What Elected Officials Should Know
Presented by
Brenda Hunemiller
Area D Office of Disaster Management
The #1 question asked byCity Council members
What am I supposed to doduring a disaster?
What is my role andresponsibility?
The #1 concern of city staff
City Council members don’tknow what they aresupposed to do during adisaster
They don’t know their role andresponsibility
What is emergencymanagement?
It is a cycle
Focus on“preparedness”
You haveresponsibilities in eachof the phases
Preparedness
Response
Recovery
Mitigation
Preparedness
Plans, Training, Exercises,Public Education, Outreachand Inclusion of Community
Emergency Operations Plan
Is it up to date?
Is it inclusive to all community members?
Did the community assist in developing the plans?
Is there a City Council checklist?
If yes, do you have a copy? Have you “personalized” it?
If no, why not?
Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
What you don’t know could cost you millions!
Do you have one? When was it last updated?
Has it been updated and approved by FEMA?
Recovery Plan
Do you have one?
BCP, COOP
You will be critical indeveloping andimplementing thisplan
It is a roadmap forrebuilding, revitalizingand restoring yourcommunity!
Officials and stafftrained and exercised?
SEMS and NIMS
EOC Training
Regular exercises
Do you participate?
Are communitypartners invited toparticipate?
More than a piece ofliterature on thecounter
Is your city providingongoing opportunitiesto residents andbusinesses?
Are you prepared?
Has your city builtpartnerships among allsectors of your community?
FBOs, CBOs
American Red Cross & others
Hospitals
Private Sector/Businesses
Schools/Higher Education
Volunteer groups
CERT
DAFN groups
Preparedness
Response
Stabilizing, Restoring,Assessing, Initial DamageEstimate, EmergencyPublic Information
Coordinates all activities,information and resources
“Big Picture”
EOC Management
Works directly with theCity Council
Priorities and objectives
Policies, emergencyordinances, etc. to assistand support responseefforts
City of Los Angeles EOC
Family first
Report to the City
Get a briefing
How bad is it?
What kind of help do weneed?
What are our priorities?
What do you need fromthe City Council?
Do we need to proclaim a local emergency?
At least two of the following criteria should bemet:
Actual condition of extreme peril to persons and property
Imminent threat of extreme peril to persons and property
The means to resolve conditions of extreme peril willprobably exceed the capability of the jurisdiction (need formutual aid)
There is a need to protect those who must provideemergency services (legal immunities)
Priorities set by the EOC
Stabilize incidents
Life Safety
Property
Environment
Directing communityactions
CERT
Contact with allcommunity partners
Priorities set by theEOC (con’t)
Restore essentialservices
Assessing the damage
Initial DamageEstimate (IDE)
What exactly is an IDE and why is it important?
The IDE is what brings FEMA to town!
IDE is an ESTIMATE of the amount of damage yourcity has sustained to homes, business andgovernment
It is a GUESS....you will not be penalized foroverestimating the amount of damages
Underestimating the amount could cost everyonereimbursement!
To qualify for Federal assistance through theRobert T. Stafford Act
Dollar losses must reach thresholds for both thestate and county based on population from lastcensus (2010)
Los Angeles County
County: $3.23/population (9,818,605) = $31,714,094
State: $1.29/population (37,253,956) = $48,057,603
Working with the media
BFFN or WN?
Your city and dept PIOs becomea HUGE asset
They prepare and schedulebriefings for the media
Make sure you get a copy of thenews releases they are givingthe media
They can give you tips, hints,do’s and don’ts when talking tothe media
Lessons learned from Rudy
Start with message ofsympathy
Followed by message of hope
Followed by the facts
You have a piece of paper in yourhand with the latest info
Don’t rely on your memory forfacts
Don’t talk to them unless:
You have been briefed in the last15-20 minutes
What your residents andbusinesses need to know
What is being done forthem?
Where can they get whatthey need?
Preparedness
Response
Recovery
Returning the community tothe new “normal”, economiccontinuance
Local StateofEmergency
County
= no $
State
= no $
Federal
= $ andassistance
No Federal
=
Assistance tohomeownersand businessesonly
FEMA/State will sendPreliminary DamageAssessment (PDA)teams to meet withlocal jurisdictions
City Managers,Mayors, Councilmembers should meetwith them
Implement the cityRecovery Plan
Short Term, Mid-Rangeand Long Term Issues
Housing
Economic Stabilization
Rebuilding, Restoring
Zoning
Construction Codes
You will be involved inall aspects of recovery
Preparedness
Response
Recovery
Mitigation
Lessening the impact offuture disasters based onlessons learned
Federal grants
Designed to stoprepetitive damages
You must have a LocalHazard Mitigation Plan
You will beinstrumental inidentifying mitigationprojects and activities
Preparedness
Response
Recovery
Mitigation
Don’t make promises you can’t keep
Don’t forget to follow up on issues
Don’t talk to the media unless you have had abriefing in the last 15-20 minutes
Don’t place blame
Don’t guess as to cause of problems
Do keep city staff informed about concerns andissues of the community
Do have a scribe
Do support emergency management by fundingstaff positions and activities
Do participate in planning, training andexercises
Do ask questions
Do get prepared
It isn’t the responsibilityof just one person
It IS the responsibility ofeveryone
It IS making sure thatevery day we are asprepared as we can bethrough planning, trainingand exercising
