IEM Blog
IEM Spotlight: Carlos J. Ruiz Acevedo, PE Operations Manager, IEM Puerto Rico
IEM Spotlight: Carlos J. Ruiz Acevedo, PE Operations Manager IEM Puerto Rico Where did you grow up in Puerto Rico? I grew up in Aguada, PR on the west side of the island. How were you and your family impacted by the 2017 Hurricanes? All Puerto Rico residents were impacted in one way or the […]
IEM’s Emergency Manager Toolkit: 428 PA Alternative Procedures
The creation of Public Assistance (PA) Alternative Procedures (PAAP), also known as 428 for its Section of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act), is intended to offer significant benefits for state, local, tribal and territorial (SLTT) governments. It also eases administration and overhead for the federal government and thus […]
Senior Executive Advisor Zimmerman on “BRIC Expanding the Concepts of Federal Pre-Disaster Mitigation” in Emergency Management Magazine
Elizabeth Zimmerman is the former FEMA associate administrator and deputy associate administrator for response and recovery from 2009 to 2017, where she led the response and recovery operations of 938 disasters. She has more than 30 years of experience in emergency management. She is now a senior executive advisor to IEM. Zimmerman responded to a […]
Former Emergency Managers: Act Now Before the Next Storm
From routefifty.com The United States was mostly spared the devastating wrath of Hurricane Dorian. Although the extensive damage caused in the Bahamas by a storm the size, intensity and duration of Dorian is not 100 percent preventable, there are actions state and locals can take now to lessen the blow future storms deliver to our […]
Dorian Approaching, Recovery Begins Now
As Hurricane Dorian approaches the State of Florida as a potential devastating Category 4 hurricane, individuals, communities, and the State are already in preparation and response postures. From lines of cars packed with essentials heading north, to local emergency operation centers fully staffed, the State of Florida and its citizens are not amateurs when it […]
State and Local Priorities in Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities
Last week, I had the privilege of visiting Washington, D.C., to sit on a panel titled “Identifying State and Local Mitigation Priorities” for the Forum on FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Program. This forum is part of the Disaster Mitigation and Resilience Forum Series put on by the BuildStrong Coalition and the U.S. […]
Houk Gives Her Whole Heart to the Whole Community
Krista Houk was recently appointed Manager of IEM’s State, Local, and International Preparedness Division. We sat down to discuss the past, present, and future of emergency management, and the path that she took to get to IEM. Krista Houk did not plan for a career in emergency management. While completing her Master’s in Public Administration […]
The Convergence of Technology and Emergency Management
I recently received a behind-the-scenes tour of a national laboratory, during which lab employees demonstrated a virtual reality (VR) interface of a three-dimensional (3D) representation of data. As a volunteer interacted with a model concerning wind impacts, I leaned over to ask the host if this same technology could be used to interact with hazard […]
A Conversation with Bryan Koon on this Year’s Record Flooding
The first half of 2019 has seen record flooding in much of the Midwest and the South. This flooding has taken a terrible toll on people and local businesses, and some communities find themselves worn down by repeated flooding. Thousands of Houston residents lived through the flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey in 2017, dried out […]
Responding to the worst hurricane in the United States since 1935
Super Typhoon Yutu made landfall in the U.S. territory of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) in the early hours of 25 October 2018, presenting a unique challenge to responders trying to reach these remote Pacific islands. This second strongest storm system in U.S. history caused significant damage to CNMI. The strong winds […]
