The post-disaster town hall meeting, is one of the first and most important opportunities for the regional state emergency management office to update an impacted locality on the state assistance and equipment being provided. Click here to download a post-disaster town hall meeting agenda template, and here for press releases and agendas used by other localities.… Read more
The post-disaster town hall meeting, is one of the first and most important opportunities for localities to update the community on the status of recovery, and set the tone for the entire recovery process. During a post disaster town hall meeting, a top-level local official, such as the mayor, chief elected official, city or town… 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, yet federal representatives from and will also play a critical role in providing property owners with important information regarding the recovery process. No matter the situation, homeowners’ biggest concern… Read more
A post-disaster town hall meeting is one of the first and most important opportunities for a top level local leader – such as a mayor, chief elected official, city or town manager, or county administrator – to update the community on the status of recovery, and set the tone for the entire recovery process. Emotions will… Read more
An EF-5 Tornado struck Joplin, Missouri, on May 22, 2011, with damage estimated at up to $3 billion. Yet Joplin has seen a rapid recovery despite the extensive damage. The Joplin tornado provides an opportunity to determine if findings from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina apply to other major natural disasters. This study uses interviews… Read more
A collection of 13 reports on lessons learned from Hurricane Sandy related to health systems and services. The report’s first section includes and Executive Summary of each article. Common recommendations included filling gaps in planning, communication and coordination, more integrated systems, more practice and training between facilities, building in redundancies, clarifying authority, preparing for environmental… Read more
The Stafford Act constitutes the statutory authority for most federal disaster response activities especially as they pertain to FEMA and FEMA programs. In response to the to the evolving demands for federal disaster assistance, Congress has passed legislation to amend the Stafford Act to improve the role of the federal government in disaster assistance. Pre-1950… Read more
Immediately after disaster strikes, localities must quickly pull together disaster recovery teams and find funding for recovery efforts. Although any natural disaster can be devastating, community leaders can take a few strategic steps at the very start of post-disaster response to set the community up for immediate and long-term recovery success, allowing them to rebuild stronger… Read more
Disaster recovery can be a long, drawn-out process that takes a toll not only the community members, but also on local governments that have to provide routine services while also working to rebuild and restore the community. When disaster recovery exceeds the capacity of a local governments’ staffing capabilities and skillsets, consulting with a small,… Read more
Communities who have been through a presidentially declared disaster cannot stress enough the importance of detailed, proper record keeping systems from the day the disaster strikes, if not before. Use these tips to setup a record keeping system in your own locality that ensures compliance with FEMA documentation requirements. Have a well-defined system in… Read more
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