A new report, (104pp) from the U.N provides a handbook for local government leaders. Down the document here.

“We’re here to help,” says Secretary of Homeland Security to residents of Joplin

On the first anniversary of the Joplin, MO tornado disaster declaration, an AP wire story, titled FEMA’s Role Questioned Anew, actually questions what the state role is rather than criticizing FEMA. It appeared in the Portland, ME Press Herald. The article does raise an interesting point about the role of state government and why a “rainy day” fund was not used to help Joplin recover.

Missouri has a rainy-day fund with about $500 million that was created for costly emergencies. But the fund hasn’t been tapped for Joplin because Gov. Jay Nixon and some lawmakers are reluctant to trigger a constitutional mandate that the borrowed money be replenished within three years.

Some critics of federal disaster aid point to Missouri’s rainy-day fund as a prime example of how states pass the buck to the federal government for local tragedies.

On the same topic, the Wall St. Journal has an article about Joplin.  The subtitle is: Laissez-Faire Zoning Laws in Tornado-Stricken Joplin Leave Neighbors Bristling. Unfortunately, you have to have a paid subscription to get the whole article and I do not. I would like to know more about the zoning issues, if someone out there has more details.

Earlier today I wrote ” Once again, I want to point out that it is essential to learning and retention that someone write up these examples as case studies so that future recovering communities will have the benefit of these experiences. FEMA – where are you on this matter?”  By coincidence, I learned that FEMA is working on collecting recovery information and mounting it on their LLIS system.

One more article, this time on a new report and journal article about health information systems and their restoration in Joplin.

Related to this is the fact that May is National Building Safety Month. The Presidential Proclamation for this does not have much detail. If anyone knows more about this topic, please let me know.

Of particular interest to me is how replicatable their recovery process is. For the past 5 years, Greensburg has been cited as a model of recovery. But as Jack points out:

Because of the special circumstances Greensburg has faced the recovery lessons there may be of limited usefulness to other communities. * * *

If only there were more of these case studies, a compilation of them might be possible.  I keep hoping for a documented knowledge base of case examples of recovery.

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See also Managing for Long-Term Community Recovery in the Aftermath of a Disaster, by Alesch at al. Available in the DisasterBookstore.com.

( Wikipedia)

The state of Texas has come up with a useful way to anticipate disaster needs.  See the article Prepare now by downloading disaster-related publications to mobile devices. Good idea to store the info in a handy place, one where Internet connection is not needed.The direct link to the documents is here.

Some highlights:

•     Texas AgriLife Extension Service has made many of its disaster and emergency-related materials available in e-book format for   mobile device users.

•     Materials may be downloaded to any mobile device supporting the e-book format, including phones, tablets and e-readers.

•     E-books provide just-in-time disaster recovery information.

For others who use an Android phone, here is the specific advice: “Epub should work for Android too with the Aldiko app installed.”

An interesting and thoughtful report. I do not agree with all of their recommendations, but the report does highlight some usually understated needs — like transportation infrastructure recovery, particularly maritime infrastructure.

As always, reader comments are invited.

Related articles

• Japan: One Year Later (heritage.org)

Logo of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

Today the NYTimes featured an article titled: EM Plans for Many Nursing Homes are Flawed. May 10th.

Previous Posting on this Topic:

Big gaps found in nursing homes’ plan to protect frail residents in event of natural disasters. Washington Post article, April 15th. Some excerpts follow:

Tornado, hurricane or flood, nursing homes are woefully unprepared to protect frail residents in a natural disaster, government investigators say. Emergency plans required by the government often lack specific steps such as coordinating with local authorities, notifying relatives or even pinning name tags and medication lists to residents in an evacuation, according to the findings. That means the plans may not be worth the paper they’re written on.

Nearly seven years after Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of New Orleans exposed the vulnerability of nursing homes, serious shortcomings persist. “We identified many of the same gaps in nursing home preparedness and response,” investigators from the inspector general’s office of the Health and Human Services Department wrote in the report being released Monday. “Emergency plans lacked relevant information. … Nursing homes faced challenges with unreliable transportation contracts, lack of collaboration with local emergency management, and residents who developed health problems.”

The link to the full ( 44 page ) DHS report is here.

An interesting aside is that the report lists the Top Ten States with the most disaster declarations: they are:  Texas, California, Oklahoma, New York, Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Missouri.  If one of them is yours, now is the time for some action!

• Big gaps found in nursing homes’ disaster plans (news.yahoo.com)
• Study: Nursing Homes Unprepared To Protect Residents In Natural Disaster (washington.cbslocal.com)

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The recently issued National Preparedness Report found that of the 31 core capabilities identified, the lowest rating went to cybersecurity. (This topic received most of the media attention n the past week or so.) But the next three lowest rankings up from the bottom are all recovery-focused core capabilities. On page ii, it noted that these are “national areas for improvement.

“ The next to lowest capabilities are:  (1) economic recovery, (2) natural and cultural resources, and (3) housing.

The report also that says state response capabilities are strong, based in part on the self-assessment done by the states. Too bad we cannot find a better means of measuring that important element of recovery capability, because that assessment is questionable.

I have been studying recovery for almost thirty years, and I remain baffled and chagrined about the very limited progress that has been made. Apparently, the political will to deal with recovery is missing.

• House politicians cast about for DHS ‘cybersecurity’ fix (news.cnet.com)
• After six years, Homeland Security still without ‘cybercrisis’ plan (news.cnet.com)

As the CEO of the DisasterBookstore.com, I have become the bookstore equivalent of the ASPCA.  I have rescued books about recovery and many other emergency management topics, and then made them available for purchase at bargain prices. Presently, I am trying to determine if there is interest and demand for such products  so that I can determine whether or not to keep up the effort.

Right now, the bookstore has almost 100 documents available for sale at bargain basement prices, many of which are classic books and reports.  We will never threaten Amazon, but the main feature of the site is a one-stop location for legends, relics, and quirky stuff from the past on emergency management and related topics.

I would appreciate your letting me know if you consider hardcopy resources an essential part of your library or not.

Related articles

• No Bookstores in My Hometown: The Death of Brick-and-Mortar (atoasttodragons.com)
• The Book is Not Dead (write4kids.com)