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On June 8, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell announced the 2023 National Preparedness Month Ready campaign will focus on helping prepare older adults and their caregivers before disasters strike.
“With the Atlantic hurricane season now underway, it is imperative that we advocate for the well-being of our nation’s older adults and champion them as valued, honored and respected members of our communities,” said Administrator Criswell.
“We know older adults can face greater risks when it comes to the multitude of extreme weather events and emergencies we now face, especially if they are living alone, are low-income, have a disability or live in rural areas. Through our Ready Campaign, FEMA is evolving the way we engage with communities to be more inclusive and impactful than ever before, which includes meeting older adults where they are and getting them the preparedness resources, they need and deserve.”
Criswell urged FEMA’s partners to take advantage of all the materials to reach older adults on the new webpage available in English and Spanish languages at Ready.gov/older-adults and Ready.gov/es/adultos-mayores, which features items for National Preparedness Month.
Additional resources will be posted in the coming weeks.
FEMA’s most valuable asset is our experienced emergency management staff. We are continuously looking for skilled individuals to join our ranks. FEMA employees help our country before, during and after disasters. While many people associate FEMA with the height of catastrophic disasters, we feel our role preparing for and preventing disasters to be just as important to our success as an agency.
An example of these mitigation efforts is FEMA’s Building Codes Strategy. The strategy outlines how to coordinate, prioritize and advance the adoption and enforcement of disaster-resistant building codes and standards for agency programs and communities nationwide. This effort will guide FEMA’s efforts to integrate building codes and standards across the agency as well as strengthen nationwide capability for superior building performance.
In each of the FEMA regions, there will be positions to support the implementation of hazard-resistant building codes and standards in federal programs, state, local, tribal and territorial entities, as well as other organizations.
As part of this effort, FEMA Region 2 has announced an opportunity for an Interdisciplinary Architect/Civil Engineer, available through June 20 or when it reaches 100 applications.
To find out about other opportunities to work with FEMA, visit USAJobs.gov. For more information, email fema-building-codes-program@fema.dhs.gov.
Several members of FEMA Incident Management Assistance Teams (IMAT) recently completed the IMAT Leadership Academy at the Naval Postgraduate School at the Center for Homeland Defense and Security in Monterey, California.
The multi-phase academy encompassed facilitated discussion designed to develop the leadership and soft skills necessary to respond to complex incidents. Some of the topics included leading high performing teams, leading negotiations and organizational influence. The students enjoyed interactive presentations from retired Lt. General Jeffrey Buchanan; Jim Featherstone, who served the City of Los Angeles for 30 years; retired General George W. Casey; and instructors from Cornell University.
The distinguished presenters addressed leadership versus management and how to differentiate between what is urgent versus what is important. The interactive structure of the course allowed for cross collaboration and team building with the staff representing the 13 regional and four National teams present at the training.
FEMA IMATs are rapidly deployable emergency response teams that support the initial establishment of unified command and provide situational awareness for federal and state decision-makers. When not deployed, IMATs are responsible for building and maintaining a close working relationship with state, local, Tribal and territorial emergency management officials, federal partners and the private sector to support planning, training, exercising and other activities in preparation for disaster response.
Additional cohorts will be announced in Fall 2023. To learn more about FEMA IMATs and field operations, visit FEMA.gov.
 FEMA IMAT representatives stand at the front of the Center for Homeland Defense and Security campus after graduation.
FEMA Updates Engaging Faith-Based and Community Organizations Planning Guide
FEMA and the DHS Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships are updating, “Engaging Faith-Based and Community Organizations: Planning Considerations for Emergency Managers.”
The document outlines best practices for engaging faith-based and community organizations before, during and after disasters to help jurisdictions improve their resilience and emergency management capabilities. FEMA will host a webinar at 3 p.m. ET on June 20 to provide an overview of the 2018 publication and include a facilitated discussion to gather feedback on areas to improve the guide.
To learn more about the update effort and listening sessions, visit FEMA.gov.
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National Hurricane Program Hosts HURREVAC Webinar Series for Emergency Managers
From June 12 – 16, FEMA's National Hurricane Program is hosting a HURREVAC training for emergency managers.
Each webinar will begin at 2 p.m. ET, topics include:
- Evacuation Timing Features: June 14.
- Storm Surge and Other Water Hazards: June 15.
- Exercise Tools and Applying HURREVAC: June 16.
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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$12M Available for Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grants
FEMA released the funding notice for the Fiscal Year 2023 Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program. The program provides $12 million to eligible states and local governments to close known preparedness capability gaps, encourage innovative regional solutions to issues related to catastrophic incidents and build on existing regional preparedness efforts.
Awards will be made on a competitive basis to applicants who present an ability to successfully meet the requirements described in the funding notice.
The application period will remain open until 5 p.m. ET on July 24. Submissions must be made through Grants.gov. The Notice of Funding Opportunity is available on Grants.gov as well as on FEMA.gov.
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Application Period Open for the National Dam Safety Program State Assistant Grant
FEMA announced that the Fiscal Year 2023 National Dam Safety Program, State Assistance Grants funding opportunity is published in Grants.gov. The application period will close July 21.
The National Dam Safety Program helpline is available 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. ET, Monday - Friday. For questions, email FEMA-NDSP-HHPDGrants@fema.dhs.gov. For more information, visit FEMA's Dam Safety webpage. For more information about the National Dam Safety Program, visit FEMA.gov.
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