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The risk of having a home fire increases during the winter
months from
December through February.To help teach the public about winter
fire hazards and ways to prevent them, The National Fire Protection Association
(NFPA) and the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) are teaming up to promote “Put a
Freeze on Winter Fires.” Each week during the campaign, USFA will share
helpful, practical tips to help us make our homes and families safer.
Follow #wintersafety on Twitter @usfire and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/usfire
For
additional fire safety and prevention information, visit the U.S. Fire Administration.
With the impacts of several large flood disasters over the
past years, the National
Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) experienced situations where the cost of
policy claims far exceeded the amount of premiums and accumulated
surplus. This resulted in the NFIP incurring a debt to the U.S. Treasury
of $23 billion.
Through the Biggert-Waters
Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (BW-12) and the Homeowners
Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014, FEMA received the authority to
secure reinsurance from the private reinsurance and capital markets. In response, FEMA created the NFIP
Reinsurance Program with the primary objective to diversify the tools it uses
to manage the financial consequences of the government’s catastrophic flood
risk.
The NFIP Reinsurance Initiative Team took a measured step to
execute a small, reinsurance placement in September 2016 to identify and
resolve any barriers or issues in advance of a larger implementation. In
early January, FEMA plans to implement a larger reinsurance program at the
federal level.
On December 1, 2016, FEMA published a notice of its intended
reinsurance procurement for the NFIP. The official notice can be found here.
This notice includes all the procurement, contact information, and details on
how to submit a request for participation.
For more information about the Reinsurance Program visit https://www.fema.gov/national-flood-insurance-program-2016-reinsurance-initiative.
FEMA's Emergency Management Institute (EMI) Virtual Tabletop
Exercise (VTTX) program will offer a long term power outage scenario January
24, 25, and 26, 2017. The VTTX involves personnel discussing simulated
scenarios that can be used to develop plans, policies, training, and
procedures. EMI conducts a monthly series of VTTXs using a Video Teleconference
(VTC) platform to reach community-based training audiences around the country,
providing a virtual forum for disaster training.
The exercise is intended to provide an opportunity for
responders across the Nation to simultaneously participate in a hazard-specific
facilitated discussion. Participants will need to connect through a site
equipped with the appropriate VTC capability (not Adobe Connect or Face
Time-based). Alternate ways to participate are also available upon request.
The VTTX will occur 12 p.m. – 4 p.m. ET on each of the days listed above. To
participate, send an email to Doug Kahn at douglas.kahn@fema.dhs.gov
or call 301-447-7645. Also, send a courtesy copy email to the Integrated
Emergency Management Branch at fema-emi-iemb@fema.dhs.gov
or call 301-447-1381.The application deadline is December 13. Additional
information is available at https://training.fema.gov/programs/emivttx.aspx.
On November 2, 2016, FEMA finalized the Nuclear/Radiological
Incident Annex (NRIA) that serves as a supplement to the Federal Interagency
Operational Plan (FIOP) and National Response Framework (NRF). The Annex
provides hazard-specific supplemental information for Federal departments and
agencies to respond to threats or actual nuclear or radiological incidents,
whether resulting from accidents, deliberate acts, or natural disasters.
The Annex was developed by FEMA and an interagency planning
team that included the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department
of Health and Human Services, Department of Homeland Security, Department of
Transportation, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Bureau of
Investigation, National Nuclear Security Administration, and the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission.
The
NRIA describes the process and structures for Federal departments and agencies
to respond to threats or actual nuclear or radiological incidents resulting
from accidents, deliberate acts, or natural disasters. The Annex is an
excellent reference guide for states, tribes, and locals conducting their own
planning for nuclear and radiological incidents.
Please
visit FEMA’s website
to view the Annex. For any questions on the Annex or other FEMA Response plans,
please email response-planning@fema.dhs.gov.
Seeking Comments on Draft Disaster Resilience Indicators Concept
The deadline to submit inputs and feedback to the
Mitigation Federal Leadership Group (MitFLG) Disaster Resilience Indicators
Subcommittee’s “Draft
Interagency Concept for Community Resilience Indicators and National-Level
Progress Measures" is December 15, 2016. Stakeholders can submit comments and feedback to FEMA-CommunityResilience@fema.dhs.gov.
The document is the result of a year-long effort to identify potential indicators of community resilience capacity building that align with the Mitigation and Recovery Core Capabilities under the National Preparedness Goal. Learn more details about this initiative through FEMA and NOAA partnership here.
Applications Open for Integrated Emergency Management Courses
FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute (EMI)
conducts Integrated Emergency Management Courses (IEMC) throughout the year and
across the country. The four-and-a-half day training course is designed
specifically for communities, providing both lecture and exercise-based
training focused on response operations for a disaster or emergency that could
happen in their area.
IEMC courses simulate
realistic crisis situations that emergency operations center personnel and
community leadership/elected officials may encounter during disasters or other
events. Also, the course enhances the skills of participating officials
and provides a forum to evaluate the effectiveness of their specific emergency
policies, plans, and procedures to protect life and property. The course’s
target audience includes: state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) government
personnel; their SLTT elected and appointed officials; supervisory, operations, and
emergency support personnel; nonprofit organizations; the private sector; law
enforcement personnel; firefighters; attorneys; public information officers;
planners; and more.
IEMC classes are principally
delivered at FEMA’s EMI at the National Emergency
Training Center in Emmitsburg, Maryland; however, delivery may also occur
in the community. If your jurisdiction is interested in applying for the
program and obtaining information on the application process and its timeline,
please visit http://training.fema.gov/iemc/. The deadline for applications is
February 15, 2017. Questions should be directed to FEMA-EMI-IEMB@fema.dhs.gov.
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