The following summarizes the history of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, including the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. The early post-Great Depression legislative measures from 1932 – 1938 stimulated housing construction in the U.S. Emergency Relief and Reconstruction Act of 1932 P.L. 75 – 432 First major U.S. relief legislation. Passed by Congress… Read more
Volunteer Reception Centers (VRC) are the most widely used method for coordinating and managing untrained, spontaneous volunteers who arrive in the aftermath of disaster. A VRC can prevent spontaneous volunteers from overwhelming emergency management and slowing relief efforts. This presentation by the Bedford (VA) Community Health Foundation (BCHF) can be used as a tool to… Read more
A post-disaster town hall meeting is one of the first and most important opportunities for local leaders to update the community on the status of recovery, and set the tone for the entire recovery process. Download this post-disaster town hall meeting agenda template as a Word Document and customize the time, location and content of the… Read more
Tracking volunteer credentials and efforts are an essential part of successfully managing both spontaneous and s, ensuring volunteer safety and also maximizing FEMA funding and reimbursement available for utilizing volunteer services. Download this Excel spreadsheet from the Glade Hill (VA) Volunteer Fire Department to use as a template for tracking volunteer efforts in your locality. You… Read more
The purpose of a plan is to provide the framework for an organization to restore essential functions in the event of an emergency that affects essential operations. Download this customizable template for local government departments and follow the provided instructions on how to fill in the correct information to meet the needs of your jurisdiction and… Read more
Despite early forecasts and preparations for disasters such as Sandy, our failure to accept and deal with the long-term effects of climate change, specifically global warming, will be an ongoing problem. Political and economic pressures discourage long-term planning, especially at the federal level. The author highlights the lack of water proofing of the NYC subway… Read more
After Sandy made landfall, Unitil was able to restore all impacted customers in 2.5 days, with the Capital region completed in less than 52 hours and the Seacoast region completed in 60. The response demonstrated the effectiveness and flexibility of its ERP and ability to handle events of differing sizes. Not only did Unitil complete… Read more
The report provides an overview on how social media was used in preparation for, in response to, and in recovery from Hurricane Sandy (“Sandy”) in late October 2012. It also discusses processes identified by the first-responder community as best practices; presents examples, themes in applications, and lessons learned; identifies gaps in technology, process, and/or policy; and… Read more
This report follows extensive research by the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) of after action reviews from major disasters of the past decade into lessons learned. The disasters studied were weather-related events that required responding firefighters to assume duties for which they were unprepared or for situations they never anticipated. From analysis of post-incident operational evaluations,… Read more
The American Chemistry Council (ACC)-sponsored Chemical Sector Emergency Preparedness Tabletop Exercise (TTX) provided a forum to facilitate discussion and document roles, responsibilities, processes, protocols, and systems used to support an effective public-private response to emerging threats and incidents impacting the Chemical Sector. The purpose of this is to analyze exercise results, identify strengths and potential… Read more
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