If the foundation of preparedness is a planning or a plan, the centerpiece of preparedness is the disaster supply kit. A kit that includes basic essentials and is specifically catered to you and your family’s needs will significantly ease the burdens of an emergency and its aftermath.
Louisiana and the Gulf Coast are once again in the crosshairs of a hurricane as we observe the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people and communities of Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and others inland who might be impacted by Hurricane Ida over the next several days.
September 10, 2018, marks the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Irma hitting the Florida mainland as a Category 4 storm. It caused the worst flooding in the state’s history and killed 75 Floridians. The damage to Florida has been estimated at $50 billion, and the state is still recovering. This first anniversary of Irma was the […]
After anticipating challenges with fuel availability, IEM partnered with GasBuddy, a company that provides a free app designed to help users locate gas stations and fuel prices in real-time. As Irma approached, GasBuddy made color-coded maps available to help residents identify which gas stations were out of power or out of fuel during the evacuation.
Historical data on the impact of past storms was useful in projecting potential consequences in New Jersey from Hurricane Sandy. In addition, FEMA, through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), provided maps of flood-prone areas and historical data on property flooding insurance claims as part of its mission to reduce the impact of flooding on […]
Emergency management and civil defense agencies are responsible for coordinating response to a disaster. This coordination occurs in a centralized location—the emergency operations center—where information is gathered and analyzed to determine the impact or potential impact of an incident, ascertain resource needs, and establish priorities for assigning resources where they are needed most. I was […]
Where I live in Louisiana, we have been hearing a little more about emergency preparedness than normal lately with the start of hurricane season on June 1 fast approaching. Then this morning, I noticed that the week of May 16-20, 2016 has been designated as Business Continuity Awareness Week. A lot of the focus of […]
Maintaining a high degree of preparedness for conducting emergency management operations has gone through many iterations of planning paradigms in the recent past. New incidents, both domestic and international, have called attention to the policies, protocols, and procedures that shape response and recovery activities. These incidents highlight the need for catastrophic planning, that is, planning […]
When emergencies occur — hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, wildfires, winter storms, pandemics, terrorism, hazmat spills, radiation leaks, and more – people expect government to act. Emergency managers at all levels must move quickly and effectively to protect life and property. And to do so, they need something that is increasingly scarce: the public’s trust. Many […]
I recently indicated in a previous posting that the New Orleans City Assisted Evacuation Plan (CAEP) was very useful in helping some of the City’s residents (approximately 20,000) in evacuating for Hurricane Gustav. But, like any good plan, as effective as the CAEP has become, it should be updated to reflect any changes or problems […]
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