The Obama administration aspires to work with communities to help them rebuild smarter and better by providing the best data about the risks they face, setting clear resilience standards to help protect against those risks, and bringing a wide range of stakeholders together to foster innovative ideas and ensure a comprehensive regional approach to rebuilding.… Read more
This after-action report provides an overview of Hurricane Sandy, its impacts and response, as well as recommendations for improvement. Primary areas of improvement as recommended by the report include: Ensuring unity of effort across the Federal response Being survivor-centric Fostering unity of effort across the whole community Developing an agile, professional emergency management workforce Unity… Read more
A post-disaster town hall meeting is first and most important opportunity for localities to update their community on the status of recovery efforts underway. The agenda and content of a press release notifying the community of the meeting will vary widely depending on the locality, peril and extent of damage. Below are several examples of how… 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 federal representatives play an important role in this update. During a post disaster town hall meeting, federal representatives from agencies including FEMA, HUD and in some cases, the Small… 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
The authors examine (1) reasons that community resilience has become a key area of focus in national policy within just the past few years (2) the core principles embodied in community resilience theory, including equality and social justice considerations, (3) the challenges of integrating community resilience with traditional public health practices and (4) the importance… Read more
This report by The Heritage Foundation Emergency Preparedness Working Group lists its recommendations for preparing for and responding to natural disasters in the future, including: FEMA must no longer be made to respond to all manner of routine disasters, only major catastrophic ones. The National Guard and Coast Guard were more successful than FEMA; ensure… Read more
The lessons learned from Sandy are applied to strategies to mitigate both stormwater and possible sea level rise due to global warming. Strategies include storm surge barriers, as well as waterproof infrastructure and above-ground walkways between buildings. The federal government is criticized for delaying recovery funds through squabbling. New Yorkers are examining other strategies for… 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
This fact brief summarizes information the Furman Center has gathered regarding the characteristics of properties in the areas of the city flooded by Sandy’s storm surge and demographic characteristics of households that have registered to receive assistance from FEMA. Findings are organized in 3 main sections: Extent of the Surge Impact of the Surge on… Read more
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