Lessons Learned from Hurricane Laura Non-Congregate Sheltering, a guest posting by Leila Darwish

“With summer fast approaching and bringing with it yet another active hurricane season in the South and fire season in the West, some communities may find themselves facing evacuation and needing to seek shelter all while the COVID-19 pandemic drags on and continues to present an ongoing challenge. In 2020, emergency managers and public health staff had to adapt their emergency plans in order to find ways to safely shelter residents while limiting the risk of COVID-19 transmission.  With the risk for congregate shelters to act as potential super-spreader events, and the near impossibility of meeting increased distancing requirements within the limitations of congregate sites, non-congregate sheltering was utilized by some state governments to shelter large numbers of evacuees post-disaster.” Read the full article here.

Leila Darwish worked for the New Orleans Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness as the Community Engagement & VOAD Coordinator from 2019 until February 2021. She currently works as an independent consultant who specializes in emergency management, equitable recovery, and disaster resilience. She can be reached via Linked In.