 Americans have been moving from awareness into action to prepare for disasters and save lives with America’s PrepareAthon!, a grassroots, community-based campaign to create a more prepared nation. On April 30, National PrepareAthon! Day encourages all Americans to know what to do when a disaster occurs, to get involved and to get prepared now and throughout the year.
In addition to last week's preparedness tips, here are more
actions you can take to get yourself and your family prepared for emergencies and disasters:
• Sign up for local alerts and warnings from school, work, or your local government.
• Know your community’s plans for evacuation and the evacuation route where you live.
• Plan with neighbors to help each other and share resources.
April is also Financial Literacy Month, and a good time to evaluate if your finances are prepared for an emergency. There are steps you and your family can take to ensure a strong financial future before, during and after a disaster or emergency. Starting early and having adequate
insurance, a plan to pay your bills and access to your important records
and accounts will help you get back on your feet faster and avoid
problems with your credit when you need it most. Visit Ready.gov for tips on how to be financially prepared for an emergency.
In recognition of Financial Literacy Month, America’s PrepareAthon! will host a Periscope broadcast on Wednesday, April 6 at 2:00 p.m. EDT.
The broadcast will present a conversation among financial and insurance
industry professionals to discuss ways to get prepared for a natural
disaster, including documenting and insuring property, and safeguarding financial information. Follow @PrepareAthon on Periscope, and share this announcement
with your family and friends.
For
ideas and information on other things you can do for America’s PrepareAthon!,
visit the website at ready.gov/prepare.
FEMA congratulates the 28 students who graduated from the National Emergency Management Basic Academy on March 24, 2016. These students 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, state, and local governments, higher education and military.
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 provide a lifetime of learning for emergency management professionals and includes three separate, but closely related, training programs building from the Basic Academy to the National Emergency Management Advanced Academy, 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; culminating in the National Emergency Management Executive Academy, 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.
For more information about the three academies and their respective focus, emergency management professionals should visit www.training.fema.gov/empp.
Congratulations, graduates!
On March 31, 2016, FEMA released the FEMA Damage Assessment Operating Manual. The manual establishes national damage assessment standards developed from lessons learned and best practices already in use and is intended to increase the accuracy, consistency, and efficiency of damage assessments by empowering emergency management at all levels with clear information and defined roles and responsibilities.
The manual was created by FEMA subject-matter experts and incorporates the perspectives and experience of local, state, and tribal emergency management, voluntary agency representatives and private sector partners. FEMA’s public comment period and tribal consultation resulted in over 1,700 comments that were then incorporated into the manual. The standards put forth in the manual will be the national standard utilized by states and tribes conducting damage assessments after disasters.
On April 1, 2016, FEMA issued the final policy, Stafford Act Section 705, Disaster Grant Closeout Procedures. This policy provides clarity to FEMA’s requirements under Section 705 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act and establishes guidelines to determine whether Section 705 applies to prohibit FEMA from recovering payments made under the Public Assistance program. The new policy will ensure
consistent application of FEMA’s Public Assistance de-obligation requirements
and limitations under the law.
The finalization of this policy follows a Federal Register public comment period where FEMA received over 30 comments from a range of intergovernmental stakeholders. FEMA worked diligently to incorporate those comments, and the resulting policy lays out a clear path forward for FEMA and state, local, tribal and territorial governments on any potential de-obligation of Public Assistance funding.
To view the policy, please visit the Federal Register.
Comment Period for Tribal Declarations Pilot Guidance
In early January, FEMA entered the next phase of tribal consultation for
the Stafford Act disaster declaration process for tribal governments. The draft
guidance is posted to the Federal Register
and will be available for comment until April 7, 2016. Additional
information regarding the consultation process may be found at Second Draft
Tribal Declaration Pilot Guidance.
Webinar: Discussing America’s PrepareAthon! with Tribal Communities
FEMA will
host a webinar to provide an overview of America’s PrepareAthon! and
offer ways tribal communities are able to participate in this national
preparedness campaign. Hosted by the Individual and Community
Preparedness Division and FEMA's Office of External Affairs, Tribal Affairs,
the webinar will showcase preparedness efforts from tribal communities.
The Community Discussion: An Overview of America’s PrepareAthon! and the Ways to Participate takes place on Thursday, April 7, 2016 from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. EDT. Featured speakers include: Teresa Gregor, InterTribal Long Term Recovery Foundation;
Kaleigh Good, Eastern Shoshone Tribe; and Helen Bonner, Sherman Indian
High School.
To join the Webinar, register via the Adobe Connect web link. Test your Adobe Connect connection prior to the meeting. This webinar will offer closed captioning.
For ideas and information on other things you can do for America’s PrepareAthon!, visit the website at ready.gov/prepare to read preparedness stories, participate in events in your area, access resources,and register your preparedness activities.
Webinar: Road to Resilience
The Joplin Disaster Recovery Summit is hosting a two-day session on May 19-20 about the lessons learned through the recovery journeys of several southwestern Missouri communities affected by a devastating tornado in May 2011. The opening session, "Road to Resilience," will be available via webinar on Thursday, May 19 from 2:30 – 4:15 p.m. EDT/1:30 – 3:15 p.m. CDT. To register for the webinar, send an email to FEMARegion7info@fema.dhs.gov with your full name, organization, phone number, and email address.
The cost to register for the two-day summit is $75 per person and registration is limited to 300 participants. Individuals requiring reasonable accommodations for either the two-day summit or the webinar should contact FEMARegion7info@fema.dhs.gov by May 5, 2016.
Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grant Application Information
FEMA announced the Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFO) for the FY 2016 Pre-Disaster Mitigation and Flood Mitigation Assistance
grant programs. 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. The NOFO for each program is posted on Grants.gov and contains the key program priorities and application requirements. Applications are due by 3:00 p.m. EDT on June 15, 2016.
National Training, Education, and Exercise Symposium: Requirements-Based Investments to Build National Capabilities, May 24-26. The registration deadline is April 12, 2016. For more information, contact the EMI National Training Liaison, Dan Lubman.
The 18th Annual Emergency Management Higher Education Symposium, “Whole of Community-Talking about My Generation”, will be held June 6-9, 2016,
in Emmitsburg, Maryland. The event brings together representatives of
colleges and universities that have, or are planning to offer, a
disaster management program. The registration deadline is May 13, 2016.
For additional information, visit EMI's Emergency Management Training, Virtual Tabletop Exercises and Course Schedule.
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