Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Presidential Policy Directive 8

Eco Woolis is a Mexican company that has developed a geodesic shaped portable structure, based on an igloo, that once assembled becomes a shelter that is over 344 sq. ft. and over 8 ft. high. Assembling the structure is simple and the heaviest piece weighs only a little over 15 lbs. The Mexican government plans to distribute the shelters for disaster relief in Mexico. In addition to disaster relief, Eco Woolis sees a ...more »

It is predicted that 2011 was the most expensive year for disasters globally in recorded history -- $350B in economic losses. Yet only $108B was covered by insurance. The US had twelve billion dollar events this year alone and FEMA needed more emergency funding. The cost of disasters is increasing and FEMA is being spread too thin. We should work to find ways to transfer the financial risk (and cost) of these disasters ...more »

Encourage communities in seismically active areas to create long-range plans for seismic safety in privately owned buildings. San Francisco has created a draft 30-year plan with 50 important steps that will be taken to retrofit our buildings, strengthen our communities, and prepare in advance for the next big earthquake. Here in California, we know a big one is coming, it's just a question of when, where, and how large. ...more »

We need to have all forms standardized for all regions and sections. We need a repository to access these forms no matter where you're standing up an office. The forms also need to be kept updated so that individuals in each declaration doesn't decide they want to make "disaster specific" forms.

Disaster Specific needs to stop.

Engineering mistakes and omissions tend to magnify the damage caused during major disasters. When attacked by terrorists, using aircraft as missiles, the Twin Towers reportedly collapsed quickly because steel members of those towers lacked proper insulation against fire. In the case of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans quickly flooded due to engineering mistakes on coastal areas and protective levees. One year ago, a tsunami ...more »

Instead of TCLs or CCL, we should use and endorse a national standard for an emergency management program. There are a few out there such as NFPA 1600 or EMAP. I like these because they require documentation to prove you have a Mitigation Plan as an example. I think the fundamental failure of TCL and potentially with CCL is that it is a check the box and the box is vague and not the reality for most across the country. ...more »

In aniticipation of a disaster where a community/area may experience a CBRNE event, the familiar will quickly turn into a scene of major disruption. Neighborhoods will be made unrecognizable and the daily flow of "business as usual" will suddenly change without warning. Many people will seek out the help of available religious leadership and look for solice in the spiritual symbols of their faith to empower and sustain ...more »

Tracking beacons have become smaller, more reliable, and less costly. These beacons are now being used as part of fleet management, the they track contestants in rallies or races, and are used for special operations. For persons who insist on living in flood zones, or other high threat areas, I suggest that life insurance companies provide reduced premium payments for policy holders who buy a beacon and keep it with them. ...more »

HSPD-8 vs. PPD8 Sitting here, rereading both of these documents...I am still trying to figure out what the REAL differences are between them. Considering the fact that the HSPD-8 is referenced in many areas of FEMA documentation, and that there really is no MAJOR changes from the HSPD-8, one can only wonder if this directive was issued as a political move, which really has no merit in emergency planning, or if it is ...more »

In attempting to deal with major disasters, a significant number of first responders and support personnel (such as bus drivers needed for emergency urban evacuation) do not report for duty. Typically, they have gone to help their own families escape or recover from the disaster. To deal with this problem it is necessary to have extra emergency response personnel ... and to have plans to assist the families of these ...more »

The Medical Reserve Corp is set up in regions across the USA. My unit is the CNY-MRC (Central NY). We are highly trained medical professionals that started as disaster relief medical help that has progressed in to community health back-up, assisting the health dept handle rabies clinics, vaccine clinics, etc. We are sometimes needed as back-up for paid org's (Dept of Public Health). As it stands now, we can not go ...more »

There are many tools available to help share information such as video, text, images, maps & sound. There are many different types of social media (twitter, youtube, FB, mapping). Social Media and Web 2.0 technology can handle larger capacities, is scalable, flexible and adaptable. This should be integrated into the day to day operations building community resilience between officials, agencies, and civilians (all-of-Nation) ...more »

Morale and motivational problems occur when a mix of agencies have varied pay and benefits, but all their various personnel take the same risks and do the same work. Such situations exist in the disaster relief area, and they do create problems for project managers. I have a related example in my own situation: During the Vietnam War, I had 3 years of combat as a civilian engaged in special operations. The VA tells ...more »

As part of emergency preparedness communities should undertake a self-evaluation to determine their actual or probable level of resilience. Factors that are believed to contribute to community resilience include: 1) Diversity; 2) Redundancy; 3) Efficiency; 4) Autonomy; 5) Strength; 6) High levels of mobility; 7) Flexibility; 8) Means to survive extremes; ...more »

Too many reservists will lead to too much down time and too much time between deployments. The little bit of training between deployments will not replace actual on the job experience. Increasing staffing to 12,000 reservists may look good on paper but I believe it will be detrimental to the purpose of the program which is to help disaster survivors. Keep staffing at current levels and use the "Fema Corps" as a surge ...more »

The Ready Initiative leverages game play and the tools of the technology generation (the internet, social networking, and mobile communication) to enable individuals, families, small businesses, and communities to prepare for disasters, and to increase the effectiveness of FEMA in mitigating, managing, and communicating disaster impacts for those who are most in need (and historically the least ready) when a disaster ...more »

Anyone could sigh up for free service, using their cell phone or land line, for early warnings of severe weather. The call list could be created and updated via website or by calling into the center. The center could be set up the dial out to subscribers via local service providers. Could be linked with/through 911 dispatchers.

Most American cannot even imagine how they would now sustain themselves without information technology at their "fingertips." Yet, any one of several possible types of cyberterrorist attacks could make our information systems and computers ineffective for many long hours. There are several significant potential disasters that may occur during this type of event based on the fact that many of our utilities and critical ...more »

We have developed a series of household preparedness efforts centered around high consequence "disasters" which seems unrealistic to community members. Often times, this leads to the question: "Why should I prepare so intensely for something that is not likely to happen?" This is a challenge to those charged with preparedness education; especially in the northeast. We have an opportunity to incorporate basic safety ...more »

The Southern Poverty Law Center, in its extensive studies of hate groups, reports that the U.S. now has 1,018 hate groups plus another 1,274 Patriot groups (comprised of individuals desiring to take some action against the U.S. Government). These groups, and similar groups, are reportedly growing. Intelligence reporting indicates that Iran is sponsoring and/or funding several terrorist groups in Latin America ... and ...more »

We need to put our brains together and create a volunteer task force who is going to look into how we can enhance the US Electrical Power Grid, practically, to provide air conditioning in areas experiencing extreme heat, in order to avoid deaths. I would be willing to volunteer to assist in this project. Thank you for listening. Miss June R Massoud, Computer Engineer

In this extreme heat, we need to supply all people in affected areas with sufficient water hydration, be it in the form of cool showers or, as well, water to drink in order to combat the heat. We need to get the civil engineers who deal in water systems to come up with ideas for how we can hydrate entire local populations which are experiencing this very serious problem.

Our military long ago discovered that its prospective leaders ... leaders who can effectively function and lead well on a battlefield... must be given leadership training under conditions of high stress, fatigue, confusing situations, and demand for immediate decisions that focus on correct battlefield solutions. In my opinion, emergency managers need leadership training similar to the military ... and I don't see this ...more »

Greed and corruption are know to cause structures and projects to be undertaken in high-risk locations where such efforts would not otherwise be undertaken. When this happens, communities need to act to help protect themselves from a potential disaster in the making. As an example, in 1976 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers planned to construct a large earthen dam (1 1/2 miles in length) across a known earthquake fault ...more »

The private sector could improve community recovery efforts if there were greater financial incentives for them to bolster preparedness efforts. By providing tax breaks to businesses for insuring vital equipment, will create a more resilient business by bringing post-disaster costs down. For every $1 spent on preparedness, $3 of post-disaster recovery efforts are saved from ever being spent. Other financial incentives ...more »