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The
Emergency Management Institute (EMI), working with headquarters and the regions, looks for new opportunities to help tribal
leaders learn about emergency management principles and practices to help
protect tribal citizens, lands, and culture. Tribal liaisons from FEMA’s Region
V and Region IX taught a four-hour EMI course, Emergency Management Overview
for Tribal Leaders (L0583), to better enable tribal leaders in developing and implementing a comprehensive emergency management system within their tribal nations.
Fifteen
participants representing eight tribal governments, the state of Alaska, the
American Red Cross, and the Department of Homeland Security participated in the
training as a pre-conference workshop before the 2015 Mid-Year Conference of
the National Congress of American Indians on June 28-July 1, 2015 in St. Paul, Minnesota.
The interactive course was designed to meet the demanding schedule of elected
and appointed tribal officials, and to provide them with the knowledge and
skills necessary to better prepare their communities to face all hazards as well as respond to and recover from
incidents.
The
Emergency Management Framework for Tribal Governments (E0580) is a
four-day course held at EMI, located on the
campus of the National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg, Maryland, and is
scheduled for August 24-27, 2015. Tribal leaders, tribal emergency managers, tribal
response personnel, tribal government department heads, and tribal government
employees learn how effective emergency management can improve the
sustainability of their tribal community to better protect its tribal citizens,
lands, culture, and sovereignty.
Specific
topics for the Emergency Management Framework for Tribal Governments
(E0580) course include the legal and financial basis for emergency management;
identification and analysis of hazards; the planning process; components of an
emergency management system; assuring readiness through training and exercises; forming partnerships with the public and private sectors; and upgrading and
sustaining emergency management capabilities.
There
are still vacancies available for the four-day class scheduled for the last
full week in August. Applications can be completed online and the deadline is July 27, 2015. Questions
about the EMI Tribal Curriculum should be directed to Katie Hirt at Katie.Hirt@fema.dhs.gov or 301-447-1164.
July 26, 2015 marks the 25th Anniversary of the Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA). This historic
civil rights law prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in state and
local government and private entities and facilitates equal physical,
programmatic, and effective communication access for all Americans.
The primary purpose of the ADA
is to:
- mandate the elimination of
discrimination against individuals with disabilities;
- establish enforceable
standards for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with
disabilities;
- ensure that the federal government plays a central role in enforcing these standards; and
- use congressional authority to
regulate commerce, in order to address major areas of discrimination faced by
individuals with disabilities.
While much progress has been
made since the bill was signed in 1990, barriers still remain for many children
and adults with disabilities. These barriers to accessibility can easily be exacerbated
during a disaster. FEMA recommends those individuals with disabilities and
others with access and functional needs plan for their specific health, safety, and independence during a disaster
by taking charge of their personal emergency preparedness. Use the following tips to
build an individualized disaster supply kit:
- Stock a basic disaster supply kit.
- Create a plan for sheltering at
home, at work AND on the road.
- Inventory what you use every day to maintain your health,
safety and independence. Identify essential items you and your family will need
to survive for three to five days or longer, if emergency responders or other people
cannot get to you following an emergency or disaster and if you have needs that
are not easily accommodated, even when you aren’t on your own.
- Carry a pad for several days as you go about your usual
routines and jot down anything that might be difficult for you to manage
without in an emergency, and then begin to brainstorm solutions that might work for
you.
- Stock your kit with essential items which may include
durable medical equipment, medical supplies, assistive technology devices, food
for your specific dietary needs, prescription medicines, diabetic
supplies, hearing aid batteries, phone charger and back up battery, an analog-based landline phone (and TTY if you use this technology),
manual wheelchair, seat cushion, egg crate padding and other medical equipment and mobility
devices you may need to maintain your health, safety and independence, and
supplies for your service animal.
- Plan for the specific needs of children with disabilities
and people who may have difficulty in unfamiliar or chaotic environments. This
may include handheld electronic devices loaded with movies and games (and spare
chargers), sheets and twine or a small pop up tent to decrease visual
stimulation in a busy room or to provide instant privacy, headphones to
decrease auditory distractions, comfort snacks and toys that meet needs for
stimulation.
More information can be found at
www.ready.gov/individuals-access-functional-needs.
The White House started
Generation Indigenous (GEN – I) to engage Native American Youth. As part
of this, the White House hosted the first ever White House Tribal Youth
Gathering in Washington, DC, on July 9 to provide American Indian and
Alaska Native youth from across the country the opportunity to interact
directly with senior administration officials and members of the White House Council on
Native American Affairs.
Prior to the gathering, the Office of External Affairs provided tribal youth the opportunity to meet with FEMA leadership on July 8. Tribal youth and leaders from Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Tanana Chiefs of Alaska; and Sault
(Soo) St. Marie Tribe of Michigan attended the event. FEMA Associate Administrator
Beth Zimmerman kicked off the event by welcoming the tribal youth and providing an overview of the agency. She was followed by National Tribal Affairs Advisor Milo Booth, who briefed the tribal youth on the FEMA Tribal Branch, and FEMA Corps member Hadley Hill, who offered a perspective on the FEMA Corps program. Afterwards, the tribal youth were given a tour of the National Response Coordination Center (NRCC).
FEMA’s Building Science Branch
presents FEMA
P-388-CD, "Safe Room Resources (2015)." The materials on this CD are intended to help communities
mitigate damage or loss from tornadoes and other extreme-wind events, and
provide public information resources for conveying the importance of safe room
construction. This is part of FEMA’s ongoing mitigation effort to lessen the
impact that disasters have on people and property.
The CD contains several informative posters, maps, and
other resources that can be downloaded in various formats, including high-resolution print quality and low-resolution screen
quality for web use. Information about FEMA artwork requirements and terms of
usage agreement can be found in
the FEMA library.
FEMA grant programs have
provided approximately $985 million in federal funds towards the design and
construction of nearly 25,000 residential and 2,000 community safe rooms in 25
states, tribes, and territories. This investment aligns with FEMA’s strategic
goal to support disaster resilience and the ability of our local communities to
withstand and recover rapidly from disasters. All safe rooms constructed with
FEMA grant funds must adhere to the FEMA recommended criteria described in FEMA
P-361, “Safe Rooms for Tornadoes and Hurricanes: Guidance for Community and
Residential Safe Rooms,” and the requirements as
described in the most current edition of FEMA’s Hazard
Mitigation Assistance (HMA) Unified Guidance.
FEMA’s Building Science
Branch develops guidance that supports communities in becoming safer by
reducing loss of life and property and becoming more disaster-resilient. For
more information, visit www.fema.gov/building-science.
FEMA announced the release of the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Homeland Security National Training
Program (HSNTP) Continuing Training Grants (CTG) program with a total
$11,521,000 available for awards in four focus areas.
This highly competitive program attracts on average 80 applicants from
state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, along with eligible
non-profit organizations to include colleges and universities. In 2014,
88 eligible organizations competed and six HSNTP/CTG awards were made.
Information on the 2014 awards can be found online.
FY 2015 HSNTP/CTG applications are due no later than August 10,
2015 at 11:59 p.m. EDT. Submissions must be made through www.grants.gov.
FEMA announced $180 million
in funding available through two Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) grant
programs: Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) and Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM).
These two grant programs assist state, local, tribal, and territorial
governments in strengthening our nation’s ability to reduce the potential cost of natural disasters to communities
and their citizens.
Both HMA FY 2015 Funding Opportunity Announcements can be
found at www.grants.gov. Eligible applicants must apply for funding through
the Mitigation eGrants system on the FEMA Grants Portal accessible at https://portal.fema.gov. All applications must be submitted no
later than August 28,
2015 at 3 p.m. EDT.
FEMA's HMA grant programs
provide states, local governments, tribes, and territories funding for eligible
mitigation activities to strengthen our nation’s ability to reduce disaster
losses and protect life and property from future disaster damages. Further
information on these grant programs is available at www.fema.gov/hazard-mitigation-assistance.
On
May 18, FEMA began mailing letters to approximately 142,000 NFIP policyholders
who filed claims resulting from Hurricane Sandy, offering them an opportunity
to have their files reviewed. While extensions may be granted on a case by case
basis, FEMA set a September 15, 2015 deadline for
policyholders to begin the intake process by either phoning the call center and
speaking to a claims review specialist or downloading the claims review request
form from the website and submitting it via email or by fax. In the
coming weeks, FEMA will use a number of communications channels to remind the
142,000 policyholders of the approaching deadline.
To be eligible
for the review, policyholders must have experienced flood damage between October
27, 2012 and November 6, 2012, as a result of Hurricane Sandy. Policyholders
can call the NFIP’s Hurricane Sandy claims center at 1-866-337-4262 or
go online to www.fema.gov/sandyclaims to download a form requesting a review. The
downloaded form may be filled out and emailed to FEMA-sandyclaimsreview@fema.dhs.gov
to start the review process.
For individuals
who are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech disability using 711 or VRS,
please call 866-337-4262. For individuals using a TTY, please call
800-462-7585 to begin the review process. Before contacting the claim
center, policyholders are asked to have their flood insurance carrier name and
policy number at hand.
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