Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Community Engagement & Risk Communication

Strategically FEMA needs to figure out how to reduce the percentage of losses from outside the floodplain. Currently there are statements that 25% of claims come from outside the floodplain. Why do so many people outside the floodplain have flood insurance? Could so many floodplains be drawn incorrectly?

Citizen Corps has become to broad and tries to do to many things. There is a lack of consistancy of programs across counties, regions, and states. Rather than manage and maintain 5 seperate programs a consolidation of them into an emergency services volunteer or something of that nature would provide 1) increased flexibility for different areas 2) increased efficiences in spending and management of programs ...more »

Use of an integrated Marketing/Campaign Management system similar to the one used by similar non profit organizations like the American Red Cross. Could provide a good blue print and lessons learned for FEMA as the investigate how to proceed with Risk Map Assessing and Planning. This may save cost and time in the implementation of the program.

There are several posts/comments stating that FEMA should change their contracting mechanism in order to better engage with communities and spur meaningful action (i.e. contract with small/local businesses/partners/agencies instead of including these services in the PTS scope for projects). Before making such a change, perhaps the fundamental question is this: What is the reason for the failure of communities or citizens ...more »

FEMA should assist with the implementation Risk Management framework by assisting communities to develop a community specific Risk Register to assess future risks to the community and mitigation activities that can lower the risk score. This would NOT be a FEMA product (so not meant to be tracked as a deliverable with metrics assigned, etc.,) but a communications technique that can start with listening to the community ...more »

By including CERC services in P&TS, quality can be impacted because the CERC teams have limited leadership and mentoring within a firm whose core capability is architecture and engineering. In cases where subcontractors are used, the added fees of subcontracting are charged to FEMA. The Program Management (PM) contractor also incurs added costs to ensure multiple P&TS vendors are consistent and have the proper guidance. ...more »

If the goal is ACTION, ensure CERC leader(s) possess the right credentials. Within the communications field, various types of professionals exist. While many think of facilitators as meeting leaders, successful facilitation experts understand the activities outside of meetings are essential to achieve results. They are trained to develop campaigns (e.g., assessment of needs and desired outcomes, audience analysis, outreach ...more »

Local Knowledge and History is so important for community engagement. Before anyone conducts a public meeting, they should know and have studied the flood history of the watershed.

Clarify the Purpose of Discovery with communities at the beginning of the process. One idea is to utilize qualified local contractors, with staff that are familiar with the communities, the local flood risk issues, and historical / technical mapping issues for Discovery Meetings. There would be a higher potential for real input on flooding and mitigation issues and more “buy-in” from the communities as far as moving ...more »

To improve community engagement and risk communication, we need to lead by example (monkey see monkey do methodology): Perform research showing communities with higher standards and mitigation plans have reduced flood losses. Showcase how higher standards can be developed and implemented in community codes and ordinances; mitigation plans, projects and actions; and required by state law as documented in ASFPM's ...more »

State mitigation staff are trusted in the community and have great promise to help with community engagement and risk communication; however, they have little capacity to do so. Most state mitigation programs exist by pulling management costs from existing mitigaiton grant programs and as a result almost all effort is to ensure that those programs are implemented. Why can't FEMA, as either part of a CTP or through PDM ...more »

I have to wonder if we are leveraging the community engagement that is already built into the mitigation planning process. As part of the mitigation planning process, there is a required group participating in not only the plan development but also helping in maintaining plans. Why aren't we better tying the mapping update process to this existing element? Then it becomes mutually reinforcing - lending value and visibility ...more »

With the impending impacts that will be felt as a result of Biggert-Waters, “selling” the importance of flood hazard maps (to achieve reduced flood insurance rates as part of the NFIP) will become harder and harder. Redirecting the added value message of Risk MAP towards the other benefits that it can accomplish (such as using the data for mitigation planning) is a step in the right direction. However, we need to make ...more »

An important target group that FEMA should consider focusing on is high school and college-aged students. A number of outreach and education programs exist that are geared towards children, however, this age group could benefit by learning more about flood risk, and what steps can be taken to address it. Not only will this age group become homeowners in relatively short order, they also are in a position to be making ...more »

FEMA should consider actively engaging cooperatively with stakeholder organizations where consistent and synergistic messaging can positively influence community engagement and the Risk MAP program. As an example, the ASFPM Foundation has developed and provides for free a simulation called FloodManager. FloodManager is designed as a fun learning experience to inform community officials about wise and sustainable flood ...more »

A fundamental challenge of the Risk MAP program is to transform quality hazard information into actionable intelligence that communities can use to inform mitigation actions and build resilience. That “intel” must be part and parcel of the community engagement and risk communication approach in order to impact community decision making. As HUD Secretary Donovan’s Senate testimony regarding the Sandy recovery effort ...more »

Grants should be tracked nationally in a geospatial database format. Grant information is often hard to find and sort through. Who is getting grants, where, why, and is it improving mitigation action? Having the data in GIS format would aid Risk MAP in reaching its mitigation action goals.

A number of non-profit organizations exist that have the infrastructure and capacity (and following) to help FEMA engage communities in the process of identifying and addressing flood risk. Research has shown that people like to hear important messages from local resources as opposed to the Federal government. Consideration should be given to identify and “train” these organizations to help carry the flood risk reduction/mitigation ...more »

FEMA needs increased and specialized capabilities and skills to achieve its goals for Community Engagement ad Risk Communication (CERC). To maintain efficiency (minimizing hand-offs which could be disruptive to communities and adversely impact achieving Risk MAP goals and objectives), having one contractor responsible for a Risk MAP project from Discovery through delivery of regulatory products is desirable. In order ...more »

DFIRMS don't communicate well with many people, but Hazus Flood Information Tool (FIT) user created Depth Grids can, and can be done quickly and cheaply. The visual map reveals the potential hazard near their location with out any excess information. But next, they say "it doesn't flood here". This is where the State or Community need to have historical information, but more importantly images and videos. Youtube ...more »

1) Education and engagement needs to begin with internal staff - FEMA's Response, Recovery and External Affairs Divisions should be well versed in Mitigation so at any given time they can assist community leaders, media, and congressional leaders to identify risk and take action. 2) Flood Insurance is part of resilience and so should be talked about at every step in the process. Even if there is not a new map, impacts ...more »

Many New England communities have small streams like the one in back of my property -- 2' wide by 2' deep. Our house is high above the stream, yet 5 years ago this house was listed as in a flood plain on FEMA maps. I had to hire a local surveyor to check FEMA regs and submit an appeal, which was granted (with a disclaimer, however). This cost $1600. I am a senior citizen, and this was very costly, to remove the FEMA ...more »

Using an integrated outreach approach that combines online processes with opportunities for face-to-face engagement will give FEMA the opportunity to communicate with communities and keep them more informed about risk reduction strategies. By using the internet to connect with communities throughout a Risk MAP study, FEMA may be able to better understand the needs of the community and determine if there is a need for ...more »

Showing draft preliminary maps on the MSC is a great new functionality that was recently released, but it’s still very difficult for a homeowner to locate themselves and for communities to determine which map panel to view. The MSC viewer that creates FIRMettes for effective data can help a homeowner or community identify approximate locations in relation to risk; however, for planning purposes, it would be great to be ...more »

There are a lot of companies and organizations that have excellent relationships with their communities and have innovative and proven community engagement practices. What mechanisms does FEMA have to access these smaller private and non-profit entities and what capacity/processes does FEMA have/need to disseminate 'best practices' in an appropriate manner?