External Affairs Bulletin Week of October 26, 2015

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EXTERNAL AFFAIRS BULLETIN

Week of October 26, 2015

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In this Edition:

Important Dates & Deadlines

Proposed Stafford Act Section 705 Policy Open Comment Period Deadline

Proposed Stafford Act Section 705 Policy Open Comment Period Deadline

Preliminary Damage Assessment Manual Open Comment Period Deadline

Preliminary Damage Assessment Manual Open Comment Period Deadline

Halloween Fire Safety

There were nearly 10,300 fires each year during the three-day period around Halloween from 2011 to 2013. These fires caused approximately 25 deaths, 125 injuries, and $83 million in property loss.


In order to keep your family safe, consider the following Halloween fire safety tips:

- Choose a costume without long trailing fabric. If you make your own costume, use materials that won’t catch on fire easily if they come in contact with heat or flame.

- Give your children flashlights or glow sticks so they can see where they are going.

- Keep decorations away from candles, light bulbs, or heaters.

- Consider using flameless candles or glow sticks in your jack-o-lantern.

- Keep exits clear of decorations.


For more information about Halloween fire safety check out the U.S. Fire Administration, where you can find Halloween social media cards to share and the Halloween fire snapshot.


REMINDER: Emergency Management Institute Offers Virtual Tabletop Exercises

The Emergency Management Institute (EMI) conducts a monthly series of VTTX training using a video teleconference platform to reach community-based training audiences around the country and to provide a virtual forum for disaster training and discussion. The VTTX programs are designed for a community-based group of at least ten or more personnel from state, local, or tribal emergency management organizations with representatives from other disciplines such as public safety, public works, public health, health care, government, administrative, communications, military, private sector, non-governmental, and other whole community partners. Participants must have an appropriate site equipped with video teleconference capability that can access FEMA.


EMI will conduct the following VTTX program in the remainder of 2015:

- November 17, 18, 19:  Power Outages

 

To apply for a VTTX event, please submit an email request to Doug Kahn at douglas.kahn@fema.dhs.gov or call 301-447-7645. The application deadline is four weeks prior to the start date. Additional information on FY 2016 VTTX broadcasts is available on the EMI Website at www.training.fema.gov/emi.aspx.


REMINDER: FEMA Seeks Comments on Draft Preliminary Damage Assessment Manual

FEMA seeks comments from state, local, tribal, and territorial emergency management practitioners on the draft FEMA Damage Assessment Operating Manual. The manual establishes national damage assessment standards developed from historic lessons learned and best-practices already in use by federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial, emergency management agencies.


The FEMA Damage Assessment Operating Manual is built using a framework that encourages local information collection, state, tribal or territorial verification, and federal validation. This document better highlights and provides guidance to state, local, tribal, and territorial governments on their role in the assessment. This version of the PDA manual also clarifies the types of damage that will qualify under the descriptors of destroyed, major damage, minor damage, or affected.


The draft manual and comment matrix is posted in the FEMA library. Comments should be added into the comment matrix and submitted to Mr. Ryan Buras, Senior Program Advisor, Public Assistance, Recovery Directorate, by 11:59 p.m. EST on November 14, 2015. FEMA asks that comments on the manual be sent either by email to PDAmanual@fema.dhs.gov or by mail with a November 14 postmark to Mr. Ryan Buras, Senior Program Advisor, Public Assistance, Recovery Directorate, FEMA, 500 C Street, SW, Mail Stop 3163, Washington, DC 20472.