Resources

Guidance on Disaster Preparedness, Response, Mitigation and Recovery Activities: Compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

In the chaos of natural disaster response and recovery — or any natural disaster planning, response or recovery activity — it’s important to remember that it is against the law to discriminate against individuals on the basis of race, color, religion, nationality, sex, age, or economic status in all disaster assistance programs in Presidentially declared disaster areas. This… Read more

Understanding FEMA and the Stafford Act

  In disaster recovery, the relationship and interaction between FEMA and the 50 states is critically important and based on state sovereignty concepts defined when the U.S. Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution. Federal disaster assistance is intended to supplement — not replace — state, local, and private-sector resources. In almost all cases, states must formally… Read more

Experiences Gained: Develop Documentation Systems During Disaster Planning

  Providing proper documentation is crucial to ensuring that your community will receive and keep funding assistance following a disaster. Yet, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the detailed documentation requirements for FEMA, HUD’s program and other funding programs. It’s always a good idea to enroll in a FEMA or CDBG-DR training course prior to… Read more

Experiences Gained: Address Communications Challenges During Disaster Planning

  At no time in your community will communications be as critical — or as problematic — as during a disaster. Making improvements and plans during disaster planning that address the communications challenges your community is likely to face in a natural disaster will save you time and headaches when a disaster does strike. Furthermore,… Read more

Guide for Natural Disaster Ham Radio Operators

Amateur radio operators and organizations can play a key role in natural disaster communications. Even if cell, landline and internet service are knocked out, radio messages can still get through. IBTS spoke with Janelle Haible, public information officer for the St. Louis Metro Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) about her experiences assisting her community during… Read more

Disaster Planning: Build Stakeholder Relationships Early

  You never know who you will need to call on for assistance during a disaster; unforeseen issues will arise, and you may need to call on a neighboring city or county, your state, or even your Congressman for assistance. Although it’s difficult, near impossible, to predict who will be able to provide what your… Read more

Tips: Managing the Appeals Process

  Homeowner appeals during the recovery process are inevitable and time-consuming, they should be a last resort for applicants. IBTS has processed close to 2,500 homes for programs receiving funding from the the HUD’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program, and been able to mitigate nearly all homeowner appeals — saving the locality and the applicant valuable… Read more

Experiences Gained: Using FEMA’s Debris Removal Alternative Procedures

  Without a comprehensive debris management plan, the debris removal process can escalate into one of the most difficult and expensive response tasks after a natural disaster. To reduce costs and accelerate the process, FEMA introduced debris removal alternative procedures. Yet despite cost benefits and incentives for quicker debris removal, few localities have taken advantage… Read more

FEMA Debris Removal Alternative Procedures: The Basics

  State and local officials responsible for disaster planning and management should always keep abreast of changes in the Stafford Act, especially those related to reimbursement. Debris removal, for example, is one of the most expensive operations in a disaster recovery effort. To keep costs down, FEMA introduced four new alternative procedure pilot projects that… Read more

FEMA Training Courses: The Fundamentals

The following FEMA online independent study courses introduce the fundamental framework of federal disaster response. In addition, specialized courses focusing on the and National Response Framework (NRF) from the perspective of specific roles are listed below:   IS-2900 — National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF) Overview IS-100.b — Introduction to Incident Command System, ICS-100 IS-700.a — National Incident Management… Read more