FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY
FEMA
- FEMA Disaster RSS Feed
- FEMA News RSS Feed
Blog
Author:Around the world, communities are using innovative approaches to support coronavirus (COVID-19) response efforts. Each week, FEMA is highlighting these extraordinary efforts so that other others can learn from and expand on them. This week focuses on communities that have found new, virtual ways to get people the help they need.
Smart911 Application
New Orleans is using a new technology that relies on artificial intelligence and cloud computing to provide 911 and 311 call centers with enhanced location, videoand chat capabilities. Callers can volunteer personal data via app-based profiles that provide responders important data, including COVID-19 status, without asking for it. Responders are able to remotely triage callers via video chat and begin treatment while putting distance between the patient and other people.
#WeAllMove Web Platform
The World Economic Forum COVID Action Platform, in partnership with a private company, created the #WeAllMove web platform. The platform allows users to find mobility operators around the world for different needs, such as access to vehicles for grocery delivery, alternative commuting options and commuting solutions for both healthcare and essential workers. Some options for healthcare workers are discounted or free.
Staying Connected Phone Program
The Ohio Department of Aging introduced a free, automated daily well-being check-in phone service for residents in Ohio for people ages 60 and older in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The “Staying Connected” phone program is available 7AM-6PM daily and contacts participants within the one-hour window the user selects upon enrollment. The service confirms the well-being of an individual and then offers to connect them to the local Area Agency on Aging for further information or assistance. If participants do not answer after three attempts, a call is placed to the alternate contact on file. The program is intended to extend beyond the pandemic.
Virtual Disaster Assistance
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency has been sending postcards to reach residents that include methods to virtually apply for disaster assistance for damage sustained from severe storms and flooding in February in lieu of going door-to-door. In situations where a physical presence is required, the agency has collaborated with nonprofits to manage three disaster assistance centers, where staff and volunteers wear masks and adhere to social distancing guidelines.
These stories are part of the FEMA Best Practice initiative which focuses on compiling the best practices and lessons learned from communities fighting COVID-19. To see more stories like this, visit the Best Practices page.
Posted: May 29, 2020, 6:57 pmAuthor:Around the world, communities are using innovative approaches to support coronavirus (COVID-19) response efforts. Each week, FEMA is highlighting these extraordinary efforts so that other others can learn from and expand on them. This week focuses on collaboration that goes the extra mile to help people stay connected, safe and informed.
Stanford Pet Partners
In collaboration with Stanford Health Care’s Professional Animal Workers program, therapy dogs at Stanford Hospital, and Stanford University have moved to online video communication applications such as Zoom and Instagram to continue providing emotional support services for staff and students.
Advanced Patient Isolation Coverings
A multidisciplinary collaboration at Harvard University has led to the creation of a new piece of personal protective equipment (PPE): transparent patient isolation coverings. These shields serve to protect healthcare providers by covering the patient’s head and top part of their body and maintaining negative air pressure inside.
Emergency Operations Center Future Planning for Evacuation
In preparation for the hurricane season, the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Galveston, Texas, conducts daily virtual meetings with stakeholders, to include the Chamber of Commerce, school districts, hospitals and universities. The city has updated its list of people registered for the need-a-ride program in the event of a hurricane evacuation and now anticipates a need to double the number of buses available for transport to maintain social distancing during evacuations. The city also works to ensure it has sufficient PPE and thermometers to resource health assessment stations before people are allowed to board a bus to a hurricane shelter. The EOC set up laptop stations to make the EOC more portable for potential future continuity of operations situations.
Online Situational Update Aggregator
In Ontario, Canada, Public Health Ontario has developed an online platform that consolidates COVID-19-related updates in a daily scan of national and international health organization situational updates and guidance for the public to access. The platform also provides resources for professionals who are responding to the pandemic and a regularly updated summary table including research articles relating to the virus. Resources include fact sheets, guidance, best practices, laboratory testing, presentations, reports and research.
These stories are part of the FEMA Best Practice initiative, which focuses on compiling the best practices and lessons learned from communities fighting COVID-19. To see more stories like this, visit the Best Practices page.
Posted: May 26, 2020, 8:14 pmAs we prepare for the upcoming hurricane season during response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, you may want to consider the importance of building codes. One thing COVID-19 has reminded us is that home or essential office spaces are the places we may feel safest. It puts a finer point on why the structural safety of these places must be of the highest standard.
Every year FEMA recognizes the month of May as Building Safety Month. This year’s theme Safer Buildings, Safer Communities, Safer World is a reminder that the use and enforcement of up-to-date building codes, specifications and standards will enhance community resiliency while saving money and lives. In recent years, we have seen natural disasters devastate communities and destroy homes and businesses. Damage costs exceeded $135 billion in 2018 – 19 and affected tens of millions of Americans. Modern building codes are essential for building a resilient Nation. From architects to engineers to builders, the adoption and enforcement of building codes ensure sound construction and help build a culture of preparedness.
Minimum model building codes are more disaster-resistant than ever and constructing to the latest model codes protects building occupants and the nation’s infrastructure investments. An April 2020 National Institute of Building Sciences study found that adopting modern model building codes saves $11 for every $1 invested through earthquake, flood, and wind mitigation benefits, with a $4 to $1 wildfire mitigation benefit. These are more than just numbers. This considerable savings represents avoided casualties, less post-traumatic stress disorder, reduced property damage, fewer business interruptions, lower insurance premiums and quantifies the significant role modern codes have in protecting us from the destructive forces of disasters whether from nature or elsewhere.
But the truth is the nation can do more to maximize these benefits through broader adoption and enforcement of these codes across the country. A different set of data from inspect2protect.org reveals that unfortunately, nearly two-thirds of our nation’s jurisdictions do not currently have a recent edition of the model codes in place, with the minimum hazard provisions intact. This gap is a risk that we must work to close in order to achieve uniformity and resiliency nationwide.
How do we close the gap?
It starts with awareness. A recent survey by the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, Inc. (FLASH), a non-profit disaster safety organization, found that 8 out of 10 Americans don’t worry about building codes, incorrectly assuming that they’re already protected living under strong building codes in their community.
FEMA places a strong emphasis on building codes because they enhance public safety and property protection. FEMA assistance programs, aided by the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018, are expanding the ways in which building codes are used and incentivized pre- and post-disaster. FEMA is also increasing its stake and broadening its reach on the vital importance of building codes by establishing a building codes working group that will develop an Agency-wide strategy to advance the outreach, training, education, development, adoption and enforcement of disaster-resistant building codes and standards for FEMA-wide programs, ultimately strengthening community resilience nationwide.
How can you make a difference?
More frequent and costly disasters demand that we adapt to the changing environment if we are to reduce disaster suffering. While it is the responsibility of local, state, tribal and territorial governments to enact strong building codes, your voice is essential in this process. Greater public awareness, understanding of building codes and community efforts can make a big difference. You can help by visiting InspectToProtect.org to see what codes your community has adopted. Reach out to your community’s decision makers if you aren’t happy with what you find. Ensuring strong building codes in your area and across the country begins with community members like you.
You can get free resources and learn about the status of building codes in their community by visiting 2020-building-safety-month and InspecttoProtect.org. We all can take part in creating Safer Buildings, Safer Communities and a Safer World.
Posted: May 26, 2020, 1:32 pmAuthor:Since March 18, FEMA has led the whole-of-America response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. We have worked with state, local, tribal and territorial partners, as well as non-governmental organizations and the private sector to fight COVID-19. We have helped deliver millions of supplies, provided over $1.6 billion in disaster relief funds and expanded testing capabilities across the country. The lessons we have learned along the way are essential to the new challenges we face as we enter the hurricane seasons.
Our agency has been making extensive efforts not only to continue normal disaster preparations, but to also prepare for those disasters while the COVID-19 response continues. These efforts may look different as we practice social distancing and continue to slow the spread. To prepare for these new challenges, we released the COVID-19 Pandemic Operational Guidance for the 2020 Hurricane Season. This guidance will help emergency managers and public health officials best prepare for the upcoming hurricane season while continuing to respond to COVID-19.
The guidance outlines the anticipated challenges to disaster operations posed by the pandemic and highlights planning considerations based on those challenges. It also outlines how we plan to adapt response and recovery operations to create a shared understanding of expectations between FEMA and emergency managers. It includes guidance, checklists and resources to support emergency managers as they adapt their response and recovery planning during this COVID environment.
While the document focuses on the 2020 hurricane season, most planning considerations can be applied to any disaster operation during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as, flooding, wildfires and more.
In addition to providing guidance, we are actively preparing our workforce and putting plans in place to support state, local, tribal and territorial partners in responding to disasters. These efforts include:
- Sheltering: We are working with partners on their locally implemented, state-managed, and federally supported sheltering planning efforts to ensure the safety and security of all.
- Establishing virtual operations: We have established virtual Joint Field Offices and National and Regional Coordination Centers. These virtual response centers allow us to serve communities after a disaster while still practicing social distancing.
- Inspections: Whenever possible, we will conduct virtual inspections for the agency’s Individual Assistance grants. In addition, joint Preliminary Damage Assessments for Public Assistance may also be conducted remotely.
- Disaster Survivor Assistance: In coordination with state, local, tribal and territorial partners, we will determine the use of Disaster Recovery Centers or Disaster Survivor Assistance teams in accordance with the phased reopening of an impacted area. We may use online and phone registration, as well as virtual assessments to ensure program delivery.
Our team is more prepared than ever to face new and old challenges, to work with our government and non-government partners and to plan for disasters. We are ready. We are FEMA.
Posted: May 20, 2020, 6:56 pmAuthor:Around the world, communities are using innovative approaches to support coronavirus (COVID-19) response efforts. Each week, FEMA is highlighting these extraordinary efforts so that other others can learn from and expand on them. This week focuses on how some communities are providing contactless or virtual solutions to new everyday problems.
Mobile Wi-Fi Vans
In San Antonio, vans equipped with high-speed Wi-Fi networks are dispatched to various locations in the city to enhance internet capabilities for students. The mobile hotspots provide free internet within a range of 100 to 200 feet. City residents accessing the network must observe social distancing guidelines. Vans are deployed based on an assessment of various factors. Some of these factors include student population in the area and areas that lack broadband internet access.
Virtual Tour App
In the Faroe Islands, a territory of Denmark that greatly relies on tourism, virtual visitors unable to travel during the coronavirus pandemic can use a free mobile application to visit the islands by “controlling” a local tour guide to create their own sight-seeing route. Camera-wearing locals will respond to sight-seeing commands from people at home. The tour guide app also has the capability to provide commentary.
Social Media Influencers Team Up with The Red Cross
The International Federation of the Red Cross recently announced that it is collaborating with social media influencers around the world to combat the spread of misinformation on COVID-19. Influencers who partner with the Red Cross will incorporate verified information and messaging into their creative content.
Drone Donation
A software company is donating dozens of drones to emergency responders across the country as part of its emergency response program. These drones can be used by police and fire departments to assess situations from afar and gain situational awareness. The company is also providing free training and support for the use of these drones.
These stories are part of the FEMA Best Practice initiative, which focuses on compiling the best practices and lessons learned from communities fighting COVID-19. To see more stories like this, visit the Best Practices page.
Posted: May 15, 2020, 1:30 pmWe are all adjusting to new schedules and routines due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. One thing many of us have in common is we are spending more time at home which makes it especially important to prepare and protect our homes. As hotter, drier weather of summer approaches, the risk of wildfire increases. While practicing social distancing, FEMA encourages you to make sure your home and your family are prepared for wildfires.
The United States Fire Administration promotes simple ways to prevent a fire from affecting your home and community, including:
- Reduce amount of flammable materials and brush that can burn around your home by removing pine needles, dry leaves or other highly flammable materials.
- Protect your roof: Trim branches that overhang your home and remove any leaves, needles, and sticks from your roof and gutters.
- Move wood piles and small propane tanks away from your (and your neighbor’s) home, 30 feet or more is best.
- Embers from a burning fire can get under an unprotected porch or through vents. To prevent this, install a wire mesh screen with openings no larger than 1/8th inch.
Be prepared in case you need to evacuate:
- Keep important documents in a fireproof safe, on a USB drive, or store password protected documents online.
- Check your home insurance to make sure your policy protects your current home value and includes wildfires.
- Give yourself time and evacuate early if possible. If you can’t leave, designate a room that can be closed off from outside air in case air conditions become hazardous.
- Make your household emergency plan and go-kit. When making plans, don’t forget the needs of pets. Make sure that you know more than one way out of your neighborhood.
- Sign up to receive emergency alerts and notices for your community.
- Ready.gov offers vital safety tips on what to do before, during, and after a wildfire.
Another important thing to consider is buying flood insurance. After a wildfire, flood risk increases due to the inability of charred vegetation and soil to absorb water. Rainstorms after a wildfire lead to increased runoff down slopes and into channels, streams, and rivers. Flooding after fire can be fast, severe, and include mudflows as runoff picks up debris, ash, and sediment from the burn scar. Flood insurance can protect property owners from catastrophic financial impacts of flooding following a wildfire.
Wildfires can develop and spread quickly, leaving little time to get somewhere safe. Know what to do to keep yourself, your family, and your pets safe and take steps now to protect your future.
Posted: May 13, 2020, 12:49 pmAs you continue to take precautions to keep yourself and your family safe from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, it is important to stay prepared for other disasters. Hurricane season begins on June 1, and the time to prepare is now.
FEMA continues to coordinate with state, local, tribal, and territorial officials, along with the private sector, to share operational guidance and to encourage hurricane planning that reflects public health guidelines. While many preparedness tools available to you are the same, certain actions may look different while COVID-19 remains a concern. FEMA has updated guidelines for preparing for hurricane season.
Know Your Evacuation Route
Check with local officials about updated evacuation shelters for this year. You should note that your regular shelter may not be open this year due to COVID-19. If you evacuate to a community shelter, follow the latest guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
If you are able, bring items that can help protect you and others in the shelter from COVID-19, such as hand sanitizer, cleaning materials, and two cloth face coverings per person. Children under 2 years old and people who have trouble breathing should not wear cloth face coverings. While at the shelter, be sure to wash your hands regularly. If possible, be sure to maintain a physical distance of at least 6 feet of space between you and people who aren’t members of your household.
Gather Supplies
Have enough food, water, and other supplies for every member of your family to last at least 72 hours. Consider what unique needs your family might have, such as supplies for pets or seniors and prescription medications. In addition, it is recommended that you add two cloth face coverings per family member and cleaning items to your kit, like soap, hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, or general household cleaning supplies to disinfect surfaces. After a hurricane, you may not have access to these supplies for days or even weeks. Preparing now ensures that you are well-equipped to stay safe if you need to quickly grab your go kit and evacuate to a community shelter.
As you prepare, be mindful that not everyone can afford to respond by stocking up on necessities. For those who can afford it, making essential purchases in advance will allow for longer time periods between shopping trips and help to protect those who are unable to procure essentials in advance of the pandemic and must shop more frequently.
Make an Emergency Plan
Make sure everyone in your household knows and understands your hurricane plan. Discuss the latest CDC guidance on COVID-19 and how it may affect your hurricane planning. Don’t forget a plan for the office, kids’ daycare, and anywhere you frequent.
Download the FEMA mobile app
Download the FEMA mobile app for disaster resources, weather alerts, and safety tips. Available in English and Spanish, the app provides a customizable checklist of emergency supplies, maps of open shelters and recovery centers, disaster survival tips, and weather alerts from the National Weather Service.
Visit Ready.gov for more tips. Disasters won’t wait. Neither should you.
Posted: May 8, 2020, 12:36 pmAs part of the National Weather Services’ Hurricane Preparedness Week, now is a good time to Get an Insurance Check-Up. With the 2020 hurricane season quickly approaching, FEMA encourages you to renew or purchase a flood insurance policy from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to protect your home and belongings ahead of the next storm.
Where it can rain, it can flood.
The NFIP understands that a home is a safe structure. Now more than ever, it is important that you keep your home safe and secure for your peace of mind.
A property does not have to be near water to flood. In fact, people outside of high-risk flood areas filed 40% of all NFIP flood insurance claims between 2015 and 2019. Floods can result from storms, hurricanes, changes to the landscape as the result of new construction or wildfires and urban drainage systems overwhelmed by excessive water flow.
Just one inch of water in an average-sized home can cause $25,000 of damage. Without flood insurance, most residents have to pay out of pocket or take out loans to repair and replace damaged items.
Prepare for the Next Weather Event
Flood insurance is a key piece of the preparedness puzzle. It’s important to remember that homeowners or renters insurance doesn’t typically cover flood damage. Flood insurance helps cover the cost of flood damage and allows you to recover. This is true whatever the cause of the flood — heavy rains, a blocked creek, inadequate drainage or an overtopped levee.
Typically, it takes 30 days for a flood insurance policy to go into effect so it’s important to act now. If you have flood insurance, now is a good time to review your coverage with your insurance agent to be sure you have the coverage you need.
View in FEMA Multimedia Library
Plan Ahead
Natural disasters are often unpredictable. You should take the necessary precautions to reduce the potential for flood damage to your home.
- Keep important documents (birth certificates, passports, etc.) in a safe, dry place.
- Clear debris from gutters and downspouts, make sure basements are waterproofed and ensure the sump pump is working.
- Reduce the risk of damage from flooding by elevating critical utilities, such as electrical panels, switches, sockets, wiring, appliances and heating systems.
You can’t always predict the weather, but you can be prepared for it by purchasing a flood insurance policy from the NFIP. To learn more about the benefits of flood insurance, or to find a local flood insurance provider, visit FloodSmart.gov.
The NFIP understands that a home is a safe structure. Now more than ever, it is important that you keep your home safe and secure for your peace of mind.
Posted: May 7, 2020, 1:00 pmAuthor:Across the country, communities are using innovative approaches to support COVID-19 response efforts. Each week, FEMA is highlighting these extraordinary efforts so that other others can learn from and expand on them. This week focuses on communities building new communication strategies that highlight the power and importance of effective communication.
Medical Supplies Facebook Group
A Facebook group called Open Source COVID-19 Medical Supplies (OSCMS) supports an international network of medical professional, engineers, writers and more in sharing ideas and information and asking for help. Posts on the group so far have included mask, gown and face shield designs, and companies that have manufactured PPE and are looking for places to donate.
Senior Citizen Call Center Resource
Henrico County, Virginia, has launched an “isolation-specific” call outreach center to aid senior citizens. The call center is staffed by furloughed librarians to help to combat negative effects of social isolation. Senior citizens may call with questions regarding resources, to set up times for wellness checks, or to simply talk. The center staff is available daily from 7 a.m. -7 p.m. to provide a resource to talk to during COVID-19.
Managing Call Influx
Company call centers across industries are fielding an abundance of calls from customers inquiring about online orders, seeking refunds or forbearance. Many employers are seeking new workers to manage the heightened call volume. One option is hiring individuals with disabilities. The National Telecommuting Institute, a non-profit that works with the Social Security Administration to fill telecommuting jobs for people with disabilities, has been approached by numerous companies seeking workers. The institute trains individuals and aids them in acquiring necessary equipment and broadband internet connections allowing them to efficiently work from home
Seattle’s Approach to COVID-19
The first diagnosis of COVID-19 in the United States occurred in a Seattle suburb. Upon learning of the first diagnosis, doctors and nurses recognized that what they communicated was just as important as the response. As a result, members of the public entering Seattle-area hospitals were asked questions regarding foreign travel, respiratory issues and recent interactions with others upon arrival. Epidemiologists began persuading citizens to forgo travel and socializing even when it is not evident that they were directly at risk.
These stories are part of the FEMA Best Practice initiative which focuses on compiling the best practices and lessons learned from communities fighting COVID-19. To see more stories like this, visit the Best Practices page.
Posted: May 6, 2020, 10:22 pmAuthor:Across the country, communities are using innovative approaches to support COVID-19 response efforts. Each week, FEMA is highlighting these extraordinary efforts so that other others can learn from and expand on them. This week focuses on the everyday workers that are making personal sacrifices to help ensure that everyone receives the products and personal protective equipment (PPE) they need to stay safe.
Braskem America Workers
In an effort to ramp up production of polypropylene, a raw material used to produce PPE, 43 employees voluntarily isolated at a Pennsylvania Braskem America plant for 28 days. The workers slept, ate, and worked 12-hour shifts at the factory, producing tens of millions of pounds of raw material crucial for the manufacture of face masks, surgical gowns, and disinfectant wipes. By living at the factory, employees could avoid exposure to COVID-19 through daily commutes.
Lysol Factory Workers
The Lysol factory in Somerset county, New Jersey, has dedicated all of their aerosol lines to producing Lysol disinfect spray. The factory is receiving more than 50 railcar deliveries per month to supply alcohol, a key disinfectant ingredient, for aerosol lines that are operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The company has distributed wallet cards to factory employees to display their essential service status. Employees are staying voluntarily into the next shift in efforts to aid in the fight against COVID-19. Employee morale has shifted from viewing their work as simply a job, to feeling like front-line fighters against the virus.
City of Shoreline Community Emergency Response Team
The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) in the city of Shoreline, Washington, has made the showers at the local recreation centers available for those experiencing homelessness. The showers are available three days per week for four hours each day. The CERT members screen individuals coming in by taking their temperature as a preventative measure. The Shoreline CERT volunteers will begin assisting with food distribution at a King County Housing Facility in Shoreline in the near future.
These stories are part of the FEMA Best Practice initiative, which focuses on compiling the best practices and lessons learned from communities fighting COVID-19. To see more stories like this, visit the Best Practices page.
Posted: April 30, 2020, 6:04 pm
