From June 7-10, Emergency
Operations and Coordination Centers at all levels of government, including state agencies, tribal nations, cities, counties, federal officials, the military, non-government organizations and the
private sector will participate
in a simulated field response
operation intended to prepare communities in the Pacific Northwest for an
earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ).
This large-scale drill, known as the Cascadia Rising exercise,
will simulate response efforts following a magnitude-9.0 earthquake along the
CSZ and a resulting tsunami to prepare emergency management and public safety
officials in the Pacific Northwest for a catastrophic
disaster scenario impacting their jurisdictions and neighboring
communities. One of the primary goals of Cascadia Rising is to train and test a whole community approach to complex disaster operations as a
joint team.
The CSZ spans from northern California to southern British
Columbia. This subduction zone can produce earthquakes as large as magnitude-9.0
and corresponding tsunamis. Scientific evidence indicates that a magnitude-8.0
to 9.0 earthquake occurs along the 800-mile fault on average once every 200 to
500 years. The last major earthquake and tsunami along the fault occurred over
300 years ago in 1700.
A July 2015 article, "The Really Big One," in the New Yorker drew national attention to the possibility of a large-scale event occurring along the CSZ. To read more about the Cascadia Rising 2016 exercise, visit FEMA.gov.
(Photo credit: White House Faceboook page)
President Barack Obama visited FEMA Headquarters on Tuesday, May 31, for the Annual Hurricane Preparedness Briefing in advance of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1.
During his visit, Obama emphasized the role all citizens play in disaster preparedness.
"One of the things that we have learned over the course of the last seven and a half years is that government plays a vital role, but it is every citizen’s responsibility to be prepared for a disaster," Obama said. "And that means taking proactive steps, like having an evacuation plan, having a fully stocked disaster supply kit."
The president also encouraged downloading the FEMA App, as well as visiting Ready.gov to obtain resources to help with preparing for a disaster.
To read the president's full remarks, visit www.whitehouse.gov.
On
May 27, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
issued its outlook for the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season, which runs
from June 1 through November 30. According to NOAA's Climate Prediction
Center, the 2016 Atlantic hurricane
season will most likely be
near-normal. However, predicting the formation of Atlantic storms is
particularly difficult due to forecast uncertainty in climate signals. NOAA will issue
an updated outlook for the Atlantic hurricane season in early August, just
prior to the peak of the season. To read the full press release, visit noaa.gov.
FEMA Administrator Craig
Fugate joined National Hurricane Center (NHC) Director Dr. Rick Knabb
for NHC's annual media day in Miami on June 1, marking the first official day of
the Atlantic hurricane season. Visit the White House blog to read Fugate's latest post, "Three Actions to Take Now to Prepare for Hurricane Season."
On Thursday, May 26, FEMA, the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH) and
Johnson County Emergency Management presented the first Ready Business
Workshop in Olathe, Kansas.
More than 80 representatives from organizations including AIG,
American Red Cross, Cisco Systems, FLASH, Garmin, Kansas City Power & Light, Saint
Luke’s Health Systems, Shawnee Mission Medical Center, Sprint, UPS, Walgreens
and Waste Management attended the workshop, which focused on the severe wind
and tornado threat to the region.
Johnson County Emergency Management Coordinator Dan Robeson and FEMA Region
VII Regional Administrator Beth Freeman welcomed participants and provided opening remarks. Leslie
Chapman-Henderson, FLASH President and CEO, introduced the audience to the new Ready Business Toolkit and
Workshop series.
National Weather Service representatives provided an overview of local severe wind and tornado threats. Moore, Oklahoma, City Councilman and State Farm Agent Terry Cavnar presented the new
Back-to-Business Self-Assessment tool, along with his
own personal account of experiencing multiple, deadly tornadoes while at work.
The morning session concluded with a panel discussion on best
practices for business readiness. Johnson County Community College's Emergency Preparedness
Coordinator Alisa Pacer stressed the importance of
refreshing tornado procedures through drilling, and highlighted her “Building
Emergency Leaders” program that trains students and staff to help move
the public into or away from structures as emergency conditions arise.
The afternoon session coincided with a real-world tornado
warning in the Greater Kansas City community as the group moved through a
tabletop exercise focused on public-private coordination before, during, and
after a disaster.
Future workshops will include toolkits for severe wind, tornado, inland
flooding and power outage. Each will also include a community-based,
public-private operational coordination exercise.
For more information
about Ready Business Workshops, contact the FEMA Private Sector Division at
FEMA-Private-Sector@fema.dhs.gov.
FEMA's Ready Campaign released a Pet Preparedness Social Media Toolkit. This toolkit offers safety and preparedness
messages you can share on your social media channels by either
copying these messages directly or customizing them to reach your audience.
The Pet Preparedness Social Media Toolkit offers tips on pet preparedness, graphics and videos to enhance social media posts, as well as guidance on hashtag and emoji usage. Visit Ready.gov to learn more.
FEMA’s Individual and Community Preparedness Division (ICPD) developed a new training course entitled, Building a Roadmap to Resilience: A Whole Community Training. This course is designed to inspire and provide participants with information intended to increase a community’s resilience through the whole community approach to emergency management. On July 25-27, 2016, ICPD and the Emergency Management Institute will host the first delivery of this course at the National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
FEMA published "A Whole Community Approach to Emergency Management: Principles, Themes, and Pathways for Action" in December 2011, outlining a community-centric approach focusing on team strengths and capabilities to better prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate against all hazards. Building a Roadmap to Resilience is intended to build upon the findings of FEMA as well as best practices uncovered by local efforts and turn them into manageable actions that local government entities can implement. Participants in this course will be provided the tools and knowledge to establish a community coalition and to encourage community leaders to make resiliency gains within the unique circumstances of their jurisdiction.
The target audience for this course includes community stakeholders interested in disaster resilience, and emergency management professionals with less than three years of experience who support or implement inclusive emergency management, community disaster planning, preparedness activities, and community outreach partners at the state and local levels.
If you know of individuals who may be interested in attending this offering, please direct them to their State Training Officer (or point of contact) to submit a FEMA Form 119-25-1, General Admissions Application. The deadline to register is June 20, 2016. For more information, contact Matthew Lyttle at matthew.lyttle@fema.dhs.gov.
Emergency Alert System Test Scheduled for June 15
FEMA, in
coordination with state, local, tribal, and territorial emergency
managers and state broadcasters’ associations, will conduct a test of
the Emergency Alert System (EAS) in nine states on Wednesday, June 15, 2016 at 4:20 p.m. EDT. Broadcasters
from the following locations are voluntarily participating in the test:
California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, South
Dakota, Wyoming and Washington. The EAS test might also be
seen and heard in states and tribal areas, as well as parts of Canada and Mexico, that border participating
states. The EAS test is made available
to radio, broadcast and cable television systems and is scheduled to
last approximately one minute.
The test will verify the delivery and broadcast, and assess the readiness for distribution of a national-level test message. The
next national test is scheduled for September 28, 2016. Results from
this test will support preparations and improvements leading up to the
national test. More information on the Integrated Public
Alert and Warning System and Wireless Emergency Alerts is available at www.fema.gov/ipaws or www.ready.gov/alerts.
Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grant Applications Due June 15
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.
Emergency Management Institute's Master Exercise Practitioner Program
The Master Exercise Practitioner Program application period is open until July 1, 2016. Participants in the program are assigned to an exercise
planning team where they are challenged to: demonstrate their expertise
at all levels of exercise design and conduct; and apply best practices and
lessons learned from their organizations and experience. Contact fema-emi-iemb@fema.dhs.gov for more information.
FEMA Tribal Consultation Period on Hazard Mitigation Planning Continues Until July 8
FEMA is updating
its policy that guides how Agency officials interpret regulatory
requirements in their review and approval of tribal mitigation plans.
FEMA is seeking feedback from tribal
governments regarding this updated policy, “Tribal Mitigation Plan Review Guide.” Tribal officials’ suggestions and comments will inform
further development of the Tribal Mitigation Plan Review Guide.
Tribal officials can submit comments on the Tribal Mitigation Plan Review Guide: Key Concepts document until July 8, 2016, either by e-mail to tribalconsultation@fema.dhs.gov
or by mail to ATTN: Tyler Corson-Rikert, Federal Insurance and
Mitigation Administration (FIMA), DHS/FEMA, 400 C Street SW, Suite 313,
Washington, DC 20472-3020. Visit FEMA’s Tribal Affairs web page for more information on the tribal consultation period for this policy.
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