initially an 18-month program; OEM submitted for a first six-month extension granted last March that was set to end on September 15. This second extension sets the new end date as March 15, 2023. FEMA started with 205 households in the program and currently has 104 remaining; nine families have purchased their Transportable Temporary Housing Units (TTHUs), while 26 families are pending the final sale of their units. FEMA continues to partner with OEM, Oregon Housing and Community Services, community action agencies, disaster case managers, and long-term recovery groups to identify alternate permanent housing solutions for those still in need.
|
FY2022 EMPG Grant Applications Now Open
Oregon county and tribal emergency managers are invited to apply for FY 2022 (July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2023) financial and technical assistance provided through FEMA’s Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG). These funds are provided for the development and maintenance of an all-hazard emergency management capability to promote preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery. EMPG is a 50% non-federal cost share grant and grant funds are provided on a reimbursement basis. The deadline for submission is Sept. 4. OEM has scheduled several conference calls to provide an overview of the EMPG application process and requirements and answer questions. Visit the Grants page on OEM’s website to learn more and download forms.
|
Why Effective Communications is Critical in Emergency Management
The ADA National Network is holding a webinar titled, What Did They Say – Why Effective Communications is Critical in Emergency Management at 11:30 a.m. on August 11. Using real life examples and from the field, the speakers will address what effective communication means and how emergency managers can improve their public communication to make it effective to people with disabilities. Register at ADA Presentations by August 10.
|
ODOT/DMTF After-Action Report on the 2020 Labor Day Wildfires
The 2020 Labor Day Wildfires burned more than 1 million acres, destroyed thousands of homes and claimed the lives of nine Oregonians. The significant volume of burned trees, ash and debris required the largest cleanup and hazard tree removal operation in the state’s history. ODOT engaged an independent consultant to help review the massive cleanup effort, led by the Debris Management Task Force, and pinpoint how it can be better prepared to respond if the state faces similar events in the future. A broad cross-section of stakeholders, Task Force crew members and local community representatives came together to reflect on the accomplishments and lessons learned. Participants identified challenges and successes and developed recommendations for future wildfire events. View the After-Action Report at wildfire-auth.oregon.gov.
|
Earthquake Debris Removal Webinar
The Regional Building Disaster Assessment Project (RBDAP) increases the readiness, cooperation, planning and alignment of building officials, building inspectors, emergency managers and building departments across the Portland-Metro region to respond to emergencies that require safety damage assessments for buildings and occupied structures. RBDAP will hold a webinar from noon to 1 p.m. on August 23 titled, Earthquake Debris Removal: Are We Prepared? Managing earthquake debris removal can be daunting after an emergency, especially without a plan and preposition contracts in place; FEMA has very specific requirements for reimbursement. Learn from an expert about what’s needed to be prepared. The webinar will take place via The webinar will take place via Zoom (Passcode: 034030).
|
Strengthening Community Resilience in U.S. Territories
The Natural Hazards Center (NHC) — with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Science Foundation — recently issued a special call for proposals focused on conducting studies designed to Strengthen Community Resilience in the U.S. Territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. NHC is holding a Public Health Disaster Research webinar from 10-11:30 a.m. on August 4 to showcase the results from the 11 projects that were ultimately funded and highlight the research teams' final reports. Learn more and register via UC Boulder's Zoom.
|
Webinar: Satellite Remote Sensing for Measuring Heat Vulnerability
Buildings, roads and other infrastructure absorb and re-emit the sun’s heat more than natural landscapes. Urban areas, where these structures are highly concentrated and greenery is limited, become “heat islands” of higher temperatures relative to outlying areas. Remote sensing provides observations to monitor the effects of urban heat islands (UHI) over time. Thermal mapping from satellites can be used to monitor land surface temperature (LST), while optical data collected from satellites can be used to approximate air temperatures. Once UHIs have been mapped, incorporating socioeconomic data pertaining to population, demographics and health information into heat vulnerability indices (HVI) can help guide interventions to manage heat-related risks to public health. NASA is offering a four-part, advanced webinar with hands-on exercises for participants to measure UHI and construct HVIs for their areas of interest. The webinars will take place from 8-9:30 a.m. on August 2, 4, 9 and 11. Visit NASA.gov for more information and to register.
|
Active Shooter Preparedness Webinar
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is holding an Active Shooter Preparedness webinar from 8-10 a.m. on August 19. The event will discuss the elements of active shooter incident response planning with guidance from expert instructors; describe common behaviors, conditions and situations associated with active shooter events; discuss how to recognize potential workplace violence indicators; and provide information about best practices, communications protocols and resources to develop or enhance emergency planning, preparedness and response to active shooter incidents. Learn more and register at Eventbrite. (This webinar will repeat from 2-4 p.m. on Sept. 13; register at Eventbrite.)
|
Partnering Rural Law Enforcement, First Responders and Local School Systems
Schools in small, rural and remote areas across the country account for almost 23% of the total student population - more than 11 million students. However, rural schools, law enforcement and other emergency responders are often limited in resources. The Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium (RDPC) offers a course to help emergency responders and school administrators plan and prepare for crisis incidents in schools: AWR-148 is available in-person, virtually via Zoom or as a self-paced, web-based course. Agencies interested in requesting either an in-person or virtual instructor-led delivery of this course can complete RDPC’s Request a Course form. Individuals can register for a currently scheduled course (either virtual or in-person) by visiting the Training Schedule, selecting a scheduled course offering, and completing the registration form for that offering. To take the web-based training, visit RDPC’s AWR-148-W page, and follow the instructions for registration.
|
2022 National CERT Conference
The 2022 National CERT Conference is taking place in Galveston, Texas the week of August 15. The theme is “Taking CERT to the Next Level” and will feature presentations and workshops led by CERT leaders across the US. Highlights include an equity panel, presentations on CERT resource typing, and CERT disaster response lessons learned (including COVID-19). For more information and to register, visit 2022 National CERT Association Conference.
|
The Disaster Cycle: FEMA's role before, during and after disaster
Join FEMA Region 10 Individual and Community Preparedness for its monthly Third Thursday Tips webinar from noon-12:15 p.m. on August 18. The webinar will cover a brief overview of the disaster life cycle of mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery and discuss FEMA's role before, during and after disasters. Register via Zoom.
|
|
|
Emergency Management Job Postings |
|
Training Opportunities and Resources |
|
August 9-10, 2022: MGT-439 Pediatric Disaster Response & Emergency Preparedness (McMinnville). Register with Teex.
August 11-12, 2022: MGT-439 Pediatric Disaster Response & Emergency Preparedness (Oregon City). Register with TEEX.
August 22-26: King County Emergency Management Advanced Public Information Officer Course (Renton, Wash.) featuring instructors from the Emergency Management Institute. Learn more and apply at Washington Emergency Management Division’s registration site.
August 22-25: L0209 State Recovery Planning and Coordination (Salem). This course is designed to provide participants with a step-by-step review of their roles in state recovery planning and on the strengths and weaknesses of their current state recovery plans or framework. Learn more and register at Eventbrite.
E0388 Advanced Public Information Officer (three offerings): January 23-27, 2023, April 24-28, 2023, or July 31-August 4, 2023. Learn more and apply at NETC.
For additional training information and resources, please click the links below.
|
|
Total Federal Share of Public Assistance Disaster Funds Obligated to be Spent in Oregon
DR4499—COVID-19: $446,028,771 DR4519—2020 Flooding: $4,150,142 DR4562—2020 Wildfire: $363,228,978 DR4599—2021 Ice Storm: $12,433,324
|
|
|
|
|