Macbeth, and King Richard the Third

• Responsibilities of government authorities, businesses, and individuals in preparedness

• Identify key preparedness players and understand how their actions should be coordinated

• Create informed disaster plans, whether contributing to a local emergency operations plan or a family disaster plan

• Compare and contrast preparedness actions on an individual level and community level

This chapter outlines the differences and similarities between hazard mitigation and preparedness and discusses the role of preparedness in the disaster management cycle, including the need to incorporate climate change information into preparedness programs. This chapter also gives a brief overview of how preparedness helps ensure an efficient response to a disaster, including an introduction to the National Response Plan and the Presidential Policy Directive 8, which guides national preparedness. The chapter then describes various preparedness activities undertaken by governments, businesses, families, and volunteer organizations such as the American Red Cross. The chapter illustrates the responsibilities of government and individuals for preparedness by focusing on an evacuation scenario. The chapter concludes with a discussion of various preparedness programs that help make communities and individuals ready for many types of hazard situations.

When a community receives word that a hurricane is approaching, a frenzy of activity takes place to ensure that citizens and businesses are warned and, depending on the projected impacts, an attempt is made to move the targeted populous out of harm’s way. In the midst of these activities, it is to the advantage of the community to have planned out a course of action ahead of time. Determining the most efficient methods for communicating warnings, evacuating large numbers of people, and setting up shelters is not something community officials should do on the fly, especially when it is possible to make these preparations in advance with thoughtful detail.

In essence, this planning for the activities that will take place immediately before, during, and immediately after a disaster occurs is described as preparedness. It is a vital portion of the disaster management cycle discussed in Chapter 2.

Preparedness can be characterized as a state of readiness to respond to any emergency or disaster. It involves anticipating what might happen during different sorts of hazard events, making sure that plans are in place to deal with those possibilities, and training and educating everyone involved about what their various roles will be as the situation evolves. Along with mitigation, preparedness focuses on the future, and is one of the building blocks of a resilient community.

Actions that involve a combination of planning, resources, training, exercising, and organizing to build, sustain, and improve operational capabilities. Preparedness is the process of identifying the personnel, training, and equipment needed for a wide range of potential incidents, and developing jurisdiction-specific plans for delivering capabilities when needed for an incident.^*

Preparedness plays a vital role in the emergency management cycle. Preparedness involves pre-disaster readiness and planning for the immediate emergency response, but also involves restoration of government services, utilities, and businesses to pre-disaster status as quickly as possible. Preparedness is a concept that overarches most aspects of emergency management. It entails coordination between many government officials, emergency workers, volunteers, and citizens. Emergency management agencies, businesses, and residents alike need to have preparedness capabilities. These capabilities can only come about through planning, training, and performing emergency exercises ahead of a disaster. Knowing what to do in a disaster can reduce the confusion, anxiety, fear, and even panic that often occur as a disaster unfolds. Most significantly, pre-disaster preparedness planning can save lives and minimize injuries.

Preparedness is an integral part of the comprehensive emergency management system. Comprehensive emergency management is a widely used approach at the local, state, and federal levels to deal with the inevitability of natural hazards and the possibility of human-made hazards and their potential to cause disasters in a community. As discussed in Chapter 2, the four phases of a comprehensive emergency management system are Preparedness, Response, Recovery, and Mitigation. We prepare for disasters before they occur. When a disaster happens, a community must first respond to that particular event, and soon thereafter begin recovery. But even while the community is still recovering from one disaster, we begin the process of mitigating the impacts of the next disaster.

While there are some overlaps between mitigation and preparedness, there are also some key distinctions. Although preparedness activities are carried out in advance of a hazard event, they are generally directed to the response and recovery phase. During preparedness, we gather our supplies and make our plans for what to do prior to impact and immediately thereafter to recover from the effects of the disaster. Mitigation, in contrast, is the ongoing effort to lessen the impacts of disasters on people and property through pre-disaster activities. Mitigation can take place months, years, and even decades before a hazard event, and continues after a disaster occurs with an eye to the future. In sum, the difference between these two pre-disaster phases is mainly temporal. Mitigation involves a long-term commitment that ensures fewer people are victims of disasters in the future, while preparedness is planning for emergency services that must be delivered prior to and following a specific event.

Preparedness is directly related to response—the phase of the emergency management cycle that occurs immediately after a disaster. In order to experience a successful response to a disaster, the plans for the response must be in place prior to the response effort. Preparedness takes care of much of the preplanning for response. There are many activities to coordinate in a response effort. The more planning that can be done ahead of a disaster, the more efficient the response to that particular disaster will be. Without preparedness, a timely, coordinated response would not be possible.

Many scientists and emergency managers recognize that climate change is changing the hazard profile and vulnerability of their communities, with effects including intensified wildfires, higher sea levels, extreme rainfall, windstorms, disease spreading to new areas, heat waves, and drought. There have been a number of record-setting severe weather events, from the May 2010 flooding in Tennessee, which was the highest since recordkeeping began there in the 1880s, to the 2013 Colorado Floods, in which 17 inches of rain fell in a few days, comparable to Boulder County’s average annual precipitation (20.7 inches)!

Anticipated climate change implications such as more intense storms and rising sea levels could demand preparedness efforts that support more elaborate and extensive emergency response. More frequent heavy downpours and floods in urban areas, and more extensive coastal flooding will cause greater property damage, thus creating a heavier burden on emergency responders, and a growing financial toll on businesses and homeowners. Flood insurance program policies may have to be reevaluated. Higher threats of infectious diseases will likely require better coordination of emergency management and public health efforts. Emergency managers may have to be poised to preposition more stocks to be responsive to potentially catastrophic events. In short, the emergency management community may be required to reevaluate how services are provided to accommodate the potentially hazardous impacts of climate change, and implement comprehensive changes to strategic plans.¹

SELF-CHECK

• Define mitigation and preparedness as distinct but related phases of the emergency management cycle.

• List examples of response activities that involve preparedness.

• Explain how climate change may require a shift in preparedness policy and practice.

Although there are a number of different organizations involved in potential preparedness activities, it is important to realize that every individual, whether as family member or business owner, must accept responsibility for his or her own readiness for disaster. Government agencies and volunteer organizations have a significant role to play, but responsibility lies with each citizen to take these preventative actions as well. Working together to achieve preparedness at each level is the key to any successful response effort.

HURRICANE PAM: A PRE-KATRINA PLANNING AND PREPAREDNESS EXERCISE

Hurricane Pam was a planning and preparedness exercise that took place in July 2004 at the Louisiana State Emergency Operations Center in Baton Rouge (see Figure 11.1). The five-day exercise was based on a hypothetical scenario named Hurricane Pam, a storm conceptualized as a slow-moving, strong Category 3 hurricane that would hit the city of New Orleans at some undetermined time in the future. FEMA provided funding for the exercise because, out of 25 disaster scenarios nationwide, a hurricane hitting New Orleans was selected as one of the most disastrous scenarios possible. The exercise was designed and facilitated by the private contracting firm Innovative Emergency Management Inc., and involved emergency management officials from over 50 parish, state, federal, and volunteer organizations located throughout southeastern Louisiana. The purpose of Pam was to facilitate the development of joint disaster response plans between all of the participants and to determine what should be done to prepare and respond to this type of disaster.

FIGURE 11.1 Computer model from the Hurricane Pam exercise in June 2004 showing significant water surface elevation across much of the New Orleans area. (From www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/orleans/vanh-02.html.)

The outcomes of the hypothetical scenario were amazingly similar to the actual conditions wrought by Hurricane Katrina a little over a year later in August 2005. Models run during Hurricane Pam visualized sustained winds of 120 miles an hour, up to 20 inches of rain in some areas of Louisiana, and storm surges that topped the levee system in New Orleans. Additionally, the scenario specified that 300,000 people would not evacuate, over 500,000 building would be destroyed, sewer services and communications would be knocked out, about 1000 shelters would be needed, boats and helicopters would be required to rescue stranded residents, and flood waters would create large uninhabitable areas across the southeast.² The predicted consequences also included over 175,000 injured, over 200,000 ill, and over 60,000 dead. In this respect, the resemblance of Hurricane Pam to Hurricane Katrina was fortunately not too close.³

During the Hurricane Pam exercise, the 300 workshop participants were split into groups and asked to devise responses to each part of the scenario as it unfolded, focusing on search and rescue, sheltering, debris removal, and medical care. Post-landfall and recovery issues were emphasized.² The outcome of the exercise was formulated into a to-do list consisting of 15 guiding principles that each level of government should use to revise their plans. The list includes diagrams for distribution of supplies to storm victims; action plans for debris removal, shelter, and search and rescue; and ideas of evacuation plan revisions. The detailed workshop summary also identifies the appropriate lead and support agencies for each of the tasks mentioned.²

After Katrina, a number of Hurricane Pam participants reported that the workshop had increased their ability to respond to the real-life disaster by anticipating some of the most critical problems in advance. However, the aftermath of the Katrina disaster also exposed many more lessons that were not heeded.² Although history provides the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, it is indeed unfortunate for those who died and whose lives were disrupted so brutally that more of the lessons learned during the Hurricane Pam exercise were not fully implemented before the 2005 hurricane season arrived. The funding for the second planned phase of the Pam exercise was cut by Congress before it could take place (Smith, G. Ph.D. 2006. Director of the Mississippi Office of the Governor’s Office of Recovery and Renewal. Personal communication. May).

Preparedness responsibilities are shared by individuals, nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, local governments, and state and federal agencies. However, the federal government plays a key role in creating a coordinating structure for preparedness activities and defining roles and responsibilities to be more disaster resilient. The Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) 8: National Preparedness, released in March 2011, led to the development of a systematic process to prepare for threats that pose the greatest risk to the security of the Nation. PPD-8 defines the following five preparedness mission areas and mandates policy and planning documents (described below) to guide the Nation’s approach for ensuring and enhancing national preparedness: prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery.

The National Mitigation Framework establishes a common platform for coordinating and addressing how the United States manages risk through mitigation. It describes mitigation roles and addresses how the nation will develop and coordinate mitigation capabilities to reduce loss of life and property. The Framework focuses on creating a national culture shift that embeds risk management and mitigation in all planning, decision making, and development. The National Mitigation Framework discusses seven core capabilities required for entities involved in mitigation:

During a response effort, many activities must be coordinated. The second edition of the National Response Framework (NRF), updated in 2013, provides context for how the response stakeholders should work together and how response efforts relate to other parts of national preparedness. The NRF is built on scalable, flexible, and adaptable concepts identified in the National Incident Management System (discussed later in this chapter) to align roles and responsibilities across government agencies, local communities, the private sector, nongovernmental organization, and individuals. The NRF describes specific authorities and best practices for managing incidents that range from serious but purely local to large-scale catastrophes.

The NRF emphasizes a tiered response so that incidents are handled at the lowest jurisdictional level capable of handling the mission (e.g., a county or municipality). The NRF is always in effect, and elements can be implemented at any time. The structures, roles, and responsibilities described in the NRF can be partially or fully implemented in the context of a threat or hazard, in anticipation of an event, or in response to an incident. Because structures and procedures can be selectively implemented, the NRF allows for a scaled response, delivery of the necessary resources, and a level of coordination appropriate to each incident.

The National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF), finalized in September 2011, is a guide to promote effective recovery, particularly from large-scale or catastrophic events. The NDRF defines core recovery principles, roles and responsibilities of recovery coordinators and other stakeholders, and lays out a coordinating structure to facilitate communication and collaboration during recovery. The NDRF also provides guidance for pre- and post-disaster recovery planning and describes the overall process by which communities can capitalize on opportunities to rebuild stronger, smarter, and safer.

By emphasizing a process to plan for disaster recovery so that communities can not only rebuild, but reduce vulnerability to future hazards, the NDRF also serves an important role in hazard mitigation. In this respect, preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation are all mutually reinforcing phases of emergency management.

The National Preparedness System requires consistent implementation of the National Incident Management System (NIMS). Established in 2003, NIMS provides a consistent, nationwide approach and vocabulary for multiple agencies or jurisdictions to work together to build, sustain and deliver the capabilities needed in all phases of emergency management. NIMS is directed under the Department of Homeland Security and is described as follows:

This system will provide a consistent nationwide approach for Federal, State, and local governments to work effectively and efficiently together to prepare for, respond to, and recover from domestic incidents, regardless of cause, size, or complexity. To provide for interoperability and compatibility among Federal, State, and local capabilities, the NIMS will include a core set of concepts, principles, terminology, and technologies covering the incident command system; multiagency coordination systems; unified command; training, identification and management of resources (including systems for classifying types of resources); qualifications and certification; and the collection, tracking, and reporting of incident information and incident resources.⁴

Standardized guidance for federal agencies in terms of preparedness is established through NIMS and includes instructional components of planning, training, exercises, personnel qualifications and training, equipment acquisition and certification, mutual aid, and publications management. NIMS encourages integrating all preparedness components and conducting activities regularly at the federal level to ensure preparedness for an incident of national significance. Incidents of national significance are declared as such after meeting any of the following four criteria:

• A federal agency has requested the help of the Secretary of Homeland Security.

• A state or local government has requested the help of the federal government because its capabilities to respond to a disaster are overwhelmed.

• The President requests the involvement of the Department of Homeland Security.

To prepare for an incident of national significance, federal agencies are responsible for meeting the requirements of the NRF during a disaster and the requirements of the more steady-state NIMS. Yet, in general, the federal government’s contribution to preparedness is to make available adequate resources to augment state and local efforts. These resources include public outreach materials on hazard preparedness; grants for training, personnel, programs, equipment, and exercises; grants for response and recovery efforts during a disaster that is beyond the capability of local and state governments; and technical assistance to help build stronger programs.

The National Prevention Framework describes what the whole community—from community members to senior leaders in government—should do regarding information about imminent threats to the Nation, primarily focused on terrorism. This Framework describes the following core capabilities needed to prevent an act of terrorism and establishes a coordinating structure to enable stakeholders to work together:

One of the most significant federal resources that is made available to the public for hazard preparedness efforts is provided by the NOAA. NOAA’s National Weather Service is responsible for the NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) All Hazards Network. This network of radio stations across the country broadcasts continuous weather and hazards information. Warnings, watches, and forecasts are transmitted directly from the closest National Weather Service office in a local area. The network is called “All Hazards” for a reason—it includes warnings and post-event information for all hazards, even nonmeteorological hazards that are not under the purview of the Weather Service (such as earthquakes or oil spills).⁵ Information on purchasing a NOAA weather radio receiver that is configured specifically to the NWR can be found at www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/nwrrcvr.htm.

Ready is a national public service advertising campaign developed by FEMA to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies including natural and human-caused disasters. The goal of the campaign is to get the public involved and ultimately to increase the level of basic preparedness across the nation.

Ready and its Spanish language version Listo ask individuals to do three key things: (1) build an emergency supply kit, (2) make a family emergency plan, and (3) be informed about the different types of emergencies that could occur and their appropriate responses. In addition to the website www.ready.gov, the campaign messages have been distributed through: television, radio, print, and brochures, and increasingly through social media.

As part of the President’s Climate Action Plan released in 2013, the Climate Data Initiative is a broad effort to make climate-relevant data resources freely available to stimulate innovation and private sector entrepreneurship in support of national climate change preparedness.

The website www.climate.data.gov, a key component of the Climate Data Initiative, makes federal data about our climate more open, accessible, and useful to citizens, researchers, entrepreneurs, and innovators. The website includes curated, high-quality datasets, web services, and tools that can be used to help communities prepare for the future. Initially focused on coastal flooding and sea level rise, these datasets and resources are being expanded over time to provide information on other climate-relevant threats, such as to human health, energy infrastructure, and our food supply.

State governments are responsible for assisting their local governments when support and resources are needed beyond what the local level can provide. These resources include money, personnel, and equipment to supplement the capabilities of local-level response. State-level responsibilities also include the coordination of planning and preparedness efforts among local jurisdictions such that they do not conflict with each other and the coordination of training and exercising programs among multiple jurisdictions. The states must also coordinate activities of state agencies outside of emergency management that are involved in response efforts, similar to the coordination of federal-level agencies by the Department of Homeland Security.

Each state maintains an emergency management office. The following are examples of the emergency management offices for various states:

• North Carolina Division of Emergency Management within the Department of Public Safety

• Louisiana Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness

• Colorado Division of Emergency Management within the Department of Local Affairs

A governor’s prime resource is the National Guard. When called upon, the National Guard provides the capability to greatly assist in disaster response in terms of providing communications systems; construction equipment; emergency supplies such as medical supplies, beds, food, water, and blankets; as well as personnel to assist with distribution. Upon calling in the National Guard, the governor becomes commander in chief of state military forces. The governor also has police powers to amend, rescind orders, or create regulations during a declared state of emergency, and must also be involved in evacuation coordination between intrastate agencies, local level governments, and interstate agencies. Although these are largely response-related activities, the governor’s office must participate in preparedness activities to ensure the state’s readiness to carry out these functions and respond to disasters.

Just as a governor has chief executive responsibilities for the state, the city or town manager or mayor has responsibility as leader of the jurisdiction to provide for the welfare and safety of its residents. The mayor must coordinate the local resources available to ensure preparedness and communicate with the governor when those resources are exhausted during an emergency. Local law determines the powers of the mayor to establish curfews, order quarantines, direct evacuations, or suspend local laws. In addition, the mayor is also responsible for communicating warnings to citizens, working with the local emergency manager, and facilitating resource sharing with other jurisdictions.

Each local jurisdiction also has some form of emergency plan that assigns the responsibilities of first responders such as police, fire, and paramedics for a variety of emergency scenarios, including natural hazard events and technological emergencies. These first responders each have their own protocols and preparedness activities. Similar to other levels of government, these procedures can be detailed and coordinated in the local emergency operations plan, which is usually developed and maintained by local emergency managers, often at the county level.

There are many activities to coordinate and prepare logistically in addition to the deployment of first responders. Communications, notifications and warnings, search and rescue, shelter and mass care, traffic detours, evacuations, law enforcement, and power failure are a few of the issues emergency managers face. The numerous details for which local governments are responsible highlight the critical need for preparedness and emergency operations plans that are developed in advance of a disaster.

FEMA has developed the following list of some of the emergency management responsibilities of local governments:

• Enforcing building codes, zoning ordinances, and land use management programs

In addition to the emergency management functions carried out by local, state, and federal governments, each of us plays an important role in preparedness at an individual level as well. Those who are well prepared can be proactive, rather than reactive, during a disaster. It is our individual responsibility to know what hazards could potentially affect us and our families and to take action in preparation.

In 2004, FEMA published an informative handbook targeted to citizens entitled Are you Ready? An In-depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness. This handbook can be found online at https://www.fema.gov/pdf/areyouready/areyouready_full.pdf. An accompanying video, entitled Getting Ready for Disaster—One Family’s Experience, is downloadable from the FEMA website or can be accessed through YouTube. These resources provide details for how to

• Get informed about hazards and emergencies that may affect you and your family

Additionally, the handbook lists suggestions for actions to take during each stage of preparation. Before the disaster, the guide suggests that individuals know their risks and learn to recognize signs of danger, purchase insurance, including additional insurance not covered by traditional homeowner’s insurance policies (such as flood insurance), develop disaster plans, assemble a kit of supplies, and volunteer to help others. During the disaster, plans can then be put into action, and citizens can help others while heeding advice of emergency officials. Families should prepare escape routes and make advance plans for communicating among family members during emergencies, for shutting off utilities, protecting vital records, and caring for pets. Knowing the emergency plans for local schools can also assist in making preparations for families with children in terms of communication, safety, and evacuation measures.

All of these are important responsibilities for individuals to take seriously. Those who are well prepared will be more available to help others, becoming part of the solution rather than part of the problem. FEMA lists the following items that should be included in any family’s basic disaster supplies kit:

• Special needs items, such as prescription medications, eyeglasses, contact lens solutions, and hearing aid batteries

• Blankets, sleeping bags, and warm clothing such as jackets, pans, hats, gloves, scarves, and sturdy shoes if in a cold climate.⁶

GIRL SCOUTS CAN “BE PREPARED” TOO

The shared Boy Scout and Girl Scout motto “Be Prepared” can be applied to many situations, but Junior Girl Scouts earning the Safety Award decided to use their abilities to help each other, their families, and their communities “Be Prepared,” too. In order to obtain the award, the Girl Scouts must complete eight safety preparedness activities. Among the qualified activities include developing a family fire safety plan, learning about local 911 services, conducting an emergency evacuation drill as described by the FEMA Family Disaster Plan or American Red Cross Disaster Services, learning first aid, becoming a FEMA Disaster Action Kid, and learning severe weather signs as described by the National Weather Service.

Many communities have a significant number of residents who are exceptionally vulnerable to the impacts of hazard events. Vulnerable populations may include those living in poverty, the elderly, disabled, non-English speakers, people living in isolated or remote areas, and those individuals and families who are compromised in multiple other ways. In general, these populations have little or no ability to prepare in advance for disaster; imagine, for example, the difficulty of stockpiling three days’ worth of food and water when day-to-day living is a struggle. As a result, these populations require additional attention when planning for disasters because their vulnerability necessitates a higher level of response than populations that have greater capacity for self-sufficiency.

As members of the community, local businesses and commercial operations are also responsible for preparedness. Chapter 9 covers in detail the risks businesses face and the mitigation and preparedness measures they can use to reduce the risks from hazards. This chapter discusses strategies to meet the responsibilities of property protection, business contingency planning, business relocation planning, protecting employees and their families, and purchasing adequate insurance coverage.

In addition to protecting their own assets and investments, businesses can also contribute to preparedness efforts of the wider community. Providing adequate supplies for families in the community takes preparation and coordination on the part of local businesses. For example, families interested in securing their properties from damage, such as boarding up their houses for a hurricane, need to be able to purchase plywood, nails, and hammers. Citizens evacuating the area prior to a wildfire need to fill up their gas tanks. Prior to an oncoming winter storm, individuals flock to grocery stores to buy milk, bread, and canned goods. Businesses are not usually accustomed to accommodating large influxes of customers and in these special instances need to be prepared for bringing in additional supplies if possible.

POP TART PREPAREDNESS

The retail company Wal-Mart implemented many disaster preparedness strategies to safeguard the business from the impacts of hazards, particularly in stores located in hurricane-prone Florida. In addition, the corporation has also focused its preparedness efforts toward shipping targeted items that will be of assistance to local stores and customers. Prior to a hurricane, the company has historically sent trucks full of dry ice and backup generators to protect frozen food from power outages. After studying customer buying patterns in hurricane hazard areas, Wal-Mart was able to determine that before a hurricane, customers typically raid the shelves for certain items. Based on these consumer studies, Wal-Mart has contingency plans in place to deliver additional shipments of items shown to be in high demand, including bottled water, flashlights, generators, tarps…and strawberry pop tarts.⁷

Evacuation is a prime example of an emergency-related action that involves preparedness at all levels of responsibility. Evacuation can be planned far ahead of time at the individual, business, local, state, and federal levels, although its execution takes place just before an event. Thus far, this chapter has identified roles and responsibilities of these different levels separately, but in this section we will tie all of them together in a specific evacuation situation in order to highlight the degree of coordination necessary.

Imagine you are a resident of a town on a barrier island. While making dinner in the early evening of a lazy summer day, you are keeping an eye on your children playing outside and you have the television on in the background. Suddenly, you hear on the newscast that there is a tropical storm gaining strength in the Atlantic Ocean. NOAA NWS forecasters are predicting that it will turn into a hurricane and your barrier island is within the projected path. Of course, there is only a certain amount of reliability to their predictions, but over the next two days, it is still heading in your direction and has become a Category 3 hurricane. What do you do?

Now imagine you are the local emergency manager for the same town and are receiving frequent hurricane condition updates from the National Weather Service. You have the community’s emergency plans at hand. You also know that you will need to recommend a mandatory evacuation to the mayor and governor with adequate notice to ensure there is enough time for citizens and visitors to evacuate. Grounded in prior research and data gathering, your plans show that in order for a town of your size to evacuate during the peak of the tourist season, it will take at least two days notice prior to landfall to successfully move the entire population off the island. Yet, you feel the pressure from local businesses, many of whom cater to tourists, to wait until the hurricane is predicted to make landfall in the area with greater certainty before asking the mayor and governor to call for a State of Emergency and mandatory evacuation. The two-day evacuation window is quickly approaching. What do you do?

As an owner of a local hardware store, what do you do? As governor, what do you do? As resident or visitor, what do you do? Luckily, you are prepared.

As a hardware store owner, you called for extra shipments of plywood and other supplies at the first notification of a hurricane. You ensure that your employees are aware of the situation and are preparing for the safety of their families. You have a business contingency plan in place and have purchased flood insurance.

As the emergency manager, you alert citizens and tourists about impending hurricane conditions, encouraging them to evacuate voluntarily several days ahead of expected landfall. When the NWS predictions indicate the hurricane will make landfall in two days time, you advise a mandatory evacuation. You contact the mayor, who calls the governor, who enlists the National Guard to assist with the reverse traffic flow and set up shelters according to the state’s evacuation plan. The governor commands the local police, state police, and the National Guard, including those requested from other states, to enforce the evacuation order. The governor also is working in coordination with federal officials to guide evacuation activities. The NRF is invoked because of the large number of people evacuating from along the coastline of the surrounding areas and states. Your local emergency officials are ready and start assisting with door to door notifications of mandatory evacuation and helping those that have special needs. The local chapter of the American Red Cross is gearing up its volunteers and supplies and moving them out of harm’s way. The hospitals and nursing homes are preparing to evacuate all of the patients they can according to their emergency plans. And the local utility companies are preparing for power outages.

As a resident, you are boarding up your windows, have ensured that gasoline is in your car, your cellphone is fully charged, and you have identified several locations you can go before the mandatory evacuation is called. You have detailed maps of the area ready in case the traditional roads are overwhelmed and a NOAA Weather Radio to receive updates on the path of the hurricane and local evacuation instructions. You have your children’s medicines, a suitcase of extra clothing, copies of important documents such as identification and insurance papers, as well as food and water for the car trip ready to go. When the evacuation is called, you are ready to leave immediately to avoid being trapped by any severe weather and know your children’s school emergency plan so picking them up does not slow things down. The single bridge leaving the island is crowded, but traffic is moving, and you and your neighbors are able to successfully evacuate.

Without preparation and coordination in advance of the evacuation, however, it is evident that the evacuation process could easily become a nightmare. If the citizens, local emergency officials, business owners, governor’s office, and federal weather forecasters did not all work together and know their individual responsibilities through education, exercises, and training, many parts of the evacuation would fail to be executed successfully.

Without warning systems alerting citizens and officials of an approaching hurricane, no one would know to be concerned or begin the evacuation process. Without the local residents having the knowledge of what to do upon hearing that a hurricane is approaching, they would not make early preparations for a mandatory evacuation or initiate their family disaster plans. Hardware stores would be overwhelmed with residents waiting until the last minute to purchase supplies to secure their homes, and inventories would be depleted quickly. If the emergency manager waited too long to recommend a mandatory evacuation, the governor could not activate the National Guard with enough time to provide quality pre-hurricane assistance. The highways would turn into a parking lot with cars attempting to cross the lone bridge off the island. Hospitals and nursing homes would not have time to evacuate and they would have no choice but to keep patients in place. Traffic conditions would discourage other residents from evacuating and they would stay in their homes to ride out the storm, placing themselves and rescue workers in danger. All this commotion would happen while the hurricane continues to barrel down upon the community with ever-increasing speed and force.

Each of the participants described in this scenario plays an important role in the evacuation process. The better prepared each is, the more efficient and effective the evacuation can be. Yet, if only one of these participants is not prepared, a domino effect can result. Other community members, no matter how well prepared as individuals, will not be able to perform their functions because of a broken link elsewhere in the chain of interdependence. Personal responsibility to take preparedness seriously is essential in an evacuation situation, for ourselves and for the safety and welfare of others around us.

SELF-CHECK

• List the levels of preparedness players.

• Describe the National Response Framework and the National Incident Management System.

• Give a summary of what can be found in the FEMA handbook: Are You Ready? An In-depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness.

There are a number of programs, training activities, and exercises available, each of which plays an important role in preparedness. These ensure that the best possible instructions are in place when a disaster occurs and a response effort is necessary. Activities include, but are certainly not limited to, planning for warning systems and evacuations, providing training for emergency response officials, evaluating the efficiency of response exercises, anticipating population trends and special needs, and detailing the coordination between numerous organizations involved. This section highlights several volunteer programs, education programs, and hazard-specific exercises to demonstrate the many preparedness resources available to citizens, families, businesses, and government officials.

There are a large number of volunteer programs throughout the United States that make lasting contributions to preparedness. These included nationally known organizations such as the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, Second Harvest, Catholic Charities, Mennonite Disaster Service, and others that are a part of the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (NVOAD), as well as numerous locally-driven groups.

The American Red Cross was created by Clara Barton in 1881 to aid the victims of disaster. Ninety-five percent of the Red Cross is composed of volunteers. These volunteers provide humanitarian aid to people all over the United States and internationally. Key activities carried out by the ARC include the following:

• Responding to approximately 70,000 disasters in the United States each year, ranging from home fires to earthquakes

• Supplying more than 40% of the American blood supply from the nearly 4 million people who donate blood through the ARC

• Training more than 9 million Americans in health and safety courses, such as CPR, First Aid, and Lifeguarding

The American Red Cross provides shelter and supplies, helps people contact their loved ones, and has local chapters ready to mobilize quickly and efficiently in the event of a disaster. In addition, the Red Cross contributes to community preparedness through education and outreach materials and training courses for its volunteers. The Red Cross partnership with FEMA in the Community and Family Preparedness program is only one example of preparedness activity. Other publications can be found online as well (http://www.redcross.org/prepare/location/home-family), including Preparing for Disaster for People with Disabilities and other Special Needs.

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) was formed to support local response capabilities. Through the CERT, local volunteers receive training to learn how to provide immediate assistance to victims and to assist responders’ efforts when they arrive on the scene. This way, following a disaster, individuals that are trapped in an area without communications can be educated ahead of time on how to help themselves and others until help can reach them. Local emergency management offices sponsor most CERT training courses, which include 20 hours of instruction in disaster preparedness, fire safety, disaster medical operations, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster psychology.⁶ For more information on CERT training courses, visit http://www.fema.gov/community-emergency-response-teams.

The following are examples of the many education and training programs that focus on disaster preparedness, including the Emergency Management Institute (EMI) and FEMA’s Ready Kids Program.

EMI was created in 1979 by FEMA to provide emergency management courses for students and working professionals. The Institute has assisted the establishment of numerous degree programs across the United States in emergency management and also provides distance learning programs. Its mission is to enhance U.S. emergency practices through a national training program. EMI is described by FEMA as the national focal point for the development and delivery of emergency management training to enhance the capabilities of federal, state, local, and tribal government officials, volunteer organizations, and the public and private sectors to minimize the impacts of disasters on the American public. EMI curricula are structured to meet the needs of this diverse audience with an emphasis on how the various elements work together in emergencies to save lives and protect property.⁸

Thousands of participants attend courses at the EMI campus located in Emmitsburg, Maryland, every year, while many more participate in EMI supported exercises, nonresident programs run cooperatively by EMI, FEMA, and state emergency management agencies, and the EMI Independent Study program. The Independent Study program, EMI’s free distance learning program, provides training to professionals and volunteers to promote disaster preparedness. For a listing of the courses and how to enroll, see the EMI program website at http://www.training.fema.gov/EMI/.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security launched a program called Ready Kids! in the spring of 2006 to educate children about emergencies. Parents and teachers can point their children to a website (www.ready.gov/kids) that is understandable and appropriate for several age groups. The site features games, puzzles, and in-school lessons developed by Scholastic, Inc. that focus on steps children can take with their families to prepare for emergencies while learning important language arts, geography, and social studies skills. The Ready Kids! mascot, Rex the mountain lion, is designed to engage children in active learning for their role in preparedness activities. The American Psychological Association, American Red Cross, National Association of Elementary School Principals, National Association of School Psychologists, National Parent Teacher Association, National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, U.S. Department of Education, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services all contributed to the design of the Ready Kids! program. Ready Kids! is part of the larger public service Ready campaign, designed to educate all citizens, young and old, about how to prepare for emergencies.⁹

Adequate preparedness depends on solid training and exercises that mimic real-life emergency scenarios in a controlled setting, such as the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) carried out by the Department of Homeland Security.¹⁰ Many other government agencies also carry out routine exercises to prepare officials, volunteers, and responders for various types of hazards and emergency incidents. The following sections describe some examples of hazard-specific exercise programs.

The ShakeOut began in Southern California in 2008 as a drill designed to educate the public about how to protect themselves during a large earthquake, and how to get prepared. Great Shakeout Earthquake Drills are now held on the third Thursday of October every year in more than 20 official ShakeOut Regions, with an option for people in any other state or country to also register and be counted in the global total. In 2013, approximately 24.9 million people registered for the ShakeOut worldwide. New ShakeOut Regions are established each year.

National sponsors of the annual ShakeOut drills include the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Geological Survey, and the National Science Foundation, as well as the Red Cross and other organizations. The Southern California Earthquake Center, an earthquake science and education center headquartered at the University of Southern California oversees global coordination and manages all ShakeOut websites (except in Japan). Additional sponsors at the regional and local level help organize and implement the drill in in homes, schools, and businesses to practice what to do during earthquakes.

The first ShakeOut drill in 2008 was based on the Shakeout Scenario, a comprehensive description of a magnitude 7.8 earthquake on the San Andreas fault in southern California and the destruction it would cause. Such an earthquake would create unprecedented damage to Southern California—greatly dwarfing the massive damage that occurred in Northridge’s 6.7-magnitude earthquake in 1994. The ShakeOut Scenario estimates this earthquake would cause over 1800 deaths, 50,000 injuries, $200 billion in damage and other losses, and severe, long-lasting disruption. To view a shakeout scenario simulation, visit http://www.shakeout.org/california/scenario/.

Every year during the month of March, in partnership with the National Weather Service, the state of Missouri conducts a statewide tornado drill.¹¹ All citizens, businesses, and schools are invited to participate. Members of the Missouri General Assembly also participate in the drill, where all taking part in the exercise are encouraged to respond to the storm sirens by seeking a safe place and tuning to their NOAA weather radios to wait for further instruction.

The American Red Cross also conducts tornado exercises to test their response capabilities to tornado events. In one example, volunteers from the Jefferson County, Florida, chapter of the Red Cross coordinated tornado efforts with the Jefferson County Emergency Operations Center and state emergency management officials by setting up mock shelters in schools, providing hot meals to mock disaster victims, and identifying areas needing mass care.¹²

The City of Nashville, Tennessee, and the Greater Nashville Homeland Security District (District 5) conducted an Emergency Preparedness Challenge in April 2006. This exercise was intended to test local first responders’ abilities to respond to a full-scale terrorist attack on the city. It involved responders at every level of government in Nashville and its four surrounding counties. The challenge was one of the nation’s largest local disaster response exercises. Through the recruitment of over three thousand volunteers that played the role of the sick, injured, or dead, or the role of volunteer coordinators of food and beverages, local emergency teams, law enforcement agencies, and 14 area hospitals were able to evaluate their capability to respond to this type of terrorist event. The exercise examined District 5’s strategies for “responding to mass casualties, search and rescue for victims, triage and transportation preparation of survivors, hospital processing and treatment, processing of deceased victims and other disaster management efforts.”¹³ The exercise was also intended to educate the volunteers involved as to their role in participating in preparedness.

SELF-CHECK

• Describe the role of the American Red Cross.

• Describe the EMI Program.

• Select a natural hazard and give an example preparedness exercise for that hazard.

Preparedness is a continuous process that requires constant updating and revision to remain current. Updates to preparedness activities can be implemented after a disaster, when emergency managers can incorporate lessons learned from the event, as well as after organizational or administrative changes in preparedness functions. Preferably, our preparedness actions are proactive rather than reactive, but in understanding the role of preparedness within the emergency management cycle, we realize that emergency managers must be flexible in order to adapt established plans and protocol to meet emergency situations as they arise. This chapter described the framework within which preparedness functions are carried out at all levels of government, within the business sector, and by private citizens. All citizens are responsible for continuing preparedness education and for contributing to improvements in governmental, community, and individual readiness.

1. Preparedness overlaps with all phases of the emergency management cycle. True or False?

4. The National Response Plan has 10 emergency response functions. True or False?

7. State level emergency management offices have different office or agency names, but perform similar functions. True or False?

9. Local governments do not share in which of the following preparedness responsibilities?

10. Business owners hold preparedness responsibilities within your community. True or False?

11. The Are You Ready? An In-depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness describes where to seek shelter from all types of hazards. True or False?

13. Which of the following is not a volunteer agency involved in preparedness and response:

14. The Department of Homeland Security does not want to involve children in preparedness because it is too scary. True or False?

15. There are preparedness exercises that can be done for every hazard. True or False?

1. Name ten federal departments or agencies that participate in the National Response Plan.

6. What are some of the ways citizens can participate in preparedness activities?

7. What other volunteer organizations are out there other than The American Red Cross?

9. Describe the function of CERTs at the local level, how they are formed, and who is involved.

1. Imagine that you are the mayor of a town that is prone to wildfires. What are the different preparedness activities that you can participate in to improve your town’s state of readiness? What are other examples from other local warning systems that you could apply to your town? What exercises would you want to employ and who would be involved?

2. Set aside time to create a preparedness plan with your family or roommate. What would you include? Where would you start to look for good examples? Consider encouraging others to use your plan as a template?

3. What are ways that you, as a citizen, can persuade others in your community to get involved in preparedness activities taking place in the area?

The American Red Cross relies on volunteers to carry out most of its programs. Following every disaster in the United States, ARC chapters spring into action to provide emergency aid, care, and comfort. To contact a local Red Cross chapter near you, follow the instructions on the Red Cross Web site: www.redcross.org/where/chapts.asp. Write a paper on how The American Red Cross can help your community after a disaster.

There are so many responsibilities for emergency managers that vary from place to place—you’ll just have to see for yourself. Take a look at the list of responsibilities for emergency management coordinators in Baltimore County, Maryland: www.co.ba.md.us/Agencies/fire/emergencyplan/index.html, and the 13 functions of emergency management in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: www.county.allegheny.pa.us/emerserv/emerman. Then, look for the emergency plan in your locality. Check to see if disaster response responsibilities are clearly described, delineated, and coordinated for the officials that are there to protect you and your community—and see what you can do to get involved.

2. U.S. House of Representatives. 2006. A Failure of Initiative: Final Report of the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina. Available at katrina.house.gov.

3. Beriwal, M. 2005. Hurricane Pam and Katrina: A lesson in disaster planning. Natural Hazards Observer 30 (November) (2): 8–9.

5. NOAA. 2013. National Weather Service: NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards. www.nws.noaa/gov/nwr (February 17, 2013).

6. Federal Emergency Management Agency. 2004. Are you Ready? An In Depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness. IS-22. FEMA, Emmitsburg, Maryland.

7. Leonard, Devin. 2005. The only lifeline was the Wal-Mart. Fortune, October 3.

8. Emergency Management Institute. 2006. Welcome to the Emergency Management Institute (EMI). www.training.fema.gov/EMIweb (May 10, 2006).

9. DHS Wants Kids to Get Ready! 2006. Natural Hazards Observer 30 (March) (4): 5–6.

10. Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program. 2006. Welcome to the HSEEP Website. Hseep. dhs. gov (May 11, 2006).

11. State of Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. 2004. Informational Notes for First Responders and Officials. Bulletin #45 (February 20). Available at sema.dps.mo.gov/Bulletin45.pdf.

13. Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County, TN, Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management. 2006. Office of Emergency Management Home. www.nashville.gov/oem (May 11, 2006).

Comprehensive emergency management	A widely used approach at the local, state, and federal levels to deal with the inevitability of natural hazards and their potential to cause disasters in a community.
Emergency operations plan	Contains procedures that can be detailed and coordinated for emergency responders; developed and maintained by local emergency managers.
First Responders	Groups that are the first to arrive at the scene of the emergency, such as police, fire, and paramedics.
Incident of national significance	Declared after a federal agency has requested help from the Department of Homeland Security, a state or local government has requested help from the federal government, multiple federal agencies have become involved, or the President requests the involvement of the Department of Homeland Security.
Mitigation	Any sustained action to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people and property from hazards and their effects.
National guard	Provides the capability to greatly assist in disaster response in terms of providing communications systems; construction equipment; emergency supplies such as medical supplies, beds, food, water, and blankets; as well as personnel to assist with distribution.
National preparedness, assessment, and reporting system	Provides a report of the nation’s level of preparedness to the President and gives guidance to participating agencies on adopting quantifiable performance measures of preparedness in the areas of training, planning, exercises, and equipment.
National Incident Management System	Provides guidance to the federal agencies participating in the National Response Plan in disaster preparedness.
National Response Plan	Serves to coordinate response responsibilities and logistics at the federal level. Represents a binding agreement among 27 government agencies and the American Red Cross.
NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards Network	A network of radio stations across the country that broadcasts continuous weather and hazards information.
Preparedness	Activities to improve the ability to respond quickly in the immediate aftermath of an incident. Includes development of response procedures, design and installation of warning systems, evacuation planning, exercises to test emergency operations, training of emergency personnel.
Recovery	Phase in the emergency management cycle that involves actions that begin after a disaster, after emergency needs have been met; examples include road and bridge repairs and restoration of power.
Resilient communities	Towns, cities, counties, Native American tribes, states, and other communities that take action prior to a hazard event so that a disaster does not result.
Response	Phase in the emergency management cycle that involves activities to meet the urgent needs of victims during or immediately following a disaster; examples include evacuation as well as search and rescue.