March 2023

What do you want to see out of Partners in Preparedness this year?

Please take a few minutes to complete this short survey about Partners in Preparedness. We'd like to know what's been most helpful to you and your organization with the program so far, and what type of communications would best help your community in the future! https://forms.office.com/g/E0jaQxyYD9

It's Severe Weather Awareness Week!

VDEM and the National Weather Service's (NWS) Severe Weather Awareness Week and Virginia Statewide Tornado Drill are happening this week. VDEM and NWS plan to refresh, remind, and educate everyone about the seasonal threats from severe weather and how to avoid them. We're also encouraging people to make and practice their emergency plans. 

MONDAY: Watch vs Warning

TUESDAY: Tornadoes

WEDNESDAY: Severe Thunderstorms (Hail, Lightning, and Wind)

THURSDAY: Flash Flooding

FRIDAY: Outdoor Weather Safety

The tornado drill will occur Tuesday at precisely 9:45 a.m. Every individual, school, business, workplace, and family across the commonwealth is strongly encouraged to participate. 

The drill will be broadcast on NOAA Weather Radio and the Emergency Alert System via the Required Monthly Test (RMT). There WILL NOT be an actual Tornado Warning issued.

Most NOAA Weather Radio receivers (including the Midland WR-100 that many schools have) DO NOT sound an audible alert for the RMT product, but instead, may have a blinking light on the display to indicate that an RMT was received. As such, when the RMT for the statewide tornado drill is initiated at 9:45 a.m. on Tuesday, March 7, 2023, there’s a good chance that your NOAA Weather Radio will not automatically sound an alarm.

Since your NOAA Weather Radio may not sound an alarm at the time the RMT is issued, you will want to do one of the following: turn your radio on to listen to the broadcast by 9:40 a.m. and when you hear the alert, simply start your tornado drill at 9:45 a.m. If you do not have an NOAA Weather Radio simply start your drill and enact your safety plan at 9:45 a.m.

There will be no follow-up statements issued by the NWS to mark the end of the statewide tornado drill. It will simply be over when your group, school, business, organization, or family feels that you have adequately practiced your tornado shelter procedures.

Nonprofit Security Grant Program now open!

FEMA has released the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the FY 2023 Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP). This grant provides $152.5M in funding support for target hardening and other physical security enhancements and activities to eligible nonprofit organizations that are at high risk of terrorist attack in Virginia.

Each applicant will identify one of three Virginia area designations. There are three regional area State Administrative Agency (SAA) designations in Virginia: Hampton Roads Designated Urban Area, National Capital Region Designated Urban Area, and Virginia Applicants Located in Other Areas Other Than Designated Urban Areas. Applications will only be accepted online through the designated area application portal.

Here are key Virginia applicants (non-designate urban areas) dates:

• Application period: March 6, 2023 – April 21, 2023 11:59:59 EST
• Projected Period of Performance (POP) is October 1, 2023 – June 30, 2025

There will be pre-application webinar on March 17, 2023 from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The link to join the webinar can be found here.

Here are more ways to join the pre-application workshop:

Join from the meeting link: 

https://covaconf.webex.com/covaconf/j.php?MTID=mf659d4bf34bf1465efbba5e0e903e3b1

Join by meeting number:

Meeting number (access code): 2438 764 7984

Meeting password: qjU38pvpA4j

Tap to join from a mobile device (attendees only)

+1-517-466-2023,,24387647984## US Toll

+1-866-692-4530,,24387647984## US Toll Free

Join by phone

+1-517-466-2023 US Toll

+1-866-692-4530 US Toll Free

Global call-in numbers | Toll-free calling restrictions

Join from a video system or application

Dial 24387647984@covaconf.webex.com

You can also dial 173.243.2.68 and enter your meeting number.

Need help? Go to https://help.webex.com

For more information, please visit our website and FEMA’s fact sheet.

Mass Casualty Impact & Recovery seminar for private sector

Private Sector Preparedness Response and Recovery (PSPR2) is holding a monthly seminar series titled,
“Mass Casualty Impact and Recovery,” which examines how businesses can better prepare, respond and recover from active shooter and other mass casualty events.
Each 90-minute seminar will include subject matter experts from business and the government sharing critical infrastructure best practices, valuable lessons, and planning resources and tools to assist with mass casualty impact and recovery. This series is designed for companies and organizations interested in enhancing their knowledge and understanding of the impact and recovery of a mass casualty event. Courses are not cumulative and may be taken individually. Each course counts toward continuing education with CEU credits.

When: 12:00p.m., the third Thursday of every month from March 16 - November 16, 2023
Venue: Virtual Microsoft Teams live (hosted on P4)

Session 1: Mar 16 - Introduction to Recovering from a Mass Casualty Incident
Session 2: Apr 20 - It’s a Crime Scene – Addressing Immediate Needs
Session 3: May 18 - Setting Up Crisis Communications for Media Response
Session 4: June 15 - When the Crime Tape Comes Down: Providing Immediate Crisis Support
Session 5: July 20 - Reopening and Resuming Operations
Session 6: Aug 17 - The Immediate Aftermath: What Short Term Recovery Looks Like
Session 7: Sept 21 - Negotiating Mid to Long Term Recovery (NY)
Session 8: Oct 19 - Post Incident Scams and Fraud
Session 9: Nov 16 - Civil and Criminal Judicial Processes

More Course Info and Registration

VDEM is hiring!

Regional Hazardous Materials Officer, Farmville VA

The Virginia Department of Emergency Management is seeking qualified candidates to join our Region 3 office as a Hazardous Materials Officer. For more information about the region, please visit https://www.vaemergency.gov/divisions/regions-and-local/region-three/

The Hazardous Materials Officer (Hazmat Officer) position provides guidance, training, response and recovery assistance to local governments, tribal organizations and state agencies during hazardous materials emergencies or disasters. This position will be required to enter hazardous areas for the purpose of assessment or mitigation. The Hazmat Officer will be required to assist in the implementation of the Commonwealth's hazardous materials emergency response program and help enhance local and tribal hazardous materials emergency response capabilities. In addition, this position will be assigned secondary duties in support of VDEM All-Hazard preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery efforts. This position requires frequent travel and participate in the on-call rotation. The selected candidate will be required to obtain the Virginia Hazardous Material Specialist certification within twelve months of employment.
Please see job posting for additional information: Regional Hazard Materials Officer - Prince Edward, Virginia, United States

Global Survey for Persons with Disability in Disaster-Prone Areas

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) is once again conducting a survey designed for persons with Disability or caregivers to share their experience of living in disaster-prone areas. It will be open until March 31, 2023. The survey is currently available in Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.

Click here to take the survey

(Note: the survey link is in English; to change the language, click on the top-right dropdown arrow that has Text: "English United States")

This is a 10-year follow-up to a 2013 survey done by the UNDRR (then called UNISDR), to ascertain the needs of persons with disabilities and disasters. Those survey results are still cited in the UNISDR 2013 Survey on Living with Disabilities and Disasters - Key Findings.

In this new survey, UNDRR is again inviting persons with disability and other members of society to express their concerns, needs and recommendations.

The background to the survey is the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. It is the main international agreement aimed at reducing risk and harm from disasters and it mentions persons with disability as key stakeholders.

The purpose of the survey is to review whether the one billion persons with disability and living with disaster risk today are more involved in planning and decision-making processes to reduce risk or build resilience than we were in 2015, when the Sendai Framework was adopted.

The findings from this survey will be used to influence the remaining 7 years of the Sendai Framework’s implementation until 2030. In particular, it will help to inform a Mid-Term Review which is being done by countries, regional organizations, and the United Nations.

The Mid-Term Review will conclude in May 2023 at a high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly. Its outcome will be important for future implementation of the Sendai Framework and how much priority is given to the needs and rights of persons with disability. It will also feed into other United Nations meetings and summits on sustainable development and climate change.

News around the Commonwealth

Six projects selected for Land and Water Conservation Fund grants

With spring rains and hurricane season coming, Virginians urged to protect their property from flooding

Flooding is the most common and costly natural disaster. With spring rains — followed by hurricane season — rapidly approaching, flood preparedness is a must for Virginia's homeowners, renters and business owners.   

“Floods are a significant threat, not only in coastal areas, but across the commonwealth. Our goal is to empower people to assess their flood risk and take the necessary actions to protect their homes and property,” said Matthew Wells, director of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.  

DCR coordinates the state’s flood-protection activities and helps communities benefit from the National Flood Insurance Program, which allows residents of nearly 90% of Virginia’s communities to purchase federally backed flood insurance.  

“DCR’s Flood Awareness website offers tools and information including fact sheets, a cost calculator and a risk-assessment tool. Flood Awareness Week, which runs March 12-18, is an excellent time to use these resources and prioritize flood readiness,” Wells said.  

Virginians can learn about their property’s flood risk by keying their address into the Virginia Flood Risk Information System.  

Even a “small” flood can be catastrophic. FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program estimate that just 1 inch of water in a home can cause more than $25,000 in damages.     

Therefore, flood insurance is, by far, the most effective way to protect homes and property.  

Standard homeowners and renters insurance policies don’t cover property damage from floods. Yet only 3% of Virginians have flood insurance, according to the National Flood Insurance Program.     

“Virginians should review their insurance policies now to make sure they have the coverage they need,” said DCR Director of Dam Safety and Floodplain Management Wendy Howard-Cooper. “It takes 30 days for a new flood insurance policy to go into effect, so it’s important to be covered before a storm.”    

There are additional ways renters, homeowners and business owners can reduce potential flood damage to some, but not all, of their property. These include:   

• Storing important documents in waterproof containers, on an upper floor.   
• Caulking windows, doors and gaps where pipes and wires that enter a building.   
• Labeling propane tanks with the owner’s name and address.   
• Choosing tile or other waterproof flooring over carpeting on lower floors.  

“Anywhere it can rain, it can flood,” Howard-Cooper added. “DCR is proud to be Virginia’s partner in flood preparedness.”   

For more information, visit www.dcr.virginia.gov/floodawarenessweek.

Important headlines from FEMA

FEMA / NIST Releases Improving Windstorm and Tornado Resilience: Recommendations for One- and Two-Family Residential Structures

FEMA and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are pleased to announce the release of a new joint fact sheet, Improving Windstorm and Tornado Resilience: Recommendations for One- and Two-Family Residential Structures. This fact sheet was developed as part of the FEMA Building Science Disaster Support (BSDS) Program activities following the December 2021 tornado outbreak in Kentucky.  It provides a brief overview of building envelope and load path improvements to reduce damage to wood-framed, one- and two-family residential structures when impacted by tornadoes rated on the Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale as EF2 or less intensity, and indirectly by tornadoes with a greater EF rating.   The information can be applied to new construction or to the retrofit of existing residential structures in tornado-prone regions of the United States and provide enhanced building performance in other types of windstorms, such as severe thunderstorms and derechos. For more information on FEMA Building Sciences, visit fema.gov/building-science

Following Unprecedented Response to Pandemic, FEMA Announces the Agency Will Close All COVID-19 Disaster Declaration Incident Periods on May 11

In recognition of FEMA’s unprecedented response to the COVID-19 pandemic and following the Biden-Harris Administration’s determination regarding the end of the Public Health Emergency and National Emergency declarations, the agency announced that all COVID-19 incident periods will close on May 11.  

FEMA will publish a Federal Register Notice providing a 90-day advance notice to government partners and stakeholders that eligibility of work and reimbursable costs will end on May 11. 

“Since COVID-19 entered our lives three years ago, FEMA has stood strong on the front lines alongside our partners to help people and communities nationwide respond to this virus. Our direct support allowed health systems to remain staffed and equipped to deliver care, food remained on the tables of anyone who needed it, and all levels of government had the financial assistance to support their communities by providing billions of dollars in emergency funding,” said FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell. “We will never forget our loved ones who were lost or the lives that were upended during this difficult chapter in our nation’s history. The lessons we learned as an agency, as a government, and as a nation have made us stronger and more prepared for the next emergency.”

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, FEMA has provided more than $104 billion in assistance to state, local, tribal and territorial governments, as well as non-profits and survivors. Of those funds, almost $60 billion in funding went to a number of state, local, tribal and territorial governments and eligible private non-profits for more than 23,000 emergency projects. Another $2.9 billion was awarded in funeral assistance for more than 400,000 individuals and families, $37 billion in lost wages assistance and $386 million in crisis counseling services. 

FEMA also supported an unprecedented vaccination effort, opening pilot community vaccination clinics to help advance equity and ensure that the most vulnerable communities were protected, resulting in 58% of the people served being people of color. Additionally, to ensure that the most vulnerable communities were protected, FEMA brought in language specialists and disability and civil rights advisors, and it worked with each community to identify its specific needs and to help it overcome barriers. 

The COVID-19 disaster declarations are the longest in FEMA’s history.

FEMA will arrange programmatic briefing and share webinars as well as make experts available for all stakeholders impacted by the closure. More information will be available in the coming weeks.

Start making your emergency plan today!

Don't get caught without a plan! Check out these planning resources that will help you kickstart your emergency preparedness and guide you along the way as you make your full plan. You can download these now at Make a Plan | VDEM (vaemergency.gov). We are working on making these available in different languages and also in hard copies to hand out at events. 

News from your VDEM Regional Offices

VDEM Region 1:

VDEM Response Programs Division and Region 1 held an Open House on February 9^th at their new offices on Deepwater Terminal Drive in Richmond. Staff also instructed Damage Assessment training for Amelia County, Goochland County, and the City of Richmond. Staff will be conducting additional Damage Assessment training for Henrico County in March.

VDEM Region 2: 

Alexa Boggs has been promoted to the Chief Regional Coordinator position and is working to fill the Disaster Response and Recovery Officer position that she was previously assigned. Here are a few highlights from the region 2 office:

• Two region 2 employees, Jake Hughes and Tori Steele, completed the L102 Science of Disaster class, which is a class in FEMA's Emergency Management Basic Academy. 
• The Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission Hazard Mitigation Plan is now Approved, Pending Adoption.
• On February 7th, Region 2 staff assisted in a pre-exercise on how to respond to a radiological incident at Surry nuclear power plant. The FEMA-judged exercise will be later this summer.
• February 8th, Completed the 1^st Quarterly Meeting of VDEM Regional Staff & Response Programs, VDH, Dominion and the 5 Localities surrounding the North Anna Power Station

VDEM Region 3:

The VDEM Region 3 team has been busy serving on various 2023 VEMS (Virginia Emergency Management Symposium) committees, teaching multiple courses, attending classes, and many blue-sky day meetings (on "blue-sky" days outside of disasters, we use that time to build relationships and have meetings before the next disaster strikes). These meetings include LEPC (Local Emergency Planning Committee), exercise planning meetings, VDOT/VSP and many other partner meetings within the region every day. Region 3 has many new emergency managers (EMs) who require training in many areas. The region 3 team will be helping these new EMs through training of: Crisis Track (the system we use to do preliminary damage assessments) and WebEOC (the system we use to communicate during events), reviewing of procedures to request training, getting them contacts within our grants departments, and a detailed explanation of how VDEM is here to support them during planned events or incidents that occur unannounced.

The entire Region 3 team wants to congratulate Ray Earp on his retirement and wish him the best of luck. We also will miss Jan Rogers as she is going back full time to run her family’s business in Farmville. Both will be missed tremendously.

VDEM Region 4:

Last month, VDEM region 4 held a regional/state stakeholder meeting in Wytheville at the community college, where there were presentations from CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency), VDOT, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, and Southwest Medical Reserve Corps (SWMRC). It was a productive collaboration between those that serve the community!

Photo of attendees of Region 4 stakeholder meeting

Presentation from Office of Chief Medical Examiner

VDEM Region 5:

Region 5 and many local partners are participating in the State Homeland Security Program Stakeholder Meeting on March 8, 2023. The purpose of this meeting is to bring together community partners from across the Commonwealth to develop funding priorities.

Christopher Newport University is hosting a State Shelter site visit with VDEM, VDH, DSS and other State and local Partners. The site visit will allow for a detailed discussion and evaluation of the CNU State Managed Shelter site to ensure the safety of the public should there be a need for a large-scale evacuation.

VDEM Region 5 will present two sessions on the State and Local response to workplace violence at the 25th annual Virginia Occupational Safety and Health Conference in Newport News, VA.

VDEM Region 6:

VDEM Region 6 reports "oodles of trainings, meetings, exercise and event planning, and internal planning/strategy development." They're busy doing all of the behind-the-scenes work required to keep the lights on and prepare for whatever the next disaster is (that we hope isn't anytime soon!).

**Did you know? VDEM Region 6 has its own newsletter! Sign up here!

VDEM Region 7:

The region 7 team has been busy! Last month they hosted all 7 VDEM Chief Regional Coordinators and John Northon, in charge of Disaster Services, for their annual meeting.

They are supporting the US Secret Service in planning for a possible State funeral for FPOTUS Jimmy Carter.

Here are a few other highlights -- many of which include announcement of new hires!

• assisting with the NOVA Technical Rescue Challenge in Alexandria
• All Hazards Planner Rich McEachin began in Feb
• Senior EM specialist Carrie Gonzalez starting Mar 10
• All Hazards Planner Riley McConnell starts Mar 27

Important
Contacts
📇

•Katie Carter
Partners in Preparedness
Katie.Carter@vdem.virginia.gov

•VDEM Public Information Inbox
pio@vdem.virginia.gov

•Region 1 Contact
Donna Pletch
Donna.Pletch.vdem.virginia.gov

•Region 2 Contact
Alexa Boggs
Alexa.Boggs@vdem.virginia.gov

•Region 3 Contact
Gene Stewart
Gene.Stewart@vdem.virginia.gov

•Region 4 Contact
Justin Haga
Justin.Haga@vdem.virginia.gov

•Region 5 Contact
Harrison Bresee
Harrison.Bresee@vdem.virginia.gov

•Region 6 Contact
Mike Guzo
Mike.Guzo@vdem.virginia.gov

•Region 7 Contact
Jake Kezele
Jake.Kezele@vdem.virginia.gov

Upcoming
Dates
📆

• March 11-12 Highland Maple Festival, Highland 
• March 15 Port Authority Cybersecurity Tabletop exercise, Various locations
• March 20-April 16 National Cherry Festival, Washington, D.C.
• May 25 Rooster Walk Music and Arts Festival, Axton
• May 31 Nauticus' Hero Night at Winterfest, Norfolk

Thank you for reading Preparedness News You Can Use! 😊 We hope you found it worth your time. The Preparedness News You Can Use editors welcome all content suggestions. If you have a suggestion for the next issue, please email Katie Carter at katie.carter@vdem.virginia.gov.

Stay Connected with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) on social media! Follow VDEM on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram:

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