|
On Nov. 1 and 2, FEMA will host the Civil Rights Summit 4.0: Advancing Environmental Justice. This summit will lead the critical conversation on civil rights and environmental justice in disaster activities and programs at FEMA.
This year's discussions will feature subject matter experts addressing the impact of environmental justice issues on protected groups and intersectionality, as well as initiatives to incorporate and support environmental justice within emergency management. Organized by the agency's Office of Equal Rights, the event will include presentations and panel discussions from FEMA leaders, experts from agencies across the federal government, representatives from nonprofit organizations and community leaders.
Continuous dialogue on civil rights is vital to FEMA’s efforts to address the needs of underserved communities more effectively. While progress has been made, there is more work to be done. The summit aims to foster collaborative dialogue that will identify actual and perceived biases affecting equal access to FEMA programs. The summit also aims to strengthen partnerships and provide next steps to move forward.
Gathering perspectives and feedback from civil rights partners, the public and FEMA’s workforce is critical so that FEMA can more effectively advance environmental justice before, during and after disasters.
Register here in advance to join the summit discussion!
Are you a parent or caregiver of a young child? You can download or order Prepare with Pedro: An Adventure in Emergency Preparedness Game and the Super-Prepared Penguin Expansion Pack. These resources teach children how to prepare for and stay safe during a disaster.
Learning what to expect and what to do before an emergency or disaster can help children feel less anxious and more confident and helps build a national culture of preparedness. Children can play this fun game on their own, with a friend or with a grown-up or at school!
The Prepare with Pedro: An Adventure in Emergency Preparedness Game, Super-Prepared Penguin Expansion Pack and score sheet are available for free digital download and mail order.
This new game is a companion to the 28-page activity book “Prepare with Pedro: Disaster Preparedness Activity Book” created by FEMA and the American Red Cross in 2018 to teach young children about emergency preparedness.
The FEMA App team is recruiting volunteers to join the Beta Testing program for the FEMA mobile app. Volunteers will provide feedback and help improve the FEMA disaster survivor experience for all users on mobile devices. Sign up for the Beta program at Become a FEMA App Beta Tester | FEMA.gov.
The FEMA App is a vital source of information for survivors. Ensuring its functionality is crucial to providing an accessible, frustration-free customer experience.
“As with all apps, the FEMA app needs to go through regular updates and feature enhancements,” said Digital Product Manager Olivia Delfert. “These updates show up differently depending on your phone, carrier, operating system and other factors. The more variety of users we have testing the app updates under different circumstances, the higher our chance of catching bugs before the updates are launched and the better our customer experience. We also want to capture a variety of users. People will interpret information differently, and we want to ensure the app is as intuitive as possible for everyone.”
While all testers are welcome, the team is particularly interested in hearing user perspectives from former disaster survivors, individuals with access and functional needs, Spanish App users and local hires. Testers will be given access to an app testing environment with a list of questions to guide their exploration, prompting them to provide feedback on different parts of the FEMA app on their personal phone prior to large FEMA app updates.
Please note that the beta versions of the FEMA app are early-stage iterations. They are still in development, contain known issues and are updated regularly.
To learn more about FEMA mobile products, including the FEMA App, visit FEMA Mobile Products | FEMA.gov.
FEMA is seeking public input on 12 draft documents related to ground Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and ambulance response as part of the National Incident Management System (NIMS)—the documents focus on public health, healthcare and EMS, including paramedics and ambulances.
These resource typing documents aim to enhance interoperability, developed to improve how different systems work together effectively to provide mutual aid where needed. They establish baseline qualifications and facilitate sharing resources that can be deployed across all jurisdiction levels.
National engagement provides an opportunity for stakeholders to review and comment on the draft documents, ensuring their relevance to all implementing partners.
To provide comments on the draft documents during the 30-day comment period, visit National Incident Management System | FEMA.gov, under the Public Feedback and Engagement section, then complete and submit the feedback form to FEMA-NIMS@fema.dhs.gov no later than 5 p.m. ET, Nov. 23.
Kentucky Residential and Community Saferoom Training for Registered Design Professionals
FEMA will host a free virtual saferoom training from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Oct. 25, for registered design professionals. Specifically, the training will provide an overview of Part B of the recently updated FEMA P-361 Safe Rooms for Tornadoes and Hurricanes: Guidance for Community and Residential Safety Rooms, Fourth Edition (2021).
FEMA P-361 presents updated and refined criteria for how to design and construct a safe room that provides near-absolute protection from wind and wind-borne debris for occupants. The focus on Part B of the FEMA P-361 publication consists of eight chapters. Each chapter directly corresponds to the latest changes referenced in the 2020 update to the consensus standard from the International Code Council® (ICC®) and the National Storm Shelter Association (NSSA®). This is the ICC/NSSA Standard for the Design and Construction of Storm Shelters (ICC 500).
You can register at this link.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Community Disaster Resilience Zones Informational Webinars
On Sept. 6, FEMA announced the first 483 Community Disaster Resilience Zones in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. FEMA used the National Risk Index and other tools to identify the census tracts across the country that are most at risk from the effects of natural hazards and climate change and have the greatest need.
These designated zones will receive technical assistance and financial support for projects that will help communities build resilience to natural hazards.
Join FEMA in an upcoming informational webinar to learn more about the vision for the Community Disaster Resilience Zones Act, the designation methodology and future opportunities for partnership and investment.
The content is the same for both sessions.
To learn more about the initial designations in each state and the District of Columbia and to view an interactive map, visit this webpage. FEMA will announce additional designations for tribal nations and territories later this fall.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
FEMA Publishes a Proposed Rule for Public Comment on the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard
FEMA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register for revisions to its floodplain management regulations at Title 44 Part 9 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR): Floodplain Management and Protection of Wetlands.
This is a 60-day public comment period open from Oct. 2 – Dec. 1, 2023. The proposed revisions fully implement the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard (FFRMS). The FFRMS increases the resilience of federally funded projects by incorporating anticipated changes in future flood risk into certain federally funded projects to ensure that those projects last as long as intended.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
|
