Transcript of Cleaves, Rell and Lynch Press Conference
October 9, 2007
Marty Bahamonde, FEMA:
Our three main speakers for the press conference will be Art Cleaves, the Regional Administrator for FEMA; he'll be followed by Governor Rell from Connecticut and Governor Lynch from New Hampshire. They'll have opening remarks and comments and then you're free to ask any questions, or regarding phone-in, if you want to do stand-alone interviews on the side, they're available for that as well. So I'll turn it over to Art Cleaves.
Art Cleaves, FEMA Region I Administrator:
Thank you very much. This is a very significant day for FEMA, as our Regional Advisory Committee is meeting today. Looking at any issues or concerns that, from an emergency management or homeland security standpoint, that can be brought back to FEMA so we can make the right decisions and changes in either law or procedures that will better help us in preparedness, response, or recovery, and/or the mitigation area. So again, a very, very significant day.
Today's meeting was opened by Governor Rell, Governor Lynch, Governor Patrick, and Mayor Menino from the city of Boston. So that's also very significant that these high level officials took the time out of their day and to spend all this time here making sure that we get emergency response and recovery right here in New England.
There are many, many advances that have happened since we've put new FEMA in place and continue to strive for those improvements. So the mix of the group here today: public officials, first responder disciplines, all representated. That will give us the right feedback so that we can improve FEMA -- both from a regional standpoint and a national standpoint.
The information that we get today will be rolled up to a National Advisory Council that serves for Administrator Paulison in Washington and that will also affect any policy changes that need to be put in place. So with that, I'd be open for questions but I'd have Governor Rell from Connecticut (respond).
M. Jodi Rell, Governor of Connecticut:
Thank you, Art. Let me say that I think this is a very valuable meeting and it is also the first of the regional meetings, which I think is very important, of course, that we are doing it here. It also gives us a chance to share what I will refer to lightly as some best practices.
We've already started to talk about some of the things we are doing in our own states, but as Art had said, what we really want is not just what we're doing in those states, but how FEMA can help us. So the things that we bring back from our discussions today may sound like we've done some great planning in our state.
We've talked about how we would work in moving people, for example, what kind of we would have in place, how many drills we might do, but then bring that back to FEMA so that we can coordinate with them when the time comes, in a better planned situation and in a better timely manner than we have been able to in the past. And I think that was one of the first messages.
And I will tell you this, we like the new FEMA very, very much. They have been very responsive. They come when called. And now, just hearing some of the discussion today -- a person will be assigned to my state, to Governor Lynch's state, to other states, so that when we have something going on, we can have someone there, really right on the spot to kind of direct us and guide us on what we need to do, whether it's individual assistance or whether it's something else, a declaration that a state may need.
These are things governors need to know. It's also what our homeland security finds very helpful so that they can help in directing governors. This morning has just been very informative for me and I look forward to more discussions. So, thank you.
John Lynch, Governor of New Hampshire:
Thank you, Governor Rell. I, also, have found that the discussions this morning were in fact very helpful. And today is the second anniversary of the Alstead floods, which really devastated the town of Alstead and the southwestern part of New Hampshire.
In New Hampshire, I believe that our response to the floods, which we have experienced over the past couple of years, has been very good. What we've seen in New Hampshire really is a situation where everybody has worked well together: the various department heads, emergency management, national guard; working with the non-profit organizations like the VNA, the Salvation Army, the Red Cross; and working with community leaders at the local level: the Selectman, the police officers, the firefighters, public works people - all working together in a single-minded way to help the families and the individuals impacted from, in our case, the three terrible flooding situations which we experienced.
What I've asked FEMA to do, and we discussed this a little bit this morning, is to help us work more closely together on a regional basis. We know that disasters, when they strike, will not confine themselves to state borders. And, although in New Hampshire, I think our response is very good. We need to make sure that when we experience a disaster, which impacts our neighboring states and possibly the region, that there is a mechanism in place for all of us to be able to do coordinated decision-making, receive comparable information, and conduct similar analysis as we work hard to respond to these types of disasters.
I think we had some good discussions as to that approach this morning and I very much look forward to continuing those discussions in future meetings. Thank you very much both of you.
Last Modified: Thursday, 01-Nov-2007 17:43:14 EDT