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On
January 9, 2016, the City of Leon Valley, Texas, will become the first community
in FEMA’s Region 6 to participate in the federal interagency High Water Mark
(HWM) Initiative. This community-based awareness program, launched
three years ago by FEMA and several participating federal agencies, improves
the public’s awareness of flood risk and encourages communities to take
long-term action to address this risk.
In
annual Flood Risk Awareness Surveys, a trend among survey respondents is that
very few (less than 30 percent) believe their community is at risk of
flooding. In reality, flooding is the most common and costly
natural disaster in the United States, and can be caused in a number of ways
such as snow melt, ice jams, or unusually high rainfall rate.
The
latter is what happened in Central Texas in mid-October 1998. More than
11 inches of rain fell in a few hours throughout the region and created
unprecedented flooding in the City of Leon Valley. In recovery
efforts, the City of Leon Valley implemented several mitigation actions
including a county collaborative floodplain improvement project, revising flood
regulations, installing flood sensors in creeks, and adding automatic text
alerts to residents that live in areas that might flood.
As
local, county, and emergency management officials are taking measures to lessen
the effects of damage to businesses and residences after a flood, it is also a
priority to continue outreach and awareness programs to encourage citizens to
take action as well. As time passes and memories fade about the impact of a
disaster and its aftermath, the hallmark of a HWM Initiative is to
place signs at the height of a waterline to remind people of their
community’s history and potential for flooding that can occur without
notice.
For
more information about the federal interagency HWM Initiative, visit www.fema.gov/high-water-mark-initiative.
The
updated National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)’s Specific
Rating Guidelines Manual is now available online. The Manual is used by Write Your
Own flood insurance companies that participate in NFIP to help determine rules and rates for high risk
properties with certain anomalous flood risk circumstances that prevent
rate determination by use of guidelines in the standard NFIP Flood Insurance
Manual. These updates to the specific rating guidelines updates take effect April 1, 2016.
The Ready Campaign recommends using social media tools as one
way to promote and encourage emergency preparedness. The winter weather social media
toolkit includes Facebook and Twitter posts, related preparedness
graphics, and preparedness social media writing tips that are customizable for
your agency or organization.
More information about winter storms and extreme cold, as well as how to prepare before, during, and after severe winter weather, is available at www.ready.gov/winter-weather.
FEMA congratulates the
35 students who graduated from the National Emergency Management Basic Academy
on December 17, 2015. These graduates completed the full Basic Academy
curriculum, which provides the basic knowledge and skills to help meet the
unpredictable challenges in the field of emergency management. Graduates represented
emergency management professionals from federal (2), state (2), local (18),
private sector (2), non-governmental organizations, schools (1 from K-12, 3
from higher education), and military (7).
FEMA’s National Emergency Management
Basic Academy is the entry-point for individuals pursuing a career in emergency
management, offering the tools to develop the needed comprehensive
foundational skills. For those who are new
to emergency management, the Basic Academy also provides a unique opportunity
to build camaraderie, to establish professional contacts, and to understand the
roles, responsibilities, and legal boundaries associated with emergency
management.
The
Basic Academy is the first of a three-level Academy series in the Emergency
Management Professional Program (EMPP). The
EMPP curriculum is designed to guide and educate emergency management
professionals as they progress through their careers, providing a lifetime of
learning for emergency management professionals. The EMPP includes three
separate, but closely threaded, training programs; building from the Basic
Academy; to the National Emergency Management Advanced Academy, and culminating
in the National Emergency Management Executive Academy. The Advanced Academy is
a program to develop the next generation of emergency management leaders who are
trained in advanced concepts and issues, advanced leadership and management,
and critical thinking and problem solving. The Executive Academy is a
program designed to challenge and enhance the talents of the nation’s
emergency management senior executives through critical thinking, visionary
strategic planning, challenging conventional
concepts, and negotiation and conflict resolution applied to complex
real-world problems. Emergency management professionals should visit www.training.fema.gov/empp
for more information
about which academy best suits their needs.
Congratulations, graduates!
 Because the risk of home fires increases in the winter, the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) and the National Fire Protection
Association (NFPA) teamed up for the fifth year to draw attention to the
risk of home fires and ways to keep you and your loved ones safe during the
winter months.
From December to February, a fire safety tip will be released each week to help you stay fire safe this
winter. You can follow these messages on Twitter @usfire or on Facebook.
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EMI
conducts a monthly series of Virtual Tabletop Exercises (VTTXs) using a teleconference platform to reach community based training audiences around the
country providing a virtual forum for disaster training. The design of the VTTX is for a group of ten or more
representatives from state, local, and tribal Emergency Management Community of Practice.
Participants must have an appropriate site equipped with video teleconference
capability.
The goals of the VTTX
are to test the participants’ knowledge, skills, and abilities to conduct
all-hazards emergency response and recovery effectively. The VTTXs also enable
coordination response operations with counterparts from Federal agencies, state,
local, and tribal governments, private sector organizations, non-governmental
agencies, and other emergency management partners. The VTTX occurs 12 p.m. – 4
p.m. ET.
EMI will conduct the following VTTX programs in February and
March:
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February 9, 10, 11, 2016: Cyber scenario (course number V0015B)
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February 23, 24, 25, 2016: Tornado scenario (course number V0005A)
- March
8, 9, 10, 2016: Tornado scenario (course
number V0005B)
- March
22, 23, 24, 2016: Flood scenario (course
number V0007)
To participate in a
VTTX, submit an email request to Doug Kahn at douglas.kahn@fema.dhs.gov or
call 301-447-7645. Please send a courtesy copy email to the Integrated
Emergency Management Branch at FEMA-EMI-IEMB@fema.dhs.gov or
call 301-447-1381. The deadline
for applying to a VTTX is four weeks prior to the start date. Additional
information is available at https://training.fema.gov/programs/emivttx.aspx.
FEMA
is seeking public comment on proposed changes to regulation describing FEMA’s
Individual Assistance (IA) declarations criteria. FEMA published the proposed
rule in the Federal
Register, and is seeking comments by January 11, 2016.
The Sandy Recovery Improvement Act (SRIA) requires FEMA to review, update and revise,
through rulemaking, the factors it uses to measure the severity, magnitude, and
impact of a disaster. The proposed rule, which has a 60 day public
comment period, is intended to provide more objective and clear IA declaration factors and speed the declaration process,
including FEMA’s recommendation to the President on whether a major disaster
declaration authorizing IA is warranted.
The proposed rule largely expands and clarifies
current factors and aligns them with the data presently collected to support
the evaluation process and adds additional data sets easily accessible by states.
FEMA reviewed the current factors and the proposed rule intends to revise the
current factors by including: State Fiscal Capacity and Resource Availability,
Uninsured Home and Personal Property Losses, Disaster Impacted Population
Profile, Impact to Community Infrastructure, Casualties, and Disaster Related Unemployment.
Comments are due on January 11, 2016, and can be submitted
online.
The Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFG) opened for applications on Monday, December 7, and will close on Friday, January 15,
2016, at 5 p.m. ET. Grant guidance for this program is available at www.grants.gov and www.fema.gov/welcome-assistance-firefighters-grant-program.
The “Get Ready Guide” may also be useful for potential applicants and is provided to answer
questions and to help prepare grant applications.
The Department of
Homeland Security Appropriations Act, (Pub. L. 113-76) provides
$306,000,000 in AFG Program funding to assist fire departments and
nonaffiliated ambulance and emergency medical service organizations meet their
firefighting and emergency response needs. The AFG Program enables these
organizations to obtain the tools and resources necessary to more effectively
protect the health and safety of the public and emergency response personnel.
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