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As June 1 marks the beginning of the Atlantic hurricane season, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell visited the Florida International University’s Wall of Wind to announce the Biden-Harris Administration’s National Initiative to Advance Building Codes. The national initiative will help ensure that federally funded structures whether new or rehabilitated, are strong enough to withstand the frequency, strength and severity of extreme weather events.
The following officials joined FEMA Administrator Criswell for this announcement.
- White House Deputy National Climate Advisor, Ali Zaidi.
- US Housing and Urban Development Deputy Assistant Secretary for Grant Programs, Kevin Bush.
- Miami-Dade County Mayor, Daniella Levine Cava.
- Florida International University Interim President Kenneth A. Jessell.
- Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety President and CEO, Roy Wright.
- International Code Council Director of Building Safety, Michael Savage.
- National Science Foundation Associate Director for Engineering, Dr. Susan Margulies.
In April, FEMA released the agency’s “Building Codes Strategy” to organize and prioritize FEMA activities to advance the adoption and enforcement of hazard-resist building codes and standards for agency programs.
 FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell speaking to event attendees.
FEMA released its 2021 Annual Report: "The Voice of the Customer from the Office of the Flood Insurance Advocate." The report provides transparency about the National Flood Insurance Program’s ongoing improvements to reduce its complexity while advocating FEMA core values for policyholders and property owners.
This year, the Office reflects on inquiries spanning a range of topics including floodplain management, insurance, mitigation, mapping and mandatory purchase requirements while focusing on the underlying theme of affordability.
The report outlines five customer experiences, as follows:
- Flood Insurance – The Office of the Flood Insurance Advocate inquirers are worried about the rising cost of flood insurance.
- Mandatory Purchase Requirements–Mandatory purchase requirements of flood insurance confusing and unjust.
- Mapping and Risk Communication – Property owners are often faced with expensive choices based on Flood Insurance Rate Maps’ depiction of risk.
- Hazard Mitigation Assistance– Hazard Mitigation Assistance is difficult to traverse, slow, and not geared toward the individual property owner or underserved communities.
- Floodplain Management and Mitigation – Mitigating structures can be costly and floodplain management requirements are confusing for the average homeowner and their community.
To review the full report, visit FEMA.gov.
One of the FEMA’s responsibilities is to identify, prevent and mitigate fraud, waste and abuse of FEMA disaster funding. One-way FEMA achieves this is through collaboration with numerous partners, both internal and external to the agency.
Recently, FEMA assisted the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General with an investigation and resulting indictment into an organized fraud scheme involving multiple subjects across the United States. The subjects submitted fraudulent disaster applications to FEMA, using the stolen identities of actual disaster survivors, and loaded the disbursed funds onto pre-paid debit cards. The disbursed funds were used to purchase several money orders and then deposited into the bank account of one of the subjects.
Read more in the Department of Justice press release: Westbrook Woman Pleads Guilty to Serving as “Money Mule” in FEMA Funds Scam.
Through its many collaborations, FEMA receives and reviews thousands of fraud complaints a year. This prevents millions of dollars of funds from being disbursed to fraudulent applications or applicants.
After a disaster, scam artists, identity thieves and other criminals often attempt to take advantage of disaster survivors. We encourage survivors to watch for and report any suspicious activity.
To report fraud, email StopFEMAFraud@fema.dhs.gov or send a fax to 202-212-4926. You can also report fraud to Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General or the Department of Justice Fraud Hotline.
The FEMA Integrated Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) is celebrating the 10th anniversary the first of Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA). WEA is a tool for authorized government agencies to reach the American public via cell phones during emergencies.
In 2007, FEMA began modernizing the nation’s public alert and warning system by integrating new technologies into the existing alert systems. The new system, IPAWS, became operational in 2011. The first Wireless Emergency Alert was sent on June 28, 2012 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for a Flash Flood Warning in the Santa Fe, New Mexico area. Since then, over 70,000 WEAs have been sent over IPAWS.
Alerts are created and sent by authorized federal, state, local, tribal and territorial government agencies through IPAWS to participating wireless providers, which deliver the alerts to compatible handsets. To help ensure that these alerts are accessible to the entire public, including people with disabilities, the alerts are accompanied by a unique tone and vibration.
Today, IPAWS supports more than 1,700 federal, state, local, tribal and territorial users through a standardized message format. IPAWS enables public safety alerting authorities such as emergency managers, police, and fire departments to send the same alert and warning message over multiple communication pathways at the same time to people in harm’s way, helping to save lives.
A brief video of FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell speaking about the WEA anniversary is available on FEMA’s YouTube channel.
For more information on FEMA IPAWS, visit www.fema.gov/ipaws and www.ready.gov/alerts.
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FEMA Region 6 is offering a free online presentation on how houses of worship can take advantage of public assistance and hazard mitigation grants. FEMA developed a house of worship informational webinar designed to provide communities impacted by Hurricane Ida in Louisiana help with submitting grant applications for repairing or rebuilding damaged buildings. The webinar is open to the public.
Mitigation grants can help you reduce the risk of physical damage to your buildings and structures in a disaster, or help you rebuild stronger after.
You’ll learn the steps you need to take to apply for grants after a disaster is declared, including important points of contact for the process.
It’s free to apply, and grants will not affect your tax status. Invest now in a stronger foundation for your faith community.
FEMA will have captioning services for the webinars. If you need additional accommodations, send an email to Rebecca.Dake@fema.dhs.gov or Paul.Albertson@fema.dhs.gov. Last minute requests will be accepted but may not be possible to fulfill.
To learn more about how FEMA is helping faith-based communities, visit FEMA.gov.
FEMA is partnering with the U.S. Chambers of Commerce Foundation to host the 11th Annual Building Resilience Through Private-Public Partnerships Conference in Washington, D.C. from July 28-29.
The conference brings key players from government, nonprofits and the private sector to drive effective resilience programing through greater collaboration across sectors.
This year's agenda will include action-oriented roundtables and substantive discussions on the main stage, featuring perspectives from experts who are shaping resilience domestically and globally.
The conference includes a Resilience Network Reception and engaging breakout sessions for attendees to gain valuable networking opportunities with private, public and nongovernmental organization leaders.
The program is designed to inspire action and spark insightful discussions that will drive solutions to some of the greatest challenges. Speakers will address key issues such as ensuring equity in disaster response, supply chain coordination, cross-sector collaboration, climate adaptation, pre-disaster resilience investment and more.
The conference is free to attend. To learn more, visit U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
Your pets are an important part of your family, and they rely on you to keep them safe. Are you prepared to keep them stay safe when a disaster occurs?
You may have to evacuate quickly or may be separated from them when something happens. By making a plan to prepare your pets for disasters, you can prevent having to make impossible decisions about your beloved pet and can give them their best chance of staying safe during and after a disaster.
Things to consider when making a plan:
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Have an evacuation plan for your pet. Many public shelters and hotels do not allow pets inside. Know a safe place where you can take your pets before disasters and emergencies happen.
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Develop a buddy system. Plan with neighbors, friends or relatives to make sure that someone is available to care for or evacuate your pets if you are unable to do so.
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Have your pet microchipped. Make sure to keep your address and phone number up-to-date and include contact information for an emergency contact outside of your immediate area.
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Contact your local emergency management office, animal shelter or animal control office to get additional advice and information if you’re unsure how to care for your pet in case of an emergency.
Keep that plan, and what you need for your pet’s care in an emergency kit tailored specifically to their needs. Here are the top 10 items recommended for your kit:
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Food. Keep several days’ supply of food in an airtight, waterproof container.
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Water. Store a water bowl and several days’ supply of water.
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Medicine. Keep an extra supply of the medicine your pet takes on a regular basis in a waterproof container.
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First aid kit. Talk to your veterinarian about what is most appropriate for your pet’s emergency medical needs.
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Collar with ID tag and a harness or leash. Include a backup leash, collar and ID tag. Have copies of your pet’s registration information and other relevant documents in a waterproof container and available electronically.
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Traveling bag, crate or sturdy carrier, ideally one for each pet.
For more Pets and Animals Preparedness tips, visit Ready.gov.
FEMA Provides Funding for National Standards in Emergency Management
FEMA made $825,000 in funding available for the FY2022 Emergency Management Baseline Assessment Grant program. The program supports investment in national level standards for emergency management that target critical functions necessary to prepare for and manage disasters.
This application period closes at 5 p.m. ET on July 7.
The program provides funding for:
- Supporting Emergency Management Program Accreditation.
- Supporting Emergency Manager Certification.
State, local, tribal and territorial jurisdictions are eligible to apply for an Emergency Management Baseline Assessment Grant. Initial applications must be submitted through Grants.gov. FEMA will notify eligible applicants to proceed with submitting their complete application package in the Non-Disaster (ND) Grants System by the application deadline.
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Save the Date for Extreme Heat Forum
June, the Resilient Nation Partnership Network’s topic during the monthly Ideation Hour is Extreme Heat Resilience.
The discussion will focus on the impacts of extreme heat across the country. We encourage you to bring your resilience ideas, projects, resources and collaboration opportunities to the conversation.
This event will be on ZOOM at 1 p.m. on June 29. Registration is now open.
To learn more about the Resilient Nation Partnership network, visit FEMA.gov. For additional information on heat awareness, including tips on how to stay prepared, visit Ready.gov.
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FEMA Releases Resource Typing Documents
FEMA is seeking public feedback on the Radio Direction Finding Team resource typing definition. This 30-day national engagement period will conclude at 5 p.m. ET on June 24.
The Radio Direction Finding Team is responsible for conducting electronic direction-finding operations in support of search and rescue operations. The document has been updated and only has specifications for Type 1 or Type 2 Radio Direction Finding NIMS-typed teams.
This resource typing document enhances the interoperability and effectiveness of mutual aid by establishing baseline qualifications for Radio Direction Finding NIMS-typed teams. This facilitates the sharing of deployable resources at all jurisdictional levels.
National engagement provides an opportunity for interested parties to comment on the draft documents to ensure they are relevant to all implementing partners.
To provide comments on the draft documents, complete the feedback form and submit the form to FEMA-NIMS@fema.dhs.gov no later than 5 p.m. ET on June 24.
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FEMA Publishes Mitigation Funding Opportunity
FEMA published on Grants.gov the Fiscal Year 2022 funding opportunity making approximately $154 million available to support 68 mitigation projects nationwide.
The funding for these projects will be made available through FEMA’s Pre-Disaster Mitigation grant program, in addition to funds provided through other FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Assistance programs.
These funds are available to specific state, local, tribal and territorial governments to plan for and implement sustainable cost-effective mitigation measures to reduce the risk to individuals and property from future natural hazards while also reducing reliance on federal funding from future disasters.
Communities with projects identified for funding must apply by June 24.
While FEMA expects to make awards prior to Sept. 30, the agency will only disburse funding once all program eligibility criteria are met.
For general questions about Pre-Disaster Grant congressional community projects, please contact the appropriate State Hazard Mitigation Officer or FEMA Regional Office. The Hazard Mitigation Assistance Helpline is also available by telephone at 866-222-3580.
FEMA will offer a webinar series for applicants. To register for an upcoming webinar, visit FEMA.gov.
For additional information, email FEMA-Ask-PDM@fema.dhs.gov.
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FEMA Accepting Community Assistance Grant Applications
The Community Assistance Program State Support Services Element FY22 funding opportunity is posted on Grants.gov. The final application due date for the grant is June 20.
The Community Assistance Program's – state support services element helps states proactively identify, prevent and resolve floodplain management issues in participating communities before a flood event occurs. The program provides funding to states to provide technical assistance to communities in the National Flood Insurance Program and to evaluate community performance in implementing floodplain management activities.
Please note that June 20 is a federal holiday to observe Juneteenth. State NFIP coordinating offices should continue to work with their FEMA regional coordinators to finalize their proposals ahead of submission. To learn more about the program, visit FEMA.gov.
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FEMA Hosts Nonprofit Security Grant Webinars
Gain insight how the fiscal year 2022 Nonprofit Security Grant Program can help your faith-based, community or nonprofit organizations by joining one of the upcoming webinars.
Each webinar will last approximately 90 minutes and will be followed by a question-and-answer session. Each session will present the same content. Preregistration is required for the webinars.
Click on a link below for your preferred time:
If you have any questions regarding these webinars or require special accommodations, please send an email to FEMA-NSGP@fema.dhs.gov.
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FEMA Hosts HURREVAC Webinar Series
From June 6 – 10, FEMA's National Hurricane Program will host a five-day HURREVAC training for emergency managers. Each day, sessions will start at 2 p.m. ET and will run 60 – 90 minutes.
Webinar topics include:
- Wind Forecast Features: June 7.
- Evacuation Timing Features: June 8.
- Storm Surge and Other Water Hazards: June 9.
- Exercise Tools and Applying HURREVAC: June 10.
HURREVAC is a free web-based decision-support tool that assists emergency managers by providing information and tools to inform hurricane response decisions in advance of a threatening storm. Interested emergency managers can register now for this annual HURREVAC webinar series.
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