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The post-disaster town hall meeting, is one of the first and most important opportunities for the incident commander – typically the emergency manager – to update the community on the status and timeline of disaster recovery.

Click here to download a post-disaster town hall meeting agenda template, and here for press releases and agendas used by other localities.

Don’t Make Promises

• Don’t make specific promises or set hard deadlines for when recovery efforts will be complete. Promises can cause controversy if later rebutted by a councilman or other elected official.

Coordinate with Your Local Leaders and State and Federal Representatives

• Hold a dry run of the town hall meeting with all agencies that will be present at the meeting. Give feedback to federal and state representatives to ensure their message is aligned with incident command’s recovery approach and timeline.
  • In addition to the incident commander, other speakers typically include: a top level local leader such as a mayor, chief elected official, city or town manager, or county administrator; a FEMA and/or HUD representative; and a representative from your regional state emergency management agency.
• Property owners are more apt to follow the direction of their local leaders; the incident commander should assist in sending information regarding FEMA and HUD assistance, such as deadlines or documentation requirements.

Use Social Media and Live Streaming

• Use your locality’s live streaming equipment if available, or another easy-to-use platform like Facebook Live, to stream the town hall meeting to residents who are unable to attend the meeting. If needed, the entire meeting may be held virtually as a Facebook town hall meeting.

• • Click here to watch a tutorial video on how to stream video using Facebook Live.
  • Check out the press release used by the City of Fayetteville, N.C., to notify the community of a Facebook town hall meeting on damaged roadways after Hurricane Matthew.

Compliance with Local, State and Federal Law

• Ensure that all communication surrounding the post-disaster town hall meeting are in compliance with local, state and federal laws and regulations. Familiarize yourself with public communications laws prior to a disaster to avoid costly mistakes due to legal missteps.