As part of the Resilient Counties Initiative’s effort to create a disaster toolkit for counties, NACo hosted a social media day on December 13, 2018 to showcase how counties have responded to and recovered from disasters and have strengthened resilience within their communities. Throughout the day, counties shared examples of county accomplishments, disaster resilience tools and… Read more
Not every natural disaster comes with a two-month notice, so Yakima County, Washington, is counting its blessings. For several months, roughly 20 acres of a hillside — Rattlesnake Ridge — has been sliding away, threatening homes, highways and the Yakima River. In recent weeks, the slide’s acceleration has slowed, muddying predictions as to when it… Read more
Hurricanes, wildfires, economic collapse, and other disasters can be natural or man-made, acute or long-term, foreseeable or unpredictable. Preparation for and recovery from such events requires both long-term planning and immediate action. NACo works to strengthen county resiliency by building leadership capacity to identify and manage risk, and allow counties to become more flexible and… Read more
FEMA administrator Brock Long explains the role of FEMA in disaster recovery and stresses the importance of disaster preparedness at the National Association of Counties (NACo) 2018 Legislative Conference. In his talk, Long notes that in his 17 years in emergency management, there are three things he’s learned: “First, all disasters begin and end at… Read more
Like every one of us, the horrific hurricane, wind and water damage in much of Texas compels our attention no matter where we live. Even now, I am awaiting specific predictions about the path of oncoming Hurricane Irma. I think back to my experience working for many years as a county and city-appointed official in… Read more
A dry summer has led to a spate of Western wildfires that county officials worry will affect health conditions and economic viability for years. And they have not been relegated to rural areas — the Columbia River Gorge went up in flames, bringing smoke into the city of Portland, Ore. The wildfire risk jumped exponentially… Read more
In mid-September, as tens of thousands of people were still reeling from Hurricane Harvey and while Hurricane Irma was wreaking havoc in the Southeast, representatives of The Nature Conservancy, American Planning Association, and NACo visited South Seaside Park, N.J., which serves as a case study for NACo’s Naturally Resilient Communities partnership. It was a trip… Read more
A little over a month ago, St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, found itself facing the third threat of the tropical hurricane season, Hurricane Nate. The storm was rapidly forming in the Caribbean Sea, and the parish had just days to inform and possibly mobilize the public to evacuate. The good news: It was prepared. Before the… Read more
It was about 1:30 a.m. Oct. 9 when Carmel Angelo, Mendocino County, California CEO, was notified by the sheriff’s office that a deadly wildfire was threatening the community. “As I was talking with our captain in the sheriff’s office, who was on the ground notifying neighbors and closing roads, he was trying to apprise me… Read more
Before disasters strike your county, you should be certain about which local or regional faith-based groups you can work with to help provide temporary shelter, hot meals and other types of assistance to residents, said Gregory Forrester, president and CEO, Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster. The national group also has state-level associations that you can… Read more
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