Storm Communication Plan

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) would become the central point-of-contact within the national government in responding to incidents. Since formation in 1979, FEMA’s core missions were to enhance the government’s ability to survive a foreign attack, and to assist state and local authorities in disaster response (Carafano, 2005). And while the two core missions seem heterogenous in scope at times from an outside perspective, the biggest difference between the two tasks is duration. A man-made disaster may be over in a matter of minutes as compared to a hurricane lasting several days, but in both instances the road to recovery is long. In order to streamline response and recovery in either scenario, FEMA was reorganized with new directives to support comprehensive emergency management practices (CRS, 2006). Today, FEMA provides the standard approach and guidance that many local communities may not have due to funding, training, and

Crisis information during Hurricane Katrina was immediately available through mass media; television, radio, the emergency broadcast system, and social media. During emergencies, the importance of our country’s communications systems becomes clear. These

So there it is…. How to prepare and avoid hurricane irma and other Cat 5

Getting a staff together to bring in useful information to plan for the release of the information to the news media is a great way to enhance communication to the public. The media will then get the information out to the public by ways of News releases, web sites, news conferences, newspapers and other social media (Hicks, 2012). The advantages of using these types of media are they quickly allows for the public to know what type of crisis has happened, and what kinds of precautions are being taken to ensure their safety. If there were to be any fatalities caused by the crisis event(s), these types of avenues also will give information on that. Some disadvantages can be unreliable technology of the citizens that will not allow for them to get access to the information that is being released by the media, such as no television, computer is not working properly, or they don’t received the local newspaper to be able to read it, etc.

The overwhelming extent of disruption and destruction at all levels of emergency management, and all levels of government particularly during the preparedness and response phases, made Hurricane Katrina a catastrophe. Prior to the 2005 hurricane, the National Response System underwent restructuring which produced both intended and unintended outcomes, which later on, became apparent during the response to Hurricane Katrina. In addition, the National Incident Management System structure implied, but did not define, an information flow that would ensure a common situational awareness at all levels of the distributed decision network. As a result, this lead to a communication breakdown between the federal, state, and local government and prevented

This paper will define the Emergency Communication Policy for Draper City. Being a government entity, Draper City is occasionally required to address community emergencies. Issues that face Draper City include wild fire, flooding, mudslide, earthquake, and civic unrest, to name a few. Draper City does have a volunteer Emergency Preparedness Committee and has established Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) throughout the city and in designated neighborhoods. The Draper City Emergency Operations Procedures manual provides communication guidance and the structure for an emergency response. (“Draper City, UT - Official Website - Emergency Preparedness,” n.d.). However, consideration of what

The Wake Forest Emergency Communications Plan (WFECP) is intended to provide information, strategies and 24-hour radio, telephone, and internet capabilities in the event of a disastrous situation. The WFECP provides clear and concise information as to what types of communication equipment is available, leadership and agency roles and alternative equipment that will be used if primary equipment is overburdened or destroyed. This plan also serves in cooperation with the North Carolina Emergency Communications Plan (ESF-2), and the FEMA’s National Emergency Communications Plan. Properly planned, established, and applied communications enable the dissemination of information among command and support elements and, as appropriate,

I definitely agree that we have to also include social media outlet along with traditional media outlets with partnership with emergency mangers. It is useful to teach the public during non-disaster event how to share important information. It is also important to build a strong trust with media and EM mangers to make sure there is very little misinformation to circulate.

The connection between the trigger and the problems – Emotion from the media detailing the after effects of Hurricane Katrina has led to assumptions/presumptions at all levels (attendees, event coordinator, and senior management), without relevant data/information which may be the deciding factor to proceed. The event coordinator is thus faced with a risk environment that requires a crisis response within a timely manner.

He predicts the possible damages from several categories of hurricanes and suggests the best course of action is to use surge barriers. Hill considers the shutdown of systems, such as the subway, shelters and the flooding of public and private buildings. Despite taking a more traditional approach to storm protections and adaptations, Hill agrees that there are important changes needed in the infrastructure.

Media partnership is another critical assumption that is used in an emergency situation. The media takes the responsibility of giving information to the public, as well as receiving information from them too. Thus, any emergency response team must work together with the media to give information that is particularly accurate and timely to avert situations that aggravate tension. Emergency managers must have an understanding of the needs and requirements of the media and the value that they come with in emergency response situations (Haddow & Haddow, 2013).

In today’s world, there has been one disaster or another, and hurricanes are one of those disasters that always happens. But, for one reason or another we are never prepared or understand the danger of any type of hurricane over a category one. Most of us have been through many hurricanes, like this learner who has lived in Miami, Fla. for over 30 years, and experienced her last hurricane which was Hurricane Andrew. Warnings are always given, first responders are trained to all ways be on alert, and FEMA is supposed to be ready to jump in once the storm has done its damage. But we can never be prepared, because hurricanes are unpredictable, and can become deadly for citizens and create millions of dollars in damages. Within this post we will discuss Hurricane Katrina, preparedness and Emergency management before and after the disaster.

This emergence of social media has also changed emergency management and disaster response. Emergency management as a whole is fairly new, only creating widely recognized, integrated emergency management systems beginning in the 1970s. Furthermore, at this same time people realized that the effects disasters have on the communities they strike can be mitigated by the creation of disaster plans ahead of time, proper disaster response training, and the efforts of human actions in these situations. Because social media has enabled mass amounts of instant information sharing, it allows not only locals and disaster response teams to help with the management of crises, but also many remote citizens.

Additionally, this meeting can clarify a practical communication system; executives and managers can establish communication procedures not only between themselves but all staff. Such protocols secure adequate correspondence between the regional and corporate branches as well as proper alert of specific storm updates to all staff. Furthermore, it strengthens communication from staff to corporate offices, allowing for sufficient notification of staff safety. Location of insurance policies, financial records, and other important documents should also be identified during this meeting; not only will valuables be protected from getting lost, the recovery plan can be implemented more smoothly since all necessary information will be readily available post-hurricane. Furthermore, executives and managers must determine a proper budget for facility maintenance,

The purpose of this plan is to document the results of the evaluations of the hurricane hazard, present the anticipated risk and damage posed by the hazard. In addition, it will assess how the city addresses hazards with an aim of identifying feasible and cost effective pre-disaster steps that should be taken in the instance of actualization of the risk. The plan will also