February is Earthquake Awareness Month
January 2013 - 201 years ago, on January 23, a major earthquake struck the central United States near New Madrid, Missouri. The second in a series of at least three magnitude 7.0-8.0 earthquakes, an earthquake of this size today would be felt by millions of people and cause billions of dollars in damage an eight state area.
Beginning in the last week of January and throughout the month of February, CUSEC and our Member States will host various activities to highlight earthquake awareness and preparedness. Activities include press conferences, seminars, workshops, Governor's proclamations, town hall meetings, exhibits and safety fairs, public service announcements, earthquake related training, and the 3rd annual Great Central U.S. ShakeOut.
Visit the CUSEC calendar to learn more about the activities occurring during the Earthquake Awareness Month and beyond.
Illinois Director Elected Chairman of the CUSEC Board of Directors
December 2012 - This month, Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) Director Jonathan
Monken was elected Chairman of the CUSEC Board of Directors. Chairman Monken succeeds Paul Parmenter, who recently retired from public
service. Mr. Parmenter served as Director of Missouri State Emergency
Management Agency since 2009. Replacing Parmenter as Missouri SEMA Director is
Donald L. King, who previously served in the Missouri Attorney General's
office, and most recently in Missouri's Office of Administration.
CUSEC would like to thank Mr. Parmenter for his dedication and leadership as
Chairman of the Board, and
wish both Chairman Monken and Director King the best of luck in their new positions on the CUSEC Board of Directors.
CAPSTONE-14 now Underway...
December 2012 - A topic of discussion since 2011, planning for CAPSTONE-14 is now underway.
In conjunction with the Kentucky’s Governors Emergency Management
Workshop, key participants of this initiative convened in Louisville,
Kentucky on December 10-13, 2012. In this meeting, discussions
surrounded the regional coordination of various support functions within
emergency management operations that are critical to response and
recovery in the event of a major earthquake.
CAPSTONE-14, tentatively scheduled for June 16-20,
2014, is a full-scale emergency management exercise with various levels of play by
each participating state. It is in direct support of the Presidential
Policy Directive 8 (PPD8), with key participation from: CUSEC Member
States, CUSEC Associate Member States, Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) Regions IV, V, VI and VII, Department of Homeland Security
(DHS), various federal agencies’ Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) and
the private sector.
One area of focus is receiving special interest from CUSEC
Board Member and Kentucky’s Division of Emergency Management (KYEM)
Director, Brigadier General John Heltzel. “Advancing the national dialogue, that’s the most important thing,” he said. “We need to try to solve the problems of situational awareness among emergency management by putting out a good national model,” he added.
For more information on CAPSTONE-14, including a calendar of CAPSTONE related events, please visit www.cusec.org/capstone
|