In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

During his tenure, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate has been trying to somewhat reposition the agency’s role in the nation’s emergency preparedness for and response to disasters. And that effort was on display last week when he appeared in the White House media briefing room with press secretary Robert Gibbs to discuss FEMA’s activities during the [...]

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Speaking at the Center For National Policy recently, Timothy Manning, FEMA Deputy Administrator for Protection & National Preparedness, said that the current statistics on citizen readiness “very concerning and frankly kind of frightening,” and he spoke about some of the agency’s efforts to strengthen the nation’s resilience to disasters.
At the Center’s event, “Disasters & Resilience,” [...]

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FEMA today announced the launch of the agency’s new mobile website, m.FEMA.gov. According to the FEMA press release:
The mobile website makes it easier to access critical information regarding emergency preparedness and what to do before and after a disaster right on a smartphone.
“Smartphones are becoming more prevalent, affordable, reliable and more viable to locate and [...]

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A day after Colorado State University released their forecast that the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season will be “above average”, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate has recorded a video urging the public to begin preparations.
The preliminary report, according to CNN.com, predicts 15 named storms and eight of those becoming hurricanes:
Forecasters William Gray and Phil Klotzbach said that [...]

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This edition of the “What Should We Tell The Public?” video series features John Shea who manages FEMA’s extensive social media effort. In the segment, Shea urges the public to look online to find information about preparing for emergencies as well as to share info and learn from others. He recommends citizens go to the [...]

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I wanted to point out a story now playing out in Las Vegas, Nevada, which to me is another example of how the public is too often infantilized when it comes to information on serious terrorist threats, including weapons of mass destruction — And, as a result, why we as citizens are not as prepared [...]

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Today, I attended the second in a series of “stakeholder forums” being held by the Obama Administration’s “Long-Term Disaster Recovery Working Group” to solicit input and ideas.
The White House Working Group — co-chaired by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan and composed of the Secretaries [...]

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In an effort to reach out to its stakeholders, including the public, FEMA has announced outreach initiatives on business preparedness and flood insurance.
First, the agency will be holding a series of public meetings throughout the U.S. on the Department of Homeland Security’s Voluntary Private Sector Preparedness Accreditation and Certification Program (PS-Prep). PS-Prep is a partnership between DHS [...]

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I recently read an interesting report, “A Strategy for Developing ‘A Culture of Preparedness,’” which summarizes the work of FEMA Region V’s “2009 “Preparedness Summit.” Held in Chicago in January, the Summit brought together 75 government and non-government experts from a number of fields “to generate ideas toward creating a culture of preparedness.”
James Opoka, Region [...]

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FEMA has just launched a redesigned Spanish language website, www.fema.gov/espanol. According to the press release:
“The site is focused on individuals and families in multi-hazard disasters. It includes information on what to do before (preparedness), during (response) and after (recovery and mitigation) disasters…
The new design features a simple format with main topics divided in blocks of [...]

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