[House Hearing, 112 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
WEATHERING THE STORM: A STATE AND LOCAL PERSPECTIVE ON EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT
=======================================================================
FIELD HEARING
before the
SUBCOMMITTEE ON EMERGENCY
PREPAREDNESS, RESPONSE,
AND COMMUNICATIONS
of the
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
JUNE 10, 2011
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Serial No. 112-30
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Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security
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Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/
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COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY
Peter T. King, New York, Chairman
Lamar Smith, Texas Bennie G. Thompson, Mississippi
Daniel E. Lungren, California Loretta Sanchez, California
Mike Rogers, Alabama Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas
Michael T. McCaul, Texas Henry Cuellar, Texas
Gus M. Bilirakis, Florida Yvette D. Clarke, New York
Paul C. Broun, Georgia Laura Richardson, California
Candice S. Miller, Michigan Danny K. Davis, Illinois
Tim Walberg, Michigan Brian Higgins, New York
Chip Cravaack, Minnesota Jackie Speier, California
Joe Walsh, Illinois Cedric L. Richmond, Louisiana
Patrick Meehan, Pennsylvania Hansen Clarke, Michigan
Ben Quayle, Arizona William R. Keating, Massachusetts
Scott Rigell, Virginia Kathleen C. Hochul, New York
Billy Long, Missouri Vacancy
Jeff Duncan, South Carolina
Tom Marino, Pennsylvania
Blake Farenthold, Texas
Mo Brooks, Alabama
Michael J. Russell, Staff Director/Chief Counsel
Kerry Ann Watkins, Senior Policy Director
Michael S. Twinchek, Chief Clerk
I. Lanier Avant, Minority Staff Director
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SUBCOMMITTEE ON EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS, RESPONSE, AND COMMUNICATIONS
Gus M. Bilirakis, Florida, Chairman
Joe Walsh, Illinois Laura Richardson, California
Scott Rigell, Virginia Hansen Clarke, Michigan
Tom Marino, Pennsylvania, Vice Vacancy
Chair Bennie G. Thompson, Mississippi
Blake Farenthold, Texas (Ex Officio)
Peter T. King, New York (Ex
Officio)
Kerry A. Kinirons, Staff Director
Natalie Nixon, Deputy Chief Clerk
Curtis Brown, Minority Professional Staff Member
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Statements
The Honorable Gus M. Bilirakis, a Representative in Congress From
the State of Florida, and Chairman, Subcommittee on Emergency
Preparedness, Response, and Communications..................... 1
The Honorable Hansen Clarke, a Representative in Congress From
the State of Michigan:
Oral Statement................................................. 2
Prepared Statement............................................. 3
Witnesses
Mr. Bryan W. Koon, Director, Florida Division of Emergency
Management:
Oral Statement................................................. 6
Prepared Statement............................................. 7
Ms. Nancy Dragani, Chair, Response and Recovery Committee,
National Emergency Management Association:
Oral Statement................................................. 13
Prepared Statement............................................. 15
Mr. Gerald L. Smith, President, Florida Emergency Preparedness
Association:
Oral Statement................................................. 19
Prepared Statement............................................. 21
Mr. John E. ``Rusty'' Russell, Director Hunstville-Madison County
Emergency Management Agency, Testifying on Behalf of
International Association of Emergency Managers:
Oral Statement................................................. 29
Prepared Statement............................................. 30
Ms. Chauncia Willis, Emergency Coordinator, Office of Emergency
Management, City of Tampa, Florida:
Oral Statement................................................. 34
Prepared Statement............................................. 36
Ms. Linda Jorge Carbone, Chief Executive Officer, Tampa Bay
Chapter & Florida West Coast Region, American Red Cross:
Oral Statement................................................. 41
Prepared Statement............................................. 43
WEATHERING THE STORM: A STATE AND LOCAL PERSPECTIVE ON EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT
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Friday, June 10, 2011
U.S. House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response,
and Communications,
Committee on Homeland Security,
Clearwater, FL.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:00 a.m., in
the City Council Chambers, Clearwater City Hall, 112 S. Osceola
Avenue, Clearwater, Florida, Hon. Gus M. Bilirakis [Chairman of
the subcommittee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Bilirakis and Clarke of Michigan.
Mr. Bilirakis. The Committee on Homeland Security
Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and
Communications will come to order.
The subcommittee is meeting today to receive testimony on
the efforts of State, local, and non-governmental organizations
to prepare for and respond to natural disasters, terrorist
attacks, and other emergencies.
I want to start by welcoming Congressman Clarke, my very
good friend, and all of our witnesses to sparkling Clearwater,
Florida, Florida's Ninth Congressional District. Thank you for
coming.
I appreciate the effort taken by all those involved to have
this important field hearing--and it is very important. This is
an official Congressional hearing as opposed to a town hall
meeting, and as such, we must abide by certain rules of the
Committee on Homeland Security and of the House of
Representatives. I kindly wish to remind all guests today that
demonstrations from the audience--I do not believe there will
be any--including applause and verbal outbursts, as well as the
use of signs and placards are a violation of the rules of the
House of Representatives. It is important that we respect the
decorum and the rules of this committee. I have also been
requested to state that photography and cameras are limited to
accredited press only.
The Mayor is scheduled to be here. He has not arrived yet,
but when he does arrive, I would like to recognize him, I
believe he would like to formally welcome us.
Now I recognize myself for an opening statement.
I am pleased that we could convene this hearing at the
start of what NOAA predicts to be an above-average hurricane
season and during what can only be described as an active year
for disasters, unfortunately. So far this year, communities
throughout the United States have experienced thwarted terror
plots, tornadoes, severe winter weather, flooding and, of
course, the tsunami warning and wildfires.
While disaster response is primarily a local
responsibility, FEMA has an important role to play in
supporting the State, local, and private sector, and of course,
VOADs, which is the Volunteer Organizations Active in
Disasters. Those are the partners such as the Red Cross--and we
will hear from the Red Cross this morning.
I look forward to hearing from our distinguished panel of
witnesses about your experiences working with FEMA and your
suggestions for changes that would further enhance the
organization. In addition, I would like to hear about your
response preparations for natural disasters and terrorist
attacks, what successes you have had and what challenges you
continue to face.
I am also interested in your perspective on efforts to
mitigate the consequences of a disaster through individual and
community preparedness. I continuously stress the need for my
constituents to enhance their preparedness by developing
emergency plans and kits. It is so important that we work to
build a culture of preparedness. All too often individuals do
not prepare because they do not think a natural disaster or
terrorist attack will impact them. But as the disasters that
have occurred across the country this year illustrate,
disasters can happen anywhere and often with little notice. We
cannot afford to become complacent--that is the bottom line.
In addition to efforts to enhance preparedness, I believe
we must do more to enhance our resilience to disasters. That is
why I have introduced the Hurricane and Tornado Mitigation
Investment Act of 2011, which would provide a tax credit to
individuals and businesses owners who make improvements to
their property that will help mitigate hazards. These efforts,
such as increasing the durability of roof coverings, or
reinforcing the connections between roofs and walls, can help
to reduce loss of life and property damage and speed recovery.
Last, I would like to hear how we can help you as you work
to meet the many challenges you face in preparing for and
responding to natural disasters and terrorist attacks. We want
to be your partners in preparedness.
With that, I once again thank you for appearing before the
subcommittee today and look forward to your valuable testimony.
Now I recognize my good friend, the gentleman from
Michigan, Mr. Hansen Clarke, for an opening statement.
Mr. Clarke of Michigan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you.
Mr. Clarke of Michigan. My name is Hansen Clarke, a Member
of Congress from Michigan's 13th District. That includes
Detroit and surrounding suburbs. Our area has the busiest
international border crossing of North America. We are at risk,
great risk of a terrorist attack and, although we have not been
hit by hurricanes, just recently, in the last couple of weeks,
areas in the State of Michigan, urban areas, have been hit by
tornadoes. That has been virtually without precedent in the
area.
While responding to a natural disaster or terrorist attack
may involve similar activities and functions, we are aware that
preparing for a natural disaster or human-caused accident is
very different than preparing to guard against a terrorist
attack. So that is why, for me, it is important to hear your
point of view on how we could better improve our grant
programs. Especially I would like to hear directly from you on
your assessment of emergency management performance grants,
your comments on the funding levels, how the matching
requirements have been working.
Also, I want to commend the Chairman. His focus today on
this issue of being prepared against natural disasters, he is
right on the mark. Just yesterday, I was in the lobby of a
business and I saw this magazine cover, Newsweek, ``Weather
Panic: Is this the new normal and we are hopelessly
unprepared.''
This article, if I can just read, it says, ``In a world of
climate change, freak storms are the new normal. Why we are
unprepared for the harrowing future.''
So, you know, whether you agree with the premise that
climate change could be a cause in much of the activity that we
have received in terms of fires and floods and tornadoes,
nonetheless, the Chairman is absolutely right. We are at risk
of more natural disasters. We need to be prepared for them.
My final note though in being here is I want to underscore
something that has been really glossed over or not recognized
at all by the National media, and that is how we in Congress,
especially in the House, work together. If you turn on the
news, all you hear about is the bickering and the divisiveness
going on in Congress, the fact that members cannot communicate.
I am honored to serve with your Chairman, Gus Bilirakis. He
is a good man, he works with me, he listens to the needs of my
district and he has me involved in the decision-making process
of this very important subcommittee. He supported our efforts
to remove that restriction on funding because he realized that
Tampa and Detroit, we are in the same situation right now. We
are at high risk for an emergency, but yet many of our
political leaders around the country do not choose to fully
recognize that.
So in addition to the substance of this hearing, which is
of absolute importance to this region and our country, I think
it is also important for me to underscore the fact that your
Chairman represents the type of leadership that will allow the
House of Representatives and the Congress to move forward to
really look and respond to the needs of our community because
he is able to look beyond political concerns and look at the
concerns of our people here. So it is an honor for me to be
here, Mr. Chairman.
[The statement of Hon. Clarke of Michigan follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Hansen Clarke
June 10, 2011
Good morning. Thank you Chairman Bilirakis for convening this
important hearing on the frontlines of hurricane response. It is good
to get a feel for the situation on the ground and speak with citizens
and State and local officials, who are really the ones who respond when
disaster strikes.
It is vitally important that we provide them with the support they
need, so their testimony today will be very valuable in understanding
that need. Thank you to all of those first responders here for your
service in protecting our communities, and thanks especially to our
witnesses for appearing to provide expert testimony here today.
Each community faces its own challenges and the local responders
there are best prepared to address and handle a disaster response.
As the Representative of the 13th district of Michigan, I represent
the city of Detroit, which has one of our Nation's busiest border
crossings. Like this region, we have our own waterway (the Great
Lakes), our own extreme weather conditions (floods and sub-zero
temperatures), and our own infrastructure needs.
While Tampa region emergency managers have to annually plan for an
intense hurricane season, emergency managers in my district have to
prepare for brutal winter storms.
Both urban areas maintain a common bond in understanding the need
to ensure constant readiness for man-made and natural disasters.
THE NEED IS STILL GREAT
Unfortunately, over the last several years we have seen more
intense and devastating natural disasters, internationally and here at
home.
These disasters have completely transformed whole communities sadly
causing lives to be lost and the destruction of homes and businesses.
Today, recovery activities continue in Alabama and Missouri, as
well as in New Orleans and other Gulf Coast States where the Nation
experienced its worst natural disaster over 5 years ago.
As the emergency managers in Florida know, the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration has predicted another active hurricane
season.
In addition to natural disasters, homegrown and foreign terrorists
are still committed to attacking the homeland in small and large cities
across the country.
The terrorist threat is at its highest level since 9/11 according
to the Department of Homeland Security.
The demise of Osama bin Laden does not provide an opportunity for
us to rest and limit our preparedness.
In fact, it requires that we reaffirm our commitment to
preparedness, especially given terrorists' intent to expand their
targets to include smaller cities, ports, and various modes of
transportation.
CUTTING GRANT FUNDING IS DANGEROUS
As I said last week on the floor of the House of Representatives,
given the numerous threats we face, this is not the time to cut back on
homeland security.
The resources provided to State and local first responders are
essential and ensure they have the equipment, staffing levels, and
training needed to effectively respond.
Unfortunately, some of my colleagues in Congress have questioned
the usefulness of these grant funds.
We can all agree that the Nation must pursue responsible fiscal
policies, but we should not shortchange the Nation's preparedness.
The fiscal year 2012 Homeland Security budget passed last week
makes dramatic and devastating cuts to preparedness grants.
Grant programs such as the Urban Area Security Initiative provide
cities such as Detroit and the Tampa area with funds to safeguard
against terrorist attack and plan for a host of catastrophic incidents.
Last week, I was able to be a part of a group of legislators to
amend the flawed budget to ensure that Detroit and Tampa weren't
arbitrarily removed from the list of cities eligible for UASI funding.
The erosion of State and local preparedness funding leaves us at
risk of not being adequately prepared to respond to man-made and
natural disasters.
CONCLUSION AND THANKS
I look forward to hearing from the panel about what specific
effects Federal cuts to funding will have on State and local response
capabilities.
Your insight will help inform Congress and hopefully reverse the
recent trend of cutting homeland security grant programs.
Additionally, I would like for you to provide an assessment of
FEMA's progress since Hurricane Katrina and how the Federal Government
can better partner with State and local emergency officials.
Finally, I would like to hear how non-governmental organizations
are working to fill the gaps in disaster preparedness and response and
what support is needed to ensure all needs are met efficiently.
Again, I thank you all for being here today and I look forward to
your testimony.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you. Thank you very much, I appreciate
that. It is true we work together to solve a lot of problems.
Even though Hansen is only a freshman, he has taken a lead on a
lot of these issues and we have been working together to build
a consensus, which is the way it should be. We will continue to
work together for the best interests of our country.
Thank you.
We are pleased to have a very distinguished panel of
witnesses before us today on this very important topic. Our
first witness is Mr. Bryan Koon. Mr. Koon is the director of
the Florida Division of Emergency Management. Prior to assuming
this position, Mr. Koon was Director of Emergency Management at
Wal-Mart. He has previously served in the United States Navy as
a White House military officer. Mr. Koon has a BS of natural
resources from Cornell University and an MBA and graduate
certificate in emergency and crisis management from George
Washington University.
Our next witness is Ms. Nancy Dragani. Ms. Dragani has
served as director of the State of Ohio Emergency Management
Agency since January 2005. Ms. Dragani serves on the Federal
Emergency Management Agency's National Advisory Council, the
Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism Advisory
Board and is the past president of the National Emergency
Management Association. Ms. Dragani retired from the United
States Army with 22 years of combined U.S. Army, Army National
Guard and Air National Guard service. She holds a BA from Ohio
Dominican College. Ms. Dragani is testifying on behalf of the
National Emergency Management Association today. Welcome.
Following Ms. Dragani we will hear from Mr. Gerald Smith.
Mr. Gerald Smith is the Director of the Lake County Emergency
Management Division, a position he has held since December
2004. He is currently the president of the Florida Emergency
Preparedness Association. Mr. Smith has also served more than
27 years in the U.S. Air Force with assignments on active duty
and in the reserves. He currently holds a rank of Senior Master
Sergeant and serves as a First Sergeant. Mr. Smith holds a
Bachelor's degree in organizational management from Warner
Southern College.
Our next witness will be John ``Rusty'' Russell. He has
been the director of the Huntsville, Alabama, Madison County
Emergency Operations Center since December 2001. He has
previously served in several positions with the county relating
to emergency preparedness. Mr. Russell has previously served as
the president of the Alabama Association of Emergency Managers
and the president of the Southeastern Region of the
International Association of Emergency Managers. Mr. Russell
retired from the U.S. Army in 1996 with 22 years of service in
missile systems, operations, and Army Materiel Command. Mr.
Russell is testifying on behalf of the International
Association of Emergency Managers.
Mr. Russell's area was heavily impacted, as you know, by
the April tornadoes. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be
with you and your fellow Madison County residents and all the
residents of Alabama as they work to recover and rebuild.
Our next witness is Ms. Chauncia Willis. Ms. Willis is the
Emergency Coordinator for the City of Tampa's Office of
Emergency Management. She has previously served in emergency
management roles for the State of Georgia and the Atlanta-
Fulton County Emergency Management Office as well as various
positions in the private sector. Ms. Willis has a Bachelor's
degree in psychology from Loyola University in New Orleans, and
a Masters of public administration from Georgia State
University.
Finally, we will receive testimony from Ms. Linda Carbone.
Ms. Carbone serves as the chief executive officer of the Tampa
Bay Chapter of the American Red Cross. In this capacity, she is
responsible for ensuring Red Cross services are provided to
Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco Counties. Ms. Carbone also
serves as the regional Red Cross executive for the chapters of
Manatee County, Southwest Florida and Charlotte County. Ms.
Carbone is a graduate of Boston College.
Again, welcome to all of our witnesses. Your entire written
testimony, your statements, will appear in the record. I ask
that you summarize your testimony for approximately 5 minutes.
Mr. Koon, you are now recognized to testify. Thank you
again.
STATEMENT OF BRYAN W. KOON, DIRECTOR, FLORIDA DIVISION OF
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
Mr. Koon. Thank you, Chairman. Good morning, Mr. Chairman,
Ranking Member and distinguished Members of the committee.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. My
name is Bryan Koon, I am the Director of the Florida Division
of Emergency Management.
The Division of Emergency Management is Florida's lead
disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation
agency. Under the direction of the Executive Office of the
Governor, the agency oversees the State's efforts to ensure
Florida is prepared to respond to any emergency situation. We
are not, however, alone in this effort.
We are part of the State Emergency Response Team, which is
comprised of our local emergency management agencies at both
the county and city level; other State agencies, most notably
including the Department of Health, the Department of
Transportation and the Florida National Guard; our Federal
partners at FEMA and DHS; non-Governmental organizations such
as Red Cross, Salvation Army, and Volunteer Florida; and
importantly our private sector partners through Florida and the
United States.
While Florida has not had a land-falling hurricane in the
last few seasons, we have had the opportunity to remain active
and respond to multiple events throughout the State, including
the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the Haiti earthquake, numerous
floods, wildfires, and tornadoes in the State of Florida, as
well as sending individuals to assist in flood and tornado
efforts in other States around the country. We also conduct
numerous and frequent exercises to ensure that our people
remain well-trained and ready to respond to any emergency.
We have numerous issues of importance to discuss today. The
first of them is the Emergency Management Preparedness and
Assistance Trust Fund. Florida is fortunate to have a strong
and successful emergency management program. This is in part
due to the Emergency Management Preparedness and Assistance
Trust Fund, which is funded in the State of Florida by a
surcharge on insurance policies. This fund allows counties to
fund dedicated local programs which maintain standards of
performance, particularly in smaller counties throughout the
State which rely upon the EMPA fund to fund the majority of
their programs.
We also use the Emergency Management Performance Grant
Program. This is used by county programs to sustain operational
costs related to program staffing, emergency operation center
and public shelter readiness, communication and notification
systems, emergency planning, training and exercise projects and
public information and education programs. It is important that
FEMA and DHS maintain EMPG as a direct emergency management
all-hazards funding source and that it is not combined with
other homeland security-specific grant programs. EMPG funding
levels are critical support for State and local programs and we
encourage the funding levels to be sustained.
We also encourage Congress to continue funding of the State
Homeland Security Grant Program. This program is critical to
the State's security readiness and funds programs in our fire,
law enforcement, Department of Education, and emergency
management community.
With regards to the functional needs, support services and
ADA requirements for sheltering, we are in full support of
individual rights for access and absolutely opposed to any form
of discrimination. Vulnerable populations have been and are an
active part of our planning and we at the State are working
diligently to find a way to implement the guidance in
conjunction with our local emergency management partners.
DEM supports FEMA's new system of Personal Localized
Alerting Network, the PLAN system, which will allow us to reach
citizens based on their location and a cell tower. This is
particularly important in that it will allow us to reach the
numerous tourists and travelers that are in Florida on any
given day. We look forward to receiving additional details on
the program and working with FEMA in its implementation and
learn how it will integrate with the National Weather Service's
watch and warning system.
Finally, with regard to disaster housing, we encourage the
broadest complement of disaster housing options to be
considered post-event, with a primary focus being on existing
housing stock in the impacted region.
This concludes my remarks.
[The statement of Mr. Koon follows:]
Prepared Statement of Bryan W. Koon
June 10, 2011
INTRODUCTION
Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Richardson, and distinguished Members
of the committee thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak
before you today. The Division of Emergency Management (``the
Division'') is Florida's lead disaster preparedness, response,
recovery, and mitigation agency. Under the direction of the Executive
Office of the Governor, the agency oversees the State's efforts to
ensure Florida is prepared to respond to an emergency situation. The
Division's primary mission is to maintain the operational readiness of
Florida's emergency management systems, and to support disaster
response efforts at the county and municipal level. The Division
further facilitates the delivery of all Federal domestic security
grants from the Department of Homeland Security and disaster recovery
aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
During emergency situations, the Governor may activate the State
Emergency Response Team (``the SERT''); Florida's unified command body
for emergency events. The SERT ensures communication with local
authorities, coordinates State response efforts, and facilitates
Federal disaster recovery funding for individuals and governments. The
SERT is comprised of representatives from State agencies, Cabinet-level
departments, the Florida National Guard, including a full-time National
Guard Liaison housed within DEM, and non-profit organizations. The
Governor serves as the head of the SERT, and is responsible for
appointing the State Coordinating Officer to oversee emergency response
activities. Division personnel, individual State agencies and Cabinet-
level departments staff the State Emergency Operations Center with
support personnel to assist with the overall response efforts. During
emergency events, the Governor typically designates the Director of the
Division as the State Coordinating Officer. The State Coordinating
Officer is the Governor's senior disaster advisor, and leads the SERT
during State Emergency Operations Center activations. Per the Federal
Stafford Act, Florida Statutes (Chapter 252), and Gubernatorial
Executive Order, the State Coordinating Officer is granted authorities
to ensure the safety of Floridians during disasters. With the
Governor's approval and emergency authority, the State Coordinating
Officer can order the full mobilization of the State's resources,
including deploying personnel, expending funds from the Budget
Stabilization Fund for response activities, directing the Florida
National Guard, and opening evacuation routes. The State Coordinating
Officer's role also includes ensuring the successful coordination of
response efforts between Federal, State, county, and municipal
governments. After disasters, the Director also fills the role as the
Governor's Authorized Representative for the receipt of Federal
disaster reimbursement funds.
The foremost operational tenet of the SERT is that all disasters
are local. Except when formally requested by county and municipal
governments, the State serves only to coordinate State and Federal
resources with affected local partners. Though the SERT provides
necessary logistical, planning, operational, and financial support,
elected and appointed county and municipal officials maintain complete
operational control of their jurisdictions. The SERT conducts practice
exercises throughout the year to train for events, as preparation for
potential emergencies is crucial to the success of future response
missions.
Since the devastating 2004-2005 hurricane seasons, which saw seven
hurricanes and two tropical storms make landfall in Florida, the SERT
has responded to numerous major disasters. These Federally-declared
disasters range from tropical storms, flooding events, wildfires, and
tornadoes. Most recently, the SERT assisted the Federal response to the
catastrophic earthquake in Haiti and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
The potential natural and man-induced dangers to Florida are ever-
present, and require the entire State's emergency management team to
maintain continuous operational readiness.
I was appointed to serve as the Director of the Division in
February 2011. Prior to this appointment, I served as the lead
emergency manager of Walmart, a position that allowed me to help
coordinate the company's response efforts to several disasters. I also
previously served in the United States Navy as a Watch Officer in the
White House Situation Room. In this capacity, I developed continuity of
operations and continuity of government plans for Federal Government
agencies.
OVERVIEW OF THE DIVISION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
Like the phases of the emergency management cycle (preparedness,
response, recovery, and mitigation), the Division is divided into four
bureaus: The Bureau of Preparedness, the Bureau of Response, the Bureau
of Recovery, and the Bureau of Mitigation. There is also the Office of
the Director, which administratively houses key senior staff and the
Office of Policy and Financial Management. Division employees manage
the State Watch Office, the 24-hour notification point for all State-
wide emergency, hazardous materials, and severe weather reports.
Recent action by the Florida Legislature incorporated the Division
into the Executive Office of the Governor. By law, the Governor is the
final authority on all important disaster response decisions. Florida's
Governor has the additional statutory and constitutional power to
declare states of emergency and formally request assistance from the
Federal Government.
Office of the Director
The Director oversees the State's disaster preparedness, response,
recovery, and mitigation activities. These responsibilities include
coordinating efforts with the Federal Government, other State agencies,
county and municipal governments, and private organizations that have a
role in emergency management. The Director oversees the Division's
extensive work with the private sector to prepare Floridians for
emergencies and to respond to disaster situations. The Director also
serves as the co-chair of the State Emergency Response Commission and
the co-chair of the Domestic Security Oversight Council. As the State
Administrative Agent, the Director reviews and approves all of
Florida's applications for Department of Homeland Security Grants.
After receipt of the grants, the Director also oversees the obligation
of funds to State and local units of government.
Office of Policy and Financial Management
The Office of Policy and Financial Management oversees the agency's
daily fiscal operations, including: Division-wide operating budgets,
travel expenses, and State and Federal grants. The Division's budget is
primarily funded by Federal grants, of which approximately 95% passes
through to local entities. Federal funds received as a result of open
disaster declarations through the Public Assistance and Hazard
Mitigation Grant Programs, in addition to domestic preparedness
funding, non-disaster mitigation grant funding and emergency management
performance and interoperable communications grant funding account for
over 90 percent of the Division's budget. Excluding funding directly
related to Federally-declared disasters and the requisite State match,
which represents almost 90 percent of the fiscal year 2010-2011
appropriations, the remaining State dollars in the Division's budget
are derived from surcharges on residential and commercial insurance
policies in the State, fees received from Florida facilities which use
or store hazardous materials in the State, funds provided from
Florida's nuclear power companies, and an annual Hurricane Catastrophe
Fund (CAT Fund) allocation for statutorily-directed hurricane loss
mitigation activities. The Division is appropriated no General Revenue.
A large portion of the Division's State funding, and all recurring
dollars, are dedicated as match for Federal awards.
The Division's Domestic Preparedness section is responsible for all
Department of Homeland Security grant programs in Florida. Since 2001,
Florida has received over $1.4 billion from the Federal Government to
enhance the State's domestic security and preparedness capabilities to
prepare for, prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from
terrorist events and other disasters. In addition to disbursing funds
designated for Florida's domestic preparedness, the Section monitors
all programs and agencies that receive Department of Homeland Security
funding. The Section also ensures that Florida is compliant with the
National Incident Management System.
Bureau of Preparedness
The Bureau of Preparedness oversees a variety of functions within
the Division, including: Hazardous materials and nuclear facility
oversight, Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act
implementation, State Continuity of Operations and Continuity of
Government planning, the updating of the State's Comprehensive
Emergency Management Plan, and the review and certification of county
Comprehensive Emergency Management Plans. The Bureau also coordinates
the training, exercises, and support to county emergency management
agencies in preparing to respond to disasters.
The Technological Hazards Section serves as staff support to the
State Emergency Response Commission, which administers the Federal
Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, Florida Hazardous
Materials Emergency Response and Community Right-To-Know Act, and the
Florida Accidental Release Prevention and Risk Management Planning Act.
The Section also works to reduce and prevent accidental chemical
releases, limit the severity and consequences of chemical releases, and
improve the coordination, communication, and emergency response
capabilities between regulated facilities and local emergency
preparedness and response agencies. The Section has the further
responsibility to prepare for and respond to any event at one of
Florida's three nuclear power facilities and the nuclear facility in
Alabama on the State border.
Florida is home to five commercial nuclear reactors located at
three sites. Two additional reactors are located in Alabama near the
State line. The Division has the overall responsibility for
coordination of the response to a nuclear power plant emergency. The
Division also ensures that communities near nuclear power plants are
prepared for an emergency, performing annual exercises that are
conducted and designed to test each response organization's response
capabilities. In addition, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the
FEMA conduct evaluated exercises for each nuclear plant every 2 years.
These evaluated exercises measure a response organization's efforts
against an established list of criteria designed to ensure key response
actions are met.
The Natural Hazards Unit spearheads the updating and revision
efforts of the State's Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan. In
addition, the Unit is responsible for reviewing and certifying the
Comprehensive Emergency Management Plans for all 67 counties, an action
mandated by statute. During the review process, the Unit ensures that
each county has policy initiatives compliant with all regulations and
directives and, if not, assists the appropriate local personnel in
ensuring their Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan is up to
standard. The Unit is also responsible for Continuity of Operations
Planning and Continuity of Government Planning for the Division and for
reviewing and approving similar policies of State agencies. The unit
also ensures that State-wide evacuation studies and data are accurate
and up-to-date.
The Bureau of Preparedness also oversees and delivers the State-
wide training and exercise program. The Training Unit coordinates the
delivery of courses in the field for primarily county and municipal
responders. The Exercise Unit serves the training needs of Division
staff and members of the State Emergency Response Team (SERT) which
includes representatives of the State agencies and other organizations
that staff the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC). It also
maintains and coordinates the State Training and Exercise Planning Plan
to coordinate efforts locally, regionally, and at the State level.
Bureau of Response
The Bureau of Response provides swift, effective response during an
emergency or catastrophic incident. During SERT activations, the Bureau
is responsible for assisting the Governor, the State Coordinating
Officer, and the Federal Coordinating Officer lead Florida's complex
interagency response effort. There are four sections within the Bureau:
The Operations Section which contains the State Watch Office and the
Meteorological Support Unit, the Logistics section, the Infrastructure
Section, and the Regional Coordination Section.
The State Watch Office is the 24-hour notification point for all
emergencies, hazardous materials, and severe weather reports that
impact or occur within the State. It also serves as the initial point
of contact for county agencies requesting State assistance for
situations beyond their response capabilities. The primary mission of
the State Watch Office is to provide warning to the appropriate
individuals, local governments, and State agencies of impending danger
or existing hazardous situations. The State Watch Office provides
notifications and warnings to county dispatch centers, other State
agencies, nuclear power plants, and Federal agencies regarding
emergency situations and the relaying of official requests for outside
assistance. The State Watch Office also coordinates with the National
Response Center for petroleum-related incidents, per Federal Emergency
Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act legislation and State
regulations. The State Watch Office monitors open-source media (e.g.
cable news networks, on-line publications, local newspapers) for any
breaking news and incidents. The State Watch Office was recently
renovated to enhance the Division's ability to respond to emergency
events. Additional technological upgrades expanded the communications
capabilities of the SERT, allowing interoperable communications between
State, Federal, county, and municipal emergency management and first-
responder agencies. Also within the Operations Section, the State
Meteorological Support Unit serves as liaisons between the Emergency
Management community and atmospheric and physical science organizations
to ensure that the Division and State Emergency Response Team has the
weather data needed to make decisions and carry out missions. The
Meteorology Unit provides a daily weather hazard threat analysis,
briefing products, and coordinates training and outreach activities to
promote hazardous weather awareness and safety.
The Division established the Regional Coordination Section to
ensure the timely presence of State personnel during emergency events
outside of the Tallahassee area. The Regional Coordinators serve as the
Division's liaisons to county and municipal governments for all phases
of emergency management. Each Regional Coordinator lives and works in
his or her respective region. There are seven total regions in the
State, and the close proximity of Division staff to potentially
affected communities provides a faster response time for the State to
serve local requests for assistance during disasters. Regional
Coordinators often guide field operations for response and recovery
efforts and execute capability assessments of local emergency
management programs.
The Logistics Section facilitates the State-wide management of
resources designated for disaster response and recovery. Florida's
Unified Logistics system has been acclaimed as one the Nation's best
practices in State Logistics Management. The State maintains 200,000
square feet of emergency resources at the State Logistics Response
Center in Central Florida amounting to over 980 semi-trailer loads of
commodities and equipment for immediate response within 6 hours
anywhere in the State. More importantly, the State maintains a State
Resource Management System for total asset visibility on all resources
ordered, shipped, received, cross-docked, and returned through near
real-time satellite technology and a transportation management network
managed by the State Movement Coordination Center. The Logistics
Section also oversees the State-wide Communications Interoperability
Program comprised of various State and local interoperable
communications platforms and systems that can be deployed to address
unique emergency communications missions.
Bureau of Recovery
The Infrastructure Section staffs the Infrastructure Branch during
activation of the State Emergency Operations Center. The Infrastructure
Branch assists State and local government agencies and SERT private
sector partners with access to State and special district agency
transportation and public works response assets, telecommunications
response assets and industry contacts, electric and natural gas
industry response assets and contacts, and fuel industry response
assets and contacts.
The effects of natural and man-induced disasters can cripple a
community's socioeconomic infrastructure. The Bureau of Recovery
contributes to county and municipal efforts to rebuild communities
through State and Federal grants. The Bureau is responsible for the
management and administration of the Stafford Act relief programs. The
Public Assistance (``PA'') Program provides Federal assistance on a
cost-sharing basis to eligible State Agencies, local government
applicants, Indian Tribal governments, and certain private non-profit
organizations which suffer damages or costs for: (1) Debris removal;
(2) emergency protective measures; and (3) permanent restoration of
damaged public infrastructure. The Bureau coordinates with local,
State, and Federal agencies to inform residents and businesses of
disaster-recovery programs that are available for assistance to recover
after a disaster.
The Individual Assistance Section is Florida's first line of
recovery assistance to affected individuals and families after a
disaster. After performing preliminary damage assessments, the Section
assists Florida's residents to understand and apply for State and
Federal disaster-related assistance through the activation of Essential
Service Centers, Disaster Recovery Centers and the Community Response
Program. During a catastrophic event, the Section coordinates and
supports direct housing missions through the Disaster Housing Program,
which provides travel trailers or mobile homes to survivors when other
housing sources are unavailable. The Individual Assistance Section
assists survivors with unmet needs in the disaster assistance process
by providing information and referrals to the appropriate disaster
assistance resources and following through with cases to ensure
critical needs are met.
The Florida Recovery Office is a long-term recovery office in Lake
Mary, Florida that is jointly administered by the Division and the
FEMA, which created the facility after eight named storms made landfall
in Florida during the 2004 and 2005 hurricane season. These events
caused billions of dollars in damage throughout the State and required
extensive Federal and State recovery assistance. As a result of the
unprecedented impacts, Federal and State emergency management officials
established a separate office located in Central Florida to coordinate
Damage Assessment Teams on-site and to disburse Federal assistance
grants, and conduct project closeouts for affected residents, county,
and municipal governments.
Bureau of Mitigation
The Bureau of Mitigation strives to fortify Florida's
infrastructure against the effects of future disaster through proactive
structural enhancement and policy initiatives. The Bureau works with
county and municipal governments, non-profit organizations, other State
agencies, and individuals throughout the State to enhance Florida's
resistance to disasters. As a result of such proactive efforts, the
Division is compliant with all Federal regulations regarding mitigation
planning and procedures and has even received the Federal Government's
highest mitigation designation for planning. This ``Enhanced''
recognition permits the State to receive additional post-disaster funds
(20% rather than 15%) for mitigation activities. All of Florida's 67
counties have State and FEMA-approved Local Mitigation Strategies, a
necessary requirement to receive Federal Hazard Mitigation Grant
Program and Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program funding.
The Federal Hazard Mitigation Grant Program provides funding for
the efforts of State, local, and Tribal governments, and non-profit
organizations to implement long-term hazard mitigation measures
following Presidentially-declared disasters. The Hazard Mitigation
Grant Program can fund measures that protect public and private
property by breaking the cycle of damage, reconstruction, and repeated
damage caused by repairing and reconstructing property to pre-disaster
conditions.
The State implements the National Flood Insurance Program. The
Program is a voluntary Federal program that pools the country's
flooding risk to provide Americans with comprehensive flood insurance.
In Florida, there are approximately 2.1 million National Flood
Insurance Program policyholders, a figure representing 38% of all
policies Nation-wide. So many homes and businesses are National Flood
Insurance Program-insured in Florida because of the State's unique
geographic and demographic circumstances, as over 80 percent of the
State's 18 million residents live or conduct business near the
coastline. Moreover, the State's flat agricultural lands and inland
populations are primarily located near rivers and floodplains that have
historically flooded after moderate-to-severe rainfall. To qualify for
the National Flood Insurance Program, communities must adopt,
implement, and enforce FEMA-approved regulations for floodplain
construction and development.
RECENT INNOVATIVE PRACTICES
Adoption of Social Media Accounts
To help keep Florida's residents and visitors up-to-date on
disaster-related operations, DEM provides a variety of information
through several social media accounts, including three Twitter accounts
and a Facebook page. The Division's three twitter accounts offer users
different perspectives on important emergency management-related
topics. DEM's main account, @FLSERT, gives general program and
emergency information, news releases, interesting facts, videos, and
photos of current events; @FLSERTWeather retransmits significant severe
weather alerts and statements issued by the National Weather Service
and the National Hurricane Center that are specific to Florida, as well
as links to weather-related press releases and Florida hazardous
weather awareness information; @FLStateWatch provides a daily feed of
breaking news and alerts from the Florida State Watch Office Operations
Team for all 67 Florida counties. Facebook, another popular social
media forum, provides users with another option to readily access
disaster information in a manner that suits them.
Development of State Logistics Response Center
In 2007, the Division established the State Logistics Response
Center in Orlando, Florida. The facility is home to the State/Federal
Unified Logistics Section, which represents the union of State,
Federal, voluntary agencies, and contract vendors that mobilize during
declared emergencies to facilitate the acquisition, management, and
distribution of Florida's disaster logistics resources. The 200,000
square foot warehouse, complete with the latest tracking software and
communications technology, is among the largest State disaster resource
facilities in the Nation. The facility maintains sufficient resources
to support over 500,000 disaster-affected people for the first 3 days
after a catastrophic incident and is capable of distributing these
items quickly and efficiently. Most supplies stored at the State
Logistics Response Center cost nothing to taxpayers until they are
deployed by the SERT, since commodities are maintained under vendor-
managed inventory contracts with private entities.
The State Logistics Response Center is strategically located in
Central Florida to minimize the average response time throughout the
State. The State Logistics Response Center is adjacent to major
interstates and highways, reducing the possibility that debris or other
obstacles might inhibit semi-trucks from arriving at the supply depot.
The cache is also highly storm-resistant and located outside of all
documented flood zones and storm surge areas.
State Disability Coordinator
The State Disability Coordinator works with Florida's county-level
emergency management offices, the American Red Cross and other shelter
management groups to ensure that each county has accessible special-
needs and general population shelters. The Disability Coordinator also
helps persons with disabilities develop evacuation plans prior to a
declared emergency. The Disability Coordinator maintains a constant
dialogue with Division policy makers, which ensures that any new
directive or program suitably takes into account the unique position of
members of the disabled community during emergencies. The Full-Time
Equivalent position is provided by the Agency for Persons with
Disabilities, funded through a Federal grant allocated by the Florida
Department of Health, and housed in the Division. The Disability
Coordinator also works with the FEMA's Disability Coordinator and the
FEMA Administrator's Senior Advisor on Disabilities to harmonize
Federal and State information and resources regarding persons with
special needs and persons with disabilities during emergencies.
Private Sector Coordination
After the 2004-2005 hurricane seasons, the Division recognized that
Florida needed to further incorporate the private sector into the
State's strategic disaster response planning. To accomplish this goal,
the Division created Emergency Support Function 18: Business, Industry
and Economic Stabilization (ESF 18). ESF 18 has the lead responsibility
to coordinate local, State, and Federal agency actions that provide
immediate and short-term assistance to businesses and industries
affected by a disaster. Such assistance may include providing access to
the financial, workforce, technical, and community resources that may
affect a community's ability to restore business operations and resume
focus on long-term business strategies. The Division also hired a
private sector coordinator to assist Florida's business community
ensure that they are prepared for a disaster response. This work is
critical, since 40% off all small businesses that close during a
disaster never resume business operations.
CONCLUSION
Natural disasters are certain and often anticipated. Every State
must be able to plan for disasters as well as build and sustain the
capability to respond. EMPG is the backbone of the Nation's all-hazards
emergency management system and the only source of direct Federal
funding to State and local governments for emergency management
capacity building. EMPG is used for personnel, planning, training, and
exercises at both the State and local levels. EMPG is primarily used to
support State and local emergency management personnel who are
responsible for writing plans; conducting training, exercises and
corrective action; educating the public on disaster readiness; and
maintaining the Nation's emergency response system. EMPG is being used
to help States create and update plans for receiving and distribution
plans for emergency supplies such as water, ice, and food after a
disaster; debris removal plans; and plans for receiving or evacuating
people--all of these critical issues identified in the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina and in the recent outbreak of tornados and flooding
across the south and Midwest.
EMPG is the only all-hazards preparedness program within the
Department of Homeland Security that requires a match at the State and
local level. The match is evidence of the commitment by State and local
governments to address the urgent need for all-hazards emergency
planning. Because of this commitment at the State and local level it is
vital to the mission of DEM and our local partners that this funding
remain intact and funding levels be maintained or increased.
The Division is prepared to respond to any disaster that affects
Florida. As the hurricane capital of the United States and being
susceptible to several types of other disasters, the importance of
strong State and local emergency management systems is critical. The
Division will continue to work with Federal, State, local, and private-
sector partners to ensure that Florida's emergency management systems
remain among the best in the Nation.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you very much for your testimony.
Now I would like to ask Ms. Dragani to testify. You are
recognized for 5 minutes or so.
STATEMENT OF NANCY DRAGANI, CHAIR, RESPONSE AND RECOVERY
COMMITTEE, NATIONAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION
Ms. Dragani. Thank you. Good morning, Chairman Bilirakis
and Representative Clarke; thank you for giving me the
opportunity to testify today on behalf of the National
Emergency Management Association. Because I am testifying on
behalf of NEMA, my remarks will address a National perspective
on achievements and accomplishments.
I submitted a full statement for the record, so I will be
brief in my comments this morning. In putting together the
testimony, it was interesting to have an opportunity to step
back from day-to-day emergency management and look back at what
we have done over the last several years.
As I looked back on the past 6 years, it is amazing to see
how far we have come as an organization and as a profession
since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita as well as the major changes
that have been driven by the Post-Katrina Emergency Management
Reform Act. In addition to the National improvements in
planning, exercise training, and equipment, other significant
changes have been influenced through the evolving technologies
that have impacted not only our profession but our society at
large.
One of the key lessons of 2005 was that the relationship
with our private sector partners must be improved. We learned
that a successful cooperative relationship means an integrated
relationship. An example of where this transformation is
happening can be seen in Louisiana. The Louisiana Business
Emergency Operations Center is a stand-alone facility that
works hand-in-hand with the State operations center. This
relationship allows State officials access to real-time
information from their private sector partners who have
available assets and it helps coordinate with our non-
Governmental partners like the volunteer organizations after a
disaster. The private sector in turn, and it is an integrated
cooperative relationship, has better access to State and local
response, allowing them to get their businesses up and running
faster, which ultimately helps the community recover faster.
Louisiana's Business EOC has been so effective that many
States, mine included, are looking at it as a model for our own
business integration operations.
Another award-winning innovation is the Virginia Inter-
Operability Picture for Emergency Response, or VIPER. This
computer-based tool allows Virginia the opportunity to visually
assess the State-wide emergency management operations, again,
in real time. It also offers instant access to essential local
information using those traditional geographic information
system, or GIS layers.
VIPER can monitor traffic patterns, provide data about
local pieces of critical infrastructure and track environmental
sensors. All of this information is then analyzed by the tool
and fed back to the Virginia Department of Emergency Management
so that they can make the best, most effective decisions on
behalf of their State and local response partners.
VIPER is another example of a best practice being used by
other States. The program is currently in use throughout
agencies in 7 different States and localities and has won
awards from the Council of State Government and Harvard Kennedy
School of Government.
No discussion regarding technology and public outreach in
the past 6 years would be productive or complete without
discussion of social media. Consider that in 2005 Facebook and
YouTube had been around for about 3 months, and no one would
know what Twitter meant for another year. I would suggest that
some people still don't know what Twitter means.
[Laughter.]
Ms. Dragani. Myself included, of course.
Times have certainly changed and the use of social media,
especially in emergency management, continues to an organic,
evolving process.
Smartphones have put the power of social media in the
pockets and hands of our citizens we are serving, allowing them
to now be active partners in disaster preparedness, response,
and recovery.
Within the emergency management and homeland security
community, social media has been met with various amounts of
support and opinions. But even though some may not fully
understand how to use the tool, nearly every State emergency
management now has a presence on Twitter and almost half have a
presence on Facebook. Even FEMA has numerous social media
accounts.
During the recent storms in Alabama and Missouri, FEMA
relied on on-line databases to track the status of missing
people, and in partnership with State and local government,
used social media to push out vital recovery information to
their citizens.
Technology in social media constantly changes and we in the
emergency management community must continue to change along
with it so that we can effectively harness the power of social
media.
Mutual aid and technology and State resources can only go
so far. Sometimes we need physical help from our partners.
Mutual aid, specifically through the Emergency Management
Systems Compact, or EMAC, has evolved into one of the best
supporting mechanisms for State and local emergency managers to
obtain assistance throughout the Nation.
EMAC has been around since 1996, but a mainstay of
emergency management since about 1994. For example, on
September 11, 2001, 26 emergency management personnel responded
to the impacted areas through EMAC. Just 4 years later, EMAC
provided 66,000 people for responses to Hurricanes Katrina and
Rita. EMAC provided another 12,000 people in Hurricanes Gustav
and Ike. So a comparison--2001, 26 people; 2004, 66,000 people.
The quality and sustainability of EMAC continues to grow as
the compact evolves to meet our needs. It stands as an example
of a program that well serves our communities, our States, and
our Nation.
Of course, the examples I outlined here are really just the
tip of the iceberg. My statement for the record goes into far
more detail on numerous other efforts, including state-of-the-
art alert and warning systems, improved exercise programs, and
other programs. These efforts touch every State across the
country.
One of the most valuable lessons we have learned in the
last 6 years is that each of the States has the opportunity to
act as a test lab for technology and programs from which other
States can learn. We help each other daily so that when a
disaster does occur, we can work together to save lives and
protect property.
Thank you again for the opportunity to testify before this
field hearing and I look forward to taking any questions you
may have.
[The statement of Ms. Dragani follows:]
Prepared Statement of Nancy Dragani
June 10, 2011
INTRODUCTION
Thank you Chairman Bilirakis, Ranking Member Richardson, and
distinguished Members of the subcommittee for the opportunity to
testify today on behalf of the National Emergency Management
Association (NEMA). Reflection on the events of the past 6 years, since
some of the most significant natural disasters of our time, allows us
to learn from the past and properly assess where we currently stand as
a Nation and a profession. As disasters continue to challenge our
Nation's emergency managers, we seldom have time to look back and
reflect on how far we have come.
Many of the most significant changes in emergency management have
been influenced through evolving technology and its impact on our
society. In the past 6 years, we have witnessed better integration of
the private sector in emergency management preparedness, response, and
recovery. Improved technologies and more effective use of social media
impacts every aspect of public engagement. Exercise programs and public
warning and communications systems continue to evolve to meet ever-
changing threats.
PRIVATE SECTOR INTEGRATION
Working with the private sector has always been a priority in
emergency management, but after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, we
realized improvements could be made and ``cooperation'' must become
``integration.'' An example of this integration comes from Louisiana
which is bringing the private sector closer to the center of the entire
decision-making process.
Through a Cooperative Endeavour Agreement, Louisiana used EMPG
funds to begin developing the Louisiana Business Emergency Operations
Center (LABEOC). A stand-alone facility, the LABEOC is interconnected
with the State EOC in Baton Rouge. It is designed to improve disaster
preparedness and response by:
(1) Improving communications to and from business and industry
before, during, and after a disaster,
(2) Utilizing a business model when more efficient and cost-
effective to respond to resource and other requests; and
(3) Leveraging the critical infrastructure representatives in the
LABEOC to help bring communities back on-line while receiving
real-time economic impact information important in determining
level of State and Federal assistance.
The LABEOC also facilitates better communication and coordination
with the private sector and the requests and needs of nonprofits
through National and State Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters
(VOAD). This model has gained the attention of DHS and neighboring Gulf
States, which have expressed interest in establishing Business
Emergency Operations Centers within their own States.
ALERT AND WARNING SYSTEMS
The public-private relationship is also linking advances in
technology with alert and warning systems. One of the basic lessons
learned from Katrina was the need to effectively reach out to the
broadest audiences possible during a disaster.
The Washington State Emergency Management Division (WEMD) and its
technical contractor, Federal Signal Corporation, developed the All-
Hazard Alert Broadcasting (AHAB) siren network to provide State and
local officials with the capability to effectively alert the public to
any hazardous situation that may arise. While the system is designed to
provide timely warning for any hazard, its primary function in the
State is to conduct notification to outdoor populations of impending
tsunamis. This joint effort between WEMD and Federal Signal represents
the power of public-private partnerships to meet the unique needs of
public alert and notification requirements for multiple hazards.
To increase the effectiveness and coverage of this key
communication network, the AHAB system provides both tone and voice
alert capability to State and local emergency management authorities.
Social science research indicated citizens often remain unaware of what
to do when they hear sirens. To alleviate potential confusion, this
system was designed not only to provide an audible alert, but also play
pre-scripted digital directions which give at-risk individuals critical
and timely information on how to respond appropriately to the
emergency. The system produces 360-degree coverage and has a distinct
blue strobe light which provides a visual extension of the warning
signal for the hearing-impaired and in areas with high ambient noise.
AHAB sirens are capable of being activated from the State EOC Alert
and Warning Center via satellite or from the local emergency management
agency using Radio Frequency technology and both activation pathways
are tested regularly. This siren network now covers the outer coast and
Strait of Juan de Fuca shorelines of Washington State and supplements
indoor alert and notification provided through the Emergency Alert
System (EAS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
weather radio. The deployment strategy has focused on first installing
sirens in population centers and at high-risk or critical facilities.
Initial sound studies indicate 96 sirens are necessary for full warning
coverage and 50 sirens have been deployed as of May 2011.
Since the creation of this system, AHAB has become the de-facto
standard for tsunami alert and notification for outdoor populations.
Based on the successful implementation of the AHAB siren network in
Washington, similar systems have been installed in Alaska and Puerto
Rico. Pierce County, Washington has also deployed AHAB sirens as part
of the volcano warning system for Mount Rainier.
ENHANCING TECHNOLOGY
Technological advancements in the past 6 years go far beyond
traditional alert and warning systems. Virginia Department of Emergency
Management (VDEM) maintains a system marking true innovation through
the Virginia Interoperability Picture for Emergency Response, or VIPER.
This tool not only allows the Virginia Emergency Operations Center
staff the ability to visually assess State-wide emergency management
operations in real time but also automatically offers users instant
access to essential local information through traditional Geographic
Information Systems layers.
VIPER can work in various emergency scenarios. If a locality
experiences a rapidly escalating traffic incident, VIPER will provide
information about nearby hospitals; in the case of a hazardous
materials spill, VIPER will offer data about area schools; during a
flood, VIPER will alert users to low-lying areas which could be
affected. VIPER monitors environmental sensors and gathers data from
VDEM's crisis management system as well as external systems, such as
Computer Aided Dispatch, the National Weather Service and the
Integrated Flood Observation and Warning System. VIPER then performs an
analysis of all available information and alerts VDEM to potential
impacts on critical infrastructure.
VIPER stands as an example of how each of the States can be
utilized as unique and distinct test beds of innovation. This has
already occurred for VIPER, as several State agencies across the
country have begun to incorporate elements of the tool into their
operations, including the Florida Division of Emergency Management,
Mississippi Fusion Center, North Carolina State Police, the South
Carolina Emergency Management Division, Texas Border Control, and local
government agencies in Beverly Hills, California; Clarke County,
Nevada; and Virginia Beach, Virginia. VIPER also helped DHS, FEMA, the
U.S. Secret Service, and VDEM monitor the 56th Presidential
Inauguration, and Tampa officials used VIPER to monitor Super Bowl
XLIII.
VIPER has received numerous honors, including those from the
Council of State Governments and the Ash Center for Democratic
Governance and Innovation at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy
School of Government which acknowledges creative Government initiatives
around the country.
#SMEM
No discussion regarding technology and public outreach in the past
6 years is complete without acknowledging the vast impacts of social
media. While many of the innovations in emergency management stemmed
from lessons learned during the response and recovery from Hurricane
Katrina, one of the most influential changes evolved naturally and has
recently proven to be a critical resource for emergency responders and
others in a disaster situation. The onset of the social media wave in
our personal lives occurred rapidly. It is often hard to remember that
in 2005 Facebook and YouTube could only measure their existence in
months while Twitter would not be created until a year after Katrina
altered the Gulf Coast forever.
The use of social media in disasters seems like a natural
progression. The public uses new media platforms to document their
daily activities and express opinions about current events. Smartphones
have put the power of social media in to the pockets of citizens we
serve, allowing them to be a partner in the disaster preparedness,
response, and recovery process. On twitter, hashtags are often used to
coordinate discussion. These hashtags help people communicate and
discuss issues of importance. Social media in emergency management (or
``smem'') has become a hashtag utilized by people around the world to
engage emergency management stakeholders from various disciplines and
has proven to be a vital forum for discussion of the evolution of this
emerging technology.
Within the emergency management and homeland security community,
the introduction of social media has been met with varied opinions.
Skepticism and doubt were natural reactions for some, while many worked
from the outset to integrate this new technology into their existing
structures. Incredibly, nearly every State Emergency Management agency
has a presence on Twitter and half also have a presence on Facebook.
FEMA has a number of accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube; and
has encouraged partnerships between FEMA and the States. During the
Tennessee floods of 2010, FEMA partnered with the Tennessee Emergency
Management Agency to encourage information and picture sharing of the
response and recovery. Many challenges exist in adoption, but FEMA has
encouraged State and local officials to address challenges or barriers
in their own agencies prior to a disaster so social media use is not a
burden, but rather another tool in a comprehensive toolbox.
FEMA leadership has been challenging the emergency management
community to innovate faster than the speed of government. Instead of
trying to make systems fit the traditional emergency management
structure, and make the public fit how we communicate now, we must meet
the needs for accurate information following a disaster by figuring out
how best to engage the public. We continue to experiment with new
platforms and technologies and as State emergency managers we work with
our own staffs to bring these efforts down to a community level.
During the recent storms in Alabama and Missouri, as well as the
flooding in Louisiana, the evolution of a social media workforce has
continued. FEMA has come to rely on on-line databases to track the
status of missing people, and it now uses digital mapping to allow
search-and-rescue teams to deliver resources to areas of highest need.
The agency has started to see the emergence of a new group of
volunteers from around the world who are able to apply technology in
real-time situations to ``crowd source,'' a method of using large
numbers of people to work on common problems and share information and
solutions. These volunteers cull the internet for open source
information and put this into databases or on maps to provide first
responders and local officials with a clear picture of an incident
without impeding the immediate response work being done on the ground.
Technology continues to evolve and while current social media
platforms may seem like they are going to be around forever, we must
constantly remain aware of how our citizens communicate. Limited
resources on the State and local level make leveraging existing models
and platforms key factors in success before, during, and after a
disaster. Social media is constantly changing and harnessing the power
of this revolution can help the emergency management community be more
effective in serving our citizens in their time of need.
MUTUAL AID
Mutual aid, specifically through the Emergency Management
Assistance Compact (EMAC), has evolved into one of the best supporting
mechanisms for State emergency managers to obtain assistance throughout
the country. This assistance occurs rapidly with arrangements pre-
determined for reimbursement and deployment.
When States and the U.S. Territories joined together and Congress
ratified EMAC (Pub. L. 104-321) in 1996, the legal and procedural
mechanism was created whereby emergency response resources such as
Urban Search and Rescue Teams can quickly move throughout the country
to meet disaster needs. All 50 States, the District of Columbia, and
three territories are members of EMAC and have committed their
emergency resources in helping neighboring States and territories.
EMAC has grown significantly in size, volume, and the type of
resources provided over the years. Since 2004, the volume and types of
resources requested under EMAC has grown considerably. For example, 26
emergency management personnel responded to the September 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks. Conversely, over 66,000 personnel from a variety of
disciplines deployed to the Gulf Coast in response to Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita and 12,279 personnel to Texas and Louisiana during
Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. The response lasted 63 continuous days with
a total of 265 completed missions. The 2009 Spring Flooding in North
Dakota and Minnesota resulted in States deploying equipment, sandbags,
and 1,029 personnel to North Dakota. In all, 727 National Guard
personnel and 302 civilians were sent to assist via the compact.
EXERCISE PROGRAMS
While we must always be ready to harness innovations in emergency
management and the society in which we work to protect, strides must be
taken to ensure our agencies remain robust from within as well. Such
improvements are often ensured through the use of effective exercise
and training doctrines which have realized vast improvements in the
past decade. More recently, these exercise programs work to involve the
public more and become rolling assessments of where we stand
operationally.
California's annual State-wide Golden Guardian Exercise Series was
first implemented in 2004 and is managed by the California Emergency
Management Agency (CalEMA). The purpose of Golden Guardian is to
enhance the all-hazards emergency management readiness of regional and
State responders, including private sector and volunteer organizations.
The goal is to build upon the lessons learned to improve California's
ability to prevent, protect, respond, and recover from catastrophic
natural and man-made disasters. Golden Guardian is currently the
largest State-wide exercise program of its kind in the country.
But California does not stop with Golden Guardian in assessing the
State's level of readiness. The third Thursday of each October,
millions of Californians practice how to protect themselves during an
earthquake. The Great California ShakeOut begins with the ``Drop Cover
and Hold On'' drill, however, the campaign reaches beyond to inspire
Californians to become more earthquake-resilient at work, school, home,
and in their communities. ShakeOut began as a southern California
regional event in 2008, providing a public participation element to
California's Golden Guardian annual exercise. It was the largest
earthquake drill in U.S. history at the time with a total of 5.4
million participants. The success of the exercise led to a State-wide
event in 2009, with more than 6.9 million participants, and is now
annual California event that included nearly 8 million drill
participants in 2010.
CONCLUSION
As you can see, the emergency management profession has changed
dramatically since 2005 and will continue to do so as the relationships
between homeland security and emergency management, public and private
sector representatives, and Government officials with the public
evolve. By engaging diverse stakeholder groups, the emergency
management community will benefit from enhancements and overhauls while
leveraging the innovative nature of professionals and community
members. Some changes in the community have been reactions to specific
disasters, while others developed organically; answering questions many
of us never thought to ask. The best way to continue this pattern of
innovation is to be confident in past accomplishments and open to
future changes that will make the profession more effective, efficient,
and ultimately, more meaningful for the citizens that we serve.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you for being here.
Now, I will recognize Mr. Smith for 5 minutes or so.
STATEMENT OF GERALD L. SMITH, PRESIDENT, FLORIDA EMERGENCY
PREPAREDNESS ASSOCIATION
Mr. Smith. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman and
Congressman Clarke, thank you for having us here today.
As you said, I am the director for Lake County. Lake County
is in central Florida, it has approximately 300,000 residents
and has 1,100 square miles. I am also the president of the
Florida Emergency Preparedness Association, which is the only
State-wide emergency management association. I am also here as
the president of our association. Unfortunately my county has
had two major Presidential declarations since the passing of
the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act, so I have a
little bit of personal knowledge into the things that have
occurred.
As Mr. Koon indicated, Florida has a strong emergency
management program. Our position is that strong counties make a
strong State. This is done through collaboration with the
Florida Division of Emergency Management. We also, as was
mentioned, benefit from the Emergency Management Preparedness
Assistance Grant Trust Fund and also a strong Florida Statute
252 and Administrative Code 9G, which allows us to work with
other agencies and gives the Florida agencies responsibilities
that we utilize.
In the past several years, as I mentioned, I have had
experience with FEMA from the disaster response, the success
that we had there at we believe the first FEMA-supported
volunteer camp, which allowed us to rapidly assist our citizens
in the recovery process. We have also been involved with
catastrophic planning as a host community. That was a planning
initiative between FEMA and Florida DEM and brought us I think
a lot more preparedness for hurricanes in the State of Florida.
We deeply appreciate the support of the subcommittee by
having this hearing here in Florida today. While I understand
the focus here is on the Post-Katrina Emergency Management
Reform Act, we believe that FEMA is complying with a lot of
those issues. However, there are some unique local perspectives
that we would like to provide.
One of the issues is on the Emergency Management
Performance Grant. That is the backbone of emergency management
in this country. In Florida, we would have not been as prepared
in the 2004, 2005 storms, the H1N1, the Haitian repatriation,
which was a massive effort in Florida, and then again the
Deepwater Horizon. That grant was significant to our
preparedness. That is also matched dollar-for-dollar at the
local level.
The issue we have a concern with is on the fiscal year 2012
budget, there is an initiative for a 10 percent holdback from
FEMA on that. While it would look like though there is an
increase in the EMPG, this would actually be a decrease to the
States and local governments.
As far as the State Homeland Security Grant Program, we are
very grateful for that program. However, with some of the
changes in Congress, it has put the law enforcement into the
mix with the other--the prevention issues into the mix with
everything else, it has created an unintended competition
between prevention and preparedness. So that is one of the
issues we would like to discuss.
As far as the coordinating with Federal agencies, during
Deepwater Horizon and H1N1 and with the Haitian repatriation,
Florida experienced--was exposed to different Federal agencies
that we had not routinely dealt with before. They obviously had
some lack of knowledge in dealing with the sovereignty of local
and State government and our issues. In my written testimony, I
have a lot of issues in there, the main theme being that we
need to develop local relationships now and also the local
teams need to be involved in the decision-making process of
policy and resource development.
As far the FNSS with the ADA, one of our frustrations with
that is that was done, from our understanding, without local
input. The challenge with that is that the local governments
have the actual fiduciary responsibility of providing shelter.
So we are looking forward to being able to work with the
disability advocates, we want to hold a summit, pull them
together, educate them on the dynamics of risk sheltering.
Hurricane risk sheltering is completely different than any
other type of sheltering. So we need to look at the facts where
are talking about sheltering from Collier County all the way up
to Citrus County on the west coast of Florida or from Volusia
County all the way down to Monroe County, which is in the Keys.
We are talking three-quarters of the State so we need to
explain that issue to them.
We have no desire or have any inclination of depriving
anyone of their individual rights; however, we need to make
sure that they understand that the law needs to apply and to be
understood during different situations that occur during a
hurricane.
The other is that the Department of Justice, their
settlements are completely inconsistent. That is driving a
major issue and a roadblock for Florida to be able to be
prepared for that. Also, in Florida, we are watching what legal
discussions are going on between Broward County and DOJ on this
issue, and we cannot move completely forward until that is
resolved.
As far as the Stafford Act duplication of benefits, one of
the issues that we saw during the Groundhog Day tornadoes is
that the local government was not allowed to know what
individuals received, what level of individual assistance from
FEMA. This can create our inability to prevent duplication of
services and it also prevents the local elected officials from
being able to provide for their constituents.
As has been mentioned about FEMA and the FCC planned
program for cell phone usage, we are in full support of that.
We also though want to make sure that the NOAA weather radio
program is continued to be funded and utilized as it is today.
Recently FEMA also is going through a recoupment process
for individual assistance and public assistance. While we
recognize there is a need to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse
and to prosecute any type of those violations, we also need to
understand that during a disaster, typically the administrative
processes change and also, the staff that has been applying
this administrative process is changed, and that over the
years, once an audit has occurred, there is confusion about how
the rules were applied at that specific time.
The Florida Emergency Preparedness Association works on a
lot of different initiatives. We have a private-public
partnership committee and work with Florida DEM on bringing in
our private vendor constituents and be able to work some issues
there. We have a higher education committee, which we are
working to establish what levels of topics that a college would
provide for our students. One of the things we are seeing is
they are real good on the theory, but the actual practicality
is some of the challenges that we are working with our local
State colleges.
We also have an instruction recognition program where we
establish recognition of instructor credentials within the
State. We also provide a certification for our membership, and
we are also working to establish an emergency management--well,
we have an emergency management academy, but we are working to
establish standards and we look forward to working with FEMA on
their new emergency management academy, particularly in
Florida.
So in closing, we really appreciate the fact of being able
to be here today and provide our input into these specific
issues. As the Chairman mentioned, while we have not probably
gone through all the issues with the Post-Katrina Act, we
imagine that this summer we are going to get that opportunity.
Thank you.
[The statement of Mr. Smith follows:]
Prepared Statement of Gerald L. ``Jerry'' Smith, II
June 10, 2011
Chairman Bilirakis, Ranking Member Richardson, and distinguished
Members of the subcommittee, I am Jerry Smith, the Director of
Emergency Management for Lake County, Florida. I currently serve as the
President of the Florida Emergency Preparedness Association, and I am
providing this statement on critical local and State Emergency
Management issues on behalf of the Association and the numerous
agencies and members it represents. I have been a local government
emergency manager for nearly 7 years, during which I managed two major
Presidential declarations, Tropical Storm Fay in 2008 and the Groundhog
Day tornadoes in 2007. Much like the recent horrific experiences of my
colleagues across the Nation, my community experienced loss of life,
multiple injuries, significant damages and disruption of life as we
knew it from an outbreak of multiple tornadoes. It is perhaps this
experience that has most shaped my current emergency management career
and perspective. In addition to these, there were also numerous other
Lake County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) activations. My
experience also includes being the State Emergency Response Team Deputy
Chief in June, 2010, during the Deepwater Horizon activation in
Tallahassee, Florida. Prior to my Emergency Management career, I
dedicated 15 years to Emergency Medical Services, and over 27 years
with the Air Force, active duty, and reserves. I am currently assigned
to the 920th Rescue Wing, Patrick AFB, Florida.
The Florida Emergency Preparedness Association (FEPA) is Florida's
only State-wide organization dedicated to serving and enhancing all
hazards emergency management activities at all levels. Membership is
comprised of representatives from local government emergency management
agencies, emergency response disciplines, industrial, commercial,
educational, military, private, non-profit, Tribal, and volunteer
organizations, and professionals in all career fields who perform
emergency management functions.
The primary mission of FEPA is to provide an information and
support network among county emergency management directors and
partners at the municipal, county, regional, Tribal, State and Federal
Government levels. FEPA also ensures coordination and information
dissemination to those responsible for emergency preparedness in
volunteer and private industry organizations on a host of critical
issues.
Florida is fortunate to have a strong and successful Emergency
Management program. This is in part due to the Emergency Management,
Preparedness, and Assistance (EMPA) Trust Fund which was established by
the 1994 Florida Legislature to fund State and local emergency
management programs and responsibilities outlined in Chapter 252,
Florida Statutes, and Florida Administrative Code 9G.
The EMPA Trust Fund allows counties to fund dedicated local
programs which maintain standards of performance. While Florida Statute
252 and Florida Administrative Code 9G outline specific State and local
governments' emergency management authorities and responsibilities, we
also benefit from numerous other forms of legislation and rules that
require all aspects of government in Florida to be engaged in emergency
management. Our position is strong counties make a strong State through
positive collaboration and coordination with the Florida Division of
Emergency Management (FDEM).
Over the past several years I have had several experiences with the
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), from assisting Lake County
during a disaster, to working through various planning processes.
During the Groundhog Day tornadoes, FEMA funded and supported the first
specifically designated camp for volunteers who came from across the
country. Establishing a camp for the volunteers was critical to
providing assistance to our impacted citizens and greatly expedited our
relief operations.
I have been involved in the catastrophic event planning effort that
FEMA provided for the State of Florida, from a ``Host Community''
perspective. The experience was very useful and it has improved
Florida's hurricane preparedness.
After the attacks on 9/11, it was understandable that the focus of
the Country would be for terrorism; however, the events which created
the need for the Post Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act (PKEMRA)
clearly indicated the need for a comprehensive emergency management
system across the Nation. I believe FEMA is and has been pursuing this
goal and is making positive gains. One of these is the requirement for
senior FEMA positions to be filled by qualified, experienced emergency
managers. This standard should never be altered.
We deeply appreciate the support this subcommittee provides to
Florida's emergency management community, and the opportunity to speak
before you today. I recognize that the committee's focus during the
hearing today is on the PKEMRA, and I intend to present general
testimony associated with that and related topics. It is my assessment
that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is complying with the
PKEMRA; however, there are some areas that need further collaboration
with local emergency management practitioners. My comments are intended
to present the local perspective toward that collaboration.
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE GRANTS (EMPG)
Florida receives Emergency Management Performance Grant funding
from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), FEMA, based on an
annual Congressional appropriation and Federal funding formula. FEPA
greatly appreciates the support to maintain the funding levels of EMPG
this year, in spite of great pressures to reduce the Federal budget.
EMPG, which has been called ``the backbone of the Nation's
emergency management system'', constitutes the only source of direct
Federal funding for State and local governments, to provide basic
emergency coordination and planning capabilities for all hazards
including those related to homeland security. These funds are used to
support and enhance State and local emergency management programs. In
Florida, the Division of Emergency Management passes Federal EMPG funds
through to county governments to sustain personnel and basic
operational expenses. These funds are matched at the local level
``dollar for dollar'' with non-Federal revenues.
EMPG funding is used by county programs to sustain operational
costs related to program staffing, Emergency Operation Center and
Public Shelter readiness, critical communications and notification
systems, emergency planning, training and exercise projects, and public
information and education programs. Together these funds (Federal and
non-Federal match) support the ``first line of defense'' at the local
level, for a broad range of hazards and emergencies faced by Florida
communities.
As the responsibilities placed on local emergency management
programs and personnel continue to expand, Federal EMPG dollars are a
critical component of Florida's State-wide emergency management system.
Without this on-going Federal funding stream, Florida's emergency
management programs would not have been able to develop or maintain the
local capacity needed for the extended emergency operations required by
the unprecedented 2004 and 2005 Hurricane Seasons or the more recent
2010 Haiti Repatriation, H1N1, and Deepwater Horizon events.
The House Appropriations Subcommittee and Full Committee action on
the fiscal year 2012 budget for the Department of Homeland Security
allowed the Emergency Management Performance Grant to receive the
President's request of $350 million, a $10 million increase over fiscal
year 2011. This action is significant in the protection of the local
programs. However, the bill increased the Administrative Fee that FEMA
can keep for program administration to ``not to exceed 10 percent''.
If the budget remains at the $350 million level, and if the 10%
Administrative Fee language remains, $35 million could be retained by
FEMA for Management and Administration. This means only $315,000,000
would be awarded. Although the $350 million level appears to sustain
critical support for State and local programs, in practice it would be
a decrease of about $14 million from the award amounts in fiscal year
2010 and fiscal year 2011. It has become practice for the funding for
FEMA's Grant Program Directorate and other programs to be funded by the
Administrative Fee on the grant programs. We respectfully request that
this practice be discontinued or the funding level be adjusted to
accommodate it without compromising State and local programs.
It is important that FEMA and DHS maintain EMPG as a direct
emergency management, all-hazards funding source and it is not combined
with other homeland security-specific grant funding. EMPG must maintain
its own unique identity. Please remain vigilant in your protection of
this funding and its intended purpose.
STATE HOMELAND SECURITY GRANT PROGRAM
The post-9/11 Federal funding provided to Florida under the State
Homeland Security Grant Program (SHSGP) allowed the State to escalate
its preparedness and prevention capabilities and capacities. Florida
continues to implement and refine its State Homeland Security Strategy
and county emergency management programs are a critical component of
the State strategy. For the last several years, under the Congressional
appropriation, funding for law enforcement prevention activities has
become a subset of the overall SHSGP, rather than a unique grant
funding stream. In Florida, this has created an unintended
``competition'' between preparedness and prevention priorities for
scarce SHSGP funds. Florida's emergency managers support the current
requirement that the majority of SHSGP funds be made available to local
programs and projects.
The recent reductions in the Federal budget that have resulted in
reducing Florida's UASI funding will make this competition more
intense.
COORDINATION OF FEDERAL RESPONSE TO EMERGENCY EVENTS
Even without a direct hurricane impact, 2010 proved to be an
extremely busy year for the State's local emergency management
programs. Florida coordinated a massive repatriation effort in response
to the devastating earthquake in Haiti. This effort relied on the
expertise and experience of county emergency management programs to
directly support Federal activities in their jurisdiction. The
Deepwater Horizon explosion and resulting oil spill directly threatened
Florida's fragile environment and economy and its impacts continue to
affect the State today. Each of these events resulted in extended
interaction with Federal agencies and officials, who have limited
experience with the emergency authorities and responsibilities of
Florida's sovereign State and local governments, and emergency
management programs. To be effective during disaster events, Federal
agencies and programs and their personnel must become much more engaged
in local emergency planning, projects, and procedures before emergency
events occur. The relationships between Federal and local agencies need
to be developed.
In addition to encouraging more direct interaction and
understanding of local conditions, Congress must review the current
statutory and regulatory requirements of Federal agencies and entities,
to develop and maintain separate emergency response plans and
procedures. Florida's emergency managers recognize and value the need
for a specialized response capability for specific hazards. However,
the overall direction, control, and implementation of emergency
protective measures must be designed to recognize and respect local
authorities and jurisdictions, and be clearly and consistently
communicated across Federal agencies. While the procedures to do so are
in the National Response Framework, confusion results when a Principle
Federal Official for ``incidents of national significance'' is
appointed, such as in the Deepwater Horizon spill, and a Federal
Coordinating Officer is used for Stafford Act events. Our position is
all events should follow the Stafford Act model. This will provide
consistency and more control at the local level.
Several recurring tenets for coordinated emergency response were
made evident during Florida's experience with the Deepwater Horizon
incident and the massive repatriation effort in Haiti. I list them here
briefly as ``Lessons Learned'' as Congress considers amendments and
revisions to existing laws and regulations.
1. Local governments must retain control of protective action
decisions made for their jurisdictions.
2. The responsible party, State, and Federal response officials
must respect local government protective action decision
making.
3. Local governments must have an ``equal'' voice in prioritization
and allocation of scarce resources.
4. Local government objectives may be very different than
Responsible Party or Federal objectives. As an example--capping
the well or recovering product vs. protecting the beaches.
5. As I mentioned earlier, the Federal response systems must better
align with the processes and systems used for other emergencies
and disasters.
6. All incidents should follow the Stafford Act model, which would
allow the National Response Framework to eliminate the
unnecessary position of Principle Federal Official.
Florida has a rich history of providing support for Federal
disaster responses across the Nation, both as a direct asset tasked by
Federal authorities and as part of coordinated State-to-State mutual
aid. This tradition has the full support of local emergency management
programs and personnel and is sure to be continued.
ADA REQUIREMENTS FOR SHELTERS/FNSS (FUNCTIONAL NEEDS SUPPORT SERVICES)
DOCUMENT
A major theme throughout the PKEMRA was direction to FEMA to
provide for persons with disabilities and other factors. Unfortunately
there was not clear direction to include local Emergency Management
practitioners in the development of guidelines. The current ``Guidance
on Planning for the Integration of Functional Needs Support Services in
General Population Shelters'' was developed predominantly by staff from
FEMA, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and disability advocacy groups.
None of these agencies are responsible or have experience with shelter
operations. While I recognize the American Red Cross (ARC) was
involved, they do not have the fiduciary responsibility to shelter like
local emergency managers. I acknowledge the efforts of the FDEM
Disability Coordinator in contributing to the document. I also respect
and find his involvement with the counties extremely beneficial.
However, it is important to note the position is funded by another
State agency and is not filled by an emergency management practitioner.
A saying utilized by the disability advocacy community is ``Nothing
about us, without us'', but it seems they produced a document without
local emergency management practitioners. It is interesting that the
PKEMRA was passed in 2006, yet the FNSS document was not distributed
until October 2010, over 4 years later.
Local emergency managers are in full support of individual rights
for access and absolutely opposed to any form of discrimination. A
major aspect of our planning for disasters is to identify and protect
vulnerable populations. This is why we are so frustrated that FEMA did
not follow the standard practice of asking for local comments before
issuing the FNSS document. There is also mass confusion on the
authority of the document. FEMA staff state that it is a guidance
document, but also state that DOJ may use it as a compliance document.
When FEMA staff were asked to intervene with DOJ for clarification, the
request was rejected.
Florida is working diligently to find a way to implement the
guidance, but there is inconsistency in the Department of Justice
settlements. Current examples of conflicting settlements are City of
Fort Myers, FL, Fairfax County, VA, Town of Swansea, MA, and the City
of Los Angeles, CA. FEPA is most concerned with the on-going legal
actions in Broward County, Florida which until resolved we will not
have clear direction and cannot move forward significantly until the
findings are released.
Recent DOJ actions to strictly apply Americans with Disabilities
Act requirements to facilities designated as hurricane evacuation
shelters have caused great concern regarding our ability to open,
staff, and supply shelters in emergency situations. Florida's geography
and susceptibility to hurricane-related storm surge and extreme winds
result in a high demand for shelters with a limited supply of
structurally suitable locations. Implementation of recently released
FNSS guidance will critically exacerbate Florida's local sheltering
capability challenges. Many of the accommodations compiled in the
guidance cannot be implemented due to local budget cuts, layoffs, and
exhausted resources. The service level expectations are unrealistic in
a disaster environment, especially in the immediate pre-disaster hours
in an event such as a hurricane. Personal responsibility should remain
at the forefront for all individuals, members of the disabled
community, those with medical needs and caregivers.
The ADA laws were designed to assist individuals with access to
facilities and services during their daily lives. Disaster situations
and the need for an altered standard of care were never considered when
these laws were created. However, they are being applied without
consideration of this fact.
We as local emergency managers would like to see a collaborative
process established to develop realistic solutions that can be
developed and applied to Florida emergency management practices, based
upon the realities faced during disasters. It recently became evident
at the 2011 Governor's Hurricane Conference (GHC) that the FEMA
representative, the DOJ representative, and contractor responsible for
assembling the document have no concept of hurricane risk sheltering
operations at the local level. A comment shared by the DOJ staffer
during the training was to eliminate the term ``Special Needs''. This
was very frustrating, as Florida law specifies the Special Needs
program and even the PKEMRA utilizes the term with direction to FEMA.
Also, at the 2011 GHC, a ``round-table'' was held with the FEMA
Disability Coordinator, an American Red Cross representative and local
emergency management practitioners. During the meeting, the efforts in
Alabama to utilize the FNSS guidelines after the recent devastating
tornadoes were highlighted as a success. A very important distinction
is that those shelters are post-event shelters. Florida emergency
managers do not dispute the practicality of post shelters utilizing
FNSS guidelines. Our major concern is ``hurricane risk sheltering'',
and it seems that disability advocates and DOJ do not understand the
importance of this distinction.
Florida's emergency managers remain committed to doing the right
thing, but the right thing has to be doable. Accommodations are
necessary for certain citizens during disasters, and Florida is very
successful in doing this. The law however, must take into account the
realities that exist during these events, and modify the expectations
during the hours prior to a disaster, and the early hours and days
following a disaster. Our goal now is to hold a summit to educate the
disability advocates on the complexities of Hurricane Risk Sheltering,
and work with them to find acceptable accommodation methods.
This is not just a Florida issue. Recently, in the International
Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) newsletter, Ms. Lyn Gross,
CEM, IAEM-USA Region 10 President, and Director of Emergency Services
Coordinating Agency for Brier, Washington, wrote an article relating
the numerous challenges all local emergency management programs face. I
have had the opportunity to speak with Ms. Gross and I am including
that article at the conclusion of my testimony. In discussion with Ms.
Gross, she pointed out that in areas with earthquakes, it may not be
possible to find a shelter building that is structurally sound
following an earthquake, which will comply with ADA requirements.
STAFFORD ACT DUPLICATION OF BENEFITS
Current Federal regulations restrict FEMA from releasing Individual
Assistance Program client benefit information to local Government
entities. Without specific information on the amounts, types, and
characteristics of assistance provided by Federal authorities, local,
and State governments cannot evaluate or verify requests for assistance
through their programs to protect against duplication of benefits. At
the local level, we ask for access to client information only to assist
our Federal partners to reduce potential waste and fraud.
The restriction inhibits the ability of local government officials
to effectively and properly meet the needs of their citizens and
disperse services to the affected constituents.
EMERGENCY NOTIFICATIONS USING CELLULAR TECHNOLOGY
FEPA supports the Personal Localized Alerting Network (PLAN) which
is to be implemented by the FCC and FEMA at the Federal level through
broadcasters and other media service providers. This new public safety
system will allow customers who own an enabled mobile device to receive
geographically-targeted, text-like messages alerting them of imminent
threats to safety in their area. Authorized National, State, or local
government officials will be able to send alerts regarding public
safety emergencies, such as a tornado or a terrorist threat, to PLAN-
enabled phones. We are anxious to receive additional details on the
program and how it will integrate with National Weather Service's (NWS)
watch and warning system.
We also support the continued Congressional funding of the National
Oceanic Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Weather Radio program,
which is a vital component for notifying the public of all variety of
incidents and what protective measures are to be taken to protect
themselves.
DISASTER HOUSING
FEPA recognizes the significant challenges poised by disaster
events that result in major damages or destruction of a community's
existing housing stock. Florida's experience with the widespread
damages during the 2004 and 2005 hurricane season reminded us that the
broadest complement of disaster housing options must be considered
post-event. My personal experience was with the Groundhog Day tornadoes
of 2007.
While the PKEMRA did add utilities to the assistance program in
many local areas, rental housing options are extremely limited. Moving
survivors great distances from their neighborhoods severely disrupts
individuals' ties to employment, schools, health care, houses of
worship and other local services, both formal and informal, that
sustain them day-to-day. Housing options that appear untenable during
``blue skies'' may be viable in a post-disaster environment. These
decisions must be made collectively with local officials and must
reflect the individual characteristics of the events and the
communities affected.
The more recent experience in Alabama and Mississippi are evidence
that all disaster housing options must be brought to that table to
enable neighbors to remain with their neighbors to regroup, to recover
what is left of their possessions, to mourn and comfort collectively to
begin to regain some sense of normalcy.
Florida emergency managers support the use of disaster housing
trailers on personal properties. However in catastrophic circumstances,
we understand it may be necessary to deploy trailers collectively
instead of on an individual level.
individual assistance (ia) and public assistance (pa) recoupment
FEPA recognizes that FEMA has an important responsibility to be a
good steward of public funds and this responsibility includes audits of
disaster assistance provided to public entities and individuals. These
financial assessments, however, must recognize the circumstances that
existed at the time that the funds were provided. Disasters will always
present situations that require a balance of getting relief funds to
individuals and communities quickly, to help them recover with the
requirement to protect against waste, misuse, and fraud. As a disaster
event progresses, FEMA payment and reimbursement policies often are
reviewed, revised, and re-tooled. FEPA recognizes that many of these
refinements are designed to address the characteristics of the event
and often benefit individuals and communities. At a minimum, Federal
decisions, advice, and recommendations made during the early stages of
an event must be better documented, communicated, and utilized for
audits and evaluations that may take place years after funding is
provided.
FEMA is sending out ``Notice of Debt'' letters to disaster
assistance applicants who received Federal disaster assistance
payments. Letters are being sent from the most recent disasters first.
These letters will inform applicants of the amount and reason for their
debt, and provide information on how to repay the debt or appeal FEMA's
determination.
We understand the pressure to reduce waste and fraud, but spending
more time and money to have consistent policies rather than recoupment
on the back end would be more practical. It is important to the program
and processes to have consistent staffing, and rely less on disaster
assistance employees.
FLORIDA EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS ASSOCIATION INITIATIVES
Private Public Partnership Committee.--This is a new
committee in partnership with FDEM's Private Sector Coordinator
that will enable the engagement of the large number of private
entities in our membership with public sector emergency
management programs. The focus is to explore innovative methods
to meet the challenges in the current economic environment.
Technology Committee.--This committee is working to educate
FEPA membership on utilization of social media such as Facebook
and Twitter along with being available to assess new
technological services available to our membership.
Higher Education Committee.--This committee is responsible
for establishing a process in which Florida college and
university Emergency Management academic programs that meet an
established criteria receive an endorsement from FEPA. The
concept is to provide students with a recognized program which
will properly prepare them to be emergency management
professionals.
Certification Commission.--The Certification Commission
administers the Association's Certification Program. The
committee is responsible for promoting and managing the
Associations' Certification Program, the only Florida-specific
credentialing program for Emergency Management professionals.
FEPA offers three certification levels Florida Emergency
Management Volunteer (FEMV), Florida Associate Emergency
Manager (FAEM), and Florida Professional Emergency Manager
(FPEM).
Training and Development Committee.--This committee is
responsible for the training and development programs and
initiatives of the Association. The Training and Development
Committee has established three subcommittees: Training
Subcommittee for curriculum development and training
initiatives, Instructor Subcommittee for instructor credentials
and program monitoring, and the FEPA Academy Subcommittee for
planning, administration, and implementation of the Emergency
Management Basic and Intermediate Academies.
CONCLUSION
In closing, I would like to thank you again for the opportunity to
share my views and experiences with you at this important event.
Florida is fortunate to have been spared the devastation of a direct
hit of a hurricane for 6 years. The 2011 Hurricane Season is predicted
to be an extremely active one and will more than likely test Florida's
emergency management system, perhaps multiple times and in multiple
locations. Should we experience an event it will provide us the
opportunity to evaluate more aspects of the PKEMRA. With your continued
support and our collective capabilities, capacities, and resources,
Florida's emergency management professionals stand ready to serve our
communities.
Attachment.--IAEM Bulletin May 2011
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT: THE NEXT EM HURDLE
By Lyn Gross, CEM, IAEM-USA Region 10 President, and Director,
Emergency Services Coordinating Agency, Brier, Washington
Recent litigation over the application of the requirements of the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in disasters has brought into
focus the next administrative disaster awaiting emergency management
practitioners in the United States. It appears that Title 2 of the ADA
is being aggressively applied to emergency management without regard to
the reality that an altered standard of care applies across the board
when disaster strikes. There is a grave potential for real damage to
occur if left unaddressed.
This is one issue that is causing emergency managers across the
country to lose sleep. In the midst of reduced staffing and budget
cuts, we are at a loss, not only because of the complexity of the issue
itself, but also because the ability to meet these standards is so far
out of reach during a disaster. The ADA laws were designed to assist
individuals with access to facilities and services during their daily
lives. Having spent a period of time on the physically disabled list
myself a few years ago, I can appreciate the effort and the intent.
Clearly, disaster situations and the resulting altered standard of care
were never considered in these laws, yet they are currently being
applied in this arena for lack of anything more realistic having been
developed. Surely common sense must kick in somewhere.
While FEMA's Guidance on Planning for Integration of Functional
Needs Support Services in General Population Shelters (FNSS) provides
guidance, the service level expectations remain unrealistic in the
disaster environment. Unfortunately, the FNSS Guidance appears to have
been developed in a vacuum without a comment period, and without input
from the practitioners who are expected to implement the program. The
general practice of including the emergency management community at the
State and local level in the development process seems to have been
entirely overlooked.
A staff member in my office has a disabled child and participates
in the IAEM-USA Special Needs Caucus. As the parent of a disabled
person, she believes that while attention to the matter is important,
the expectations of the disability community must be realistic, and
personal responsibility should remain at the forefront for individuals
and caregivers.
From Awareness to Operations
The current work of the Special Needs Caucus is focused on
increasing the awareness of emergency managers regarding the wide scope
of ``access and functional needs.'' However, current efforts have not
yet attempted to address the operational and logistical issues
encountered by local emergency managers. In order to address the issue
at hand, we must get past ``awareness'' and move resolutely into the
``operations'' required for the task.
What are the basic questions that need to be answered in order to
move forward in a meaningful way? What are the minimum standards? If
they are the same as day-to-day laws and regulations, then we have no
hope of ever being compliant. Perhaps if we can get past the awareness
level and obtain answers to some basic questions, we can accomplish the
necessary tasks to meet minimal needs.
Across the United States, there are task forces, committees, and
work groups attempting to address this difficult problem. Yet as an
educated and experienced practitioner with many disasters behind me,
I've seen much idealism and not much pragmatism applied to the issue.
Though my connections are good at the National level, I've not seen
even one completed plan in place that addresses this need to the level
the FNSS Guidance suggests we should. I suggest that this guidance is
unattainable in the midst of the logistical challenges and overwhelming
resource shortages we face during a disaster event. As an emergency
manager looking at the scope of this issue, I want to know if I am
going to face legal action for trying, yet missing the mark. If so, why
try? We have an ``altered standard of care'' at every level and in
every function in disaster response--why not here?
A solution requires adequate resources and reasonable policy. We
all want to do the right thing, but the right thing has to be doable.
We support the concept and idea that some special accommodations are
necessary during emergencies and disasters. The law however, also must
take into account the realities that exist during these events, and
modify the requirements and expectations during the early hours and
days following a disaster. A glimmer of hope comes from the recent
Department of Justice changes to the definition of service animals.
Perhaps common sense is coming into play?
I suggest a need to identify the questions and to address
legislative clarification, or even change if necessary, to support the
accomplishment of this monumental task. Thus far we have grumbled about
the lack of focus on reality in the laws that apply during a disaster
event. Yet we as emergency managers have not made an effort to address
the issue at the National level. We must shake off the shock effect
we've encountered by recent events and insert ourselves, invited or
not, into this process to address this issue head on. It is essential
that we bring together organizations, agencies, and partners to
realistically address this issue, both legally and practically, with
responsibility, pragmatism, and good judgment.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you very much.
Now, I would like to recognize Mr. Russell for 5 minutes or
so. Thanks for making the trip.
STATEMENT OF JOHN E. ``RUSTY'' RUSSELL, DIRECTOR HUNSTVILLE-
MADISON COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY TESTIFYING ON BEHALF
OF INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EMERGENCY MANAGERS
Mr. Russell. Thank you for allowing us to testify. Chairman
Bilirakis, Representative Clarke, we appreciate being here.
Thank you for your comments about Alabama, it is deeply
appreciated.
I have been an emergency manager for 16 years in my county
and I have been active in the International Association of
Emergency Managers and I am here to represent them this
morning. IAEM, as you know, is our largest association of
emergency managers with over 5,000 members.
My jurisdiction is Madison County in north Alabama, north
central Alabama, population 360,000. We have the largest
population of engineers and scientists and we have the second-
largest research park, all to support the space and missile
industry.
The tornado outbreak in 1974 had 148 tornadoes in 13
States. In comparison, in April we had 103 tornadoes in Alabama
alone. On April 27, 221 people were killed, 13,000 buildings
and homes were destroyed. In north Alabama, we lost power for
in some places 7 days. We had to use generators to keep the
infrastructure going and we found out the problems generators
cause and the problems they solve and we are going to be better
prepared next time. This is Alabama's largest disaster ever. We
estimate more than $4.2 billion in damages as of now.
I have got to say, FEMA did a good job this time. They came
in, they responded to our needs in an efficient way that we
have not seen before in other disasters. FEMA assumed a more
proactive stance up front and worked actively to address our
issues. In my county, over 16,000 residents have been
registered by FEMA already. The disaster recovery center we set
up was expanded to include all the other agencies that could
possibly give help. We appreciate FEMA's willingness to help us
do that.
There is a new program called Operation Clean Sweep that is
being introduced by FEMA and the Corps of Engineers. Basically
this allows the Corps of Engineers to go on private property
but the property owner must sign a right of entry form.
Another thing they are doing that is new and that is good
is the disaster mitigation funding. It normally takes about a
year to be available. FEMA has come in and with us are trying
to make those funds available faster so that we can go ahead
and start to build back safer. Instead of waiting a year or 2,
we would be able to start in a couple of months.
There are FEMA issues with EMAC reimbursement and I agree
with Ms. Dragani that EMAC is a wonderful program. It gets the
resources on the ground where they need to be in an efficient
manner, within the first 48 hours being able to do the rescue
mission. However, even though we respond fast, the
reimbursement can take up to 30 months in some instances. We
would like to see that reimbursement process streamlined.
FEMA's Emergency Management Institute has greatly increased
the quality and availability of training in recent years. In
our after-action review, we saw the benefit of several courses
we had attended. We also identified courses to be taken in the
future. We strongly recommend continued support of EMI.
The Emergency Management Performance Grant has a history
stretching back 5 decades. This assistance program is
fundamentally different than the Homeland Security Grants. The
required 50 percent cost-share demonstrates the partnership
between local, State, and Federal governments. Without EMPG,
some counties in Alabama would not even have an emergency
management program. Continued support of EMPG is essential for
the preparedness of communities across the Nation.
We cannot have a good emergency management program without
the involvement of the entire community, including volunteers
and their organizations. In addition to traditional
responders--fire, police, and EMS--volunteer organizations
enhance and complete the communities' response to disasters.
Alabama has embraced these volunteer programs and has trained
hundreds of volunteers.
The Metropolitan Medical Response System has been a
cornerstone of our medical and responder team building since
2002. With this funding, we have developed plans and enhanced
medical response capabilities in 14 counties across north
Alabama. Our Medical Reserve Corps and other aspects of our
health and medical infrastructure have benefitted greatly from
MMR's funding. I provide some examples in my written testimony.
In conclusion, there seems to be a revitalization of
attitude and purpose in the folks at FEMA. If the proven
Federal, State, and local partnership programs--EMPG, MMRS, and
CERT--can be maintained or enhanced and the innovative Clean
Sweep and HMGP program changes I have mentioned become a
reality, disaster survivors will be further down the road to
their ``new normal'' more quickly than any time in the past
decade. It seems that reduction of red tape and striving to do
the right thing because it is the right thing will actually
work after all.
I will be happy to answer any questions.
[The statement of Mr. Russell follows:]
Prepared Statement of John ``Rusty'' Russell
June 10, 2011
Chairman Bilirakis, Ranking Member Richardson, and distinguished
Members of the subcommittee thank you for this opportunity to share
ideas and provide testimony on this vital topic. I am John ``Rusty''
Russell, the Director of Emergency Management for Madison County,
Alabama. I have been a local government emergency manager for 16 years
after serving in the U.S. Army for 22 years, and retiring as a Master
Sergeant.
I have also served as the president of Region IV of the U.S.
Council of the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM-
USA) and as president of the Alabama Association of Emergency Managers.
I am providing this statement on behalf of IAEM-USA on the disaster
response in Alabama and how the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) is responding.
IAEM is our Nation's largest association of emergency management
professionals, with 5,000 members including emergency managers at the
State and local government levels, Tribal nations, the military,
colleges and universities, private business and the nonprofit sector.
Most of our members are U.S. city and county emergency managers who
perform the crucial function of coordinating and integrating the
efforts at the local level to prepare for, mitigate the effects of,
respond to, and recover from all types of disasters including terrorist
attacks. We deeply appreciate the subcommittee's interest in
strengthening emergency management and particularly your outreach to
local emergency managers.
My jurisdiction is Madison County in north central Alabama, which
has a population of 360,000. We have a major concentration of highly
technological industry to support the National Aeronautic and Space
Administration (NASA), the Army's aviation and missile programs and
other high-tech government initiatives. The city of Huntsville has the
second-largest research park and the largest population of scientists
and engineers in the country. The Tennessee River forms the southern
border of the county and is a major river transportation corridor. We
are served by an international airport, two railroads, and an
interstate highway.
Madison County has a history of being pro-active in community
preparedness. Since 1971, 16 counties in north Alabama have been
members of the North Alabama Mutual Aid Association. The association
consists of local Emergency Management Agencies (EMA) and the extended
community of response and public safety organizations such as the
Alabama Department of Environmental Resources, Department of Public
Health, National Weather Service, and local, State, and Congressional
elected official's staff members. Every county and city government has
signed our mutual aid agreement. Coordination and response from county-
to-county has become almost automatic and is encouraged by the State.
The majority of emergency incidents are coordinated locally without
help from the State or Federal agencies. It is the practice of our
association that local resources should be used first. We are very
supportive of planning for the ``Whole Community''; in fact we have
been planning as a whole community at the local level since the Civil
Defense days.
Almost anyone in Emergency Management has studied the great tornado
outbreak of 1974. On April 3, 1974, 148 tornadoes struck 13 States. In
comparison, on April 15, 2011, there were 48 tornadoes and on April 27,
55 more in Alabama alone.
The April 27 tornadoes trained across the northern two-thirds of
the State for nearly 18 hours. In some areas as many as four storm
tracks overlapped each other.
The swarm of tornadoes killed 241 people across Alabama and
destroyed or heavily damaged more than 13,000 buildings State-wide. The
American Red Cross said its State-wide assessment of damaged residences
showed that twisters destroyed 6,237 single-family homes across Alabama
and heavily damaged another 5,039 homes. Of these, 1,890 were mobile
homes.
To add insult to injury, electrical power was lost to most of North
Alabama for 5 to 7 days. Not only were we facing the devastation from
the tornadoes but we now had an energy crisis as well. North Alabama is
serviced by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). A large section of
their major transmission line system was destroyed. Large generators
had to be brought in to keep water systems and other critical
infrastructure from failing. County-wide curfews were initiated to stem
looting and to keep people safely away from the damaged areas during
the night. In the night sky, without the lights of the city, there were
more visible stars than I had ever imagined. You could actually see
tiny satellites moving if you looked carefully.
Power was restored slowly and incrementally as they rebuilt the
system. A significant area did not get power back until 7 days after
the storm. As you can imagine, this greatly compounded the emergency as
the local utility companies could not begin their repairs until the TVA
lines were rebuilt. We had spent hours and hours discussing generators
in our National Incident Management System (NIMS) resource typing
workshops, but we still learned more about generators, the problems
they solve and the problems they cause than I ever wanted to know.
This is expected to be the most costly disaster our State has ever
faced. The event caused an estimated $4.2 billion in damages with
insured losses between $2 and $3 billion.
I am pleased to report that FEMA has responded to Alabama's needs
in a much more efficient way than in past disasters. The affected
counties were assigned a FEMA liaison during the initial response which
greatly enhanced the flow of information and coordination. During a
discussion with our county's FEMA liaison, he said the mindset of FEMA
has changed over the past few years from preparing to respond 3 days
after the disaster to preparing for immediate response in the affected
State or 5 days prior to landfall for a hurricane. I can speak first-
hand to the response during Hurricane Ivan and Hurricane Katrina and
the difference between then and now, is night and day. Anyone working
in response activities across Alabama will quickly realize that there
is a true partnership between local, State, and Federal organizations.
The much-needed resources are being efficiently delivered on time and
where they are most needed.
In my county, over 16,000 residents have already been registered by
FEMA for disaster assistance. We were able to expand the Disaster
Recovery Center (DRC) to include not only FEMA and the Small Business
Administration (SBA) but also Social Security Administration (SSA),
Veteran's Administration (VA), local builders association, local real-
estate association, Better Business Bureau (BBB), crisis counseling,
and Faith Based and Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD)
representatives. The FEMA folks were actively engaged in providing one-
stop service for the affected families.
FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers have begun to initiate a new
program called ``Operation Clean Sweep''. This program will enable
property owners in the worst impacted areas to apply for assistance to
remove debris from their private property. They must submit a right of
entry form to the Corps. This program when proven successful will be a
major leap towards the recovery of communities during future disasters.
Another example of FEMA's new nimbleness could be a change in the
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program which provides post-disaster
assistance. The availability of post-disaster mitigation funds normally
takes 8 months to a year after the disaster. Currently, at the request
of the local communities, Alabama, and FEMA are trying to coordinate
for the immediate availability of a significant portion of the
anticipated post-disaster mitigation funding for Alabama's tornadoes.
This will be the biggest rebuild effort Alabama has ever faced. People
want to start rebuilding now and may not take protective measures like
in-home safe rooms and community shelters if mitigation funds are not
readily available for another year. If this first time ``early''
funding becomes a reality, we can start planning and building back for
a safer community after only 1 or 2 months instead of 1 or 2 years. It
would be a substantial benefit to disaster survivors Nation-wide if the
post-disaster mitigation program was streamlined similarly for future
disasters.
I can faithfully say, based on the response I have witnessed in
Alabama, and the willingness to tailor their efforts to our needs, FEMA
has come a long way from years past.
While the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) is not a
FEMA-run program, there are FEMA reimbursement issues associated with
it. EMAC is the agreement between all 50 States ratified by Congress
that provides form and structure to interstate mutual aid. EMAC works
well to get the right resources to the right place in time to conduct
emergency rescue and response in the impacted area. However, some
States have had problems with the reimbursement process. Alabama's
counties and cities were able to provide resources to other gulf States
through EMAC within 48 hours and some counties were still not
reimbursed after 30 months or longer.
The Madison Fire Department's heavy rescue unit was deployed during
Hurricane Katrina in September 2006. While the response was immediate
and the mission only lasted a couple of weeks, it took until June 2008
to get them fully reimbursed.
The Madison Fire Department's Heavy Rescue Unit was deployed again
along with a Team of Madison County Sherriff's Deputies during the
Hurricane Gustav response in September 2008. Once again, the response
was immediate and the mission was completed within a couple of weeks,
however, it took until January 2010 to get them reimbursed.
Cullman County opened a shelter under EMAC to house evacuees from
Hurricane Gustav. Since Cullman County has a relatively small police
department, off-duty officers were brought in to provide security at
the shelter. The reimbursement claim for approximately $40,000 was paid
in January 2011. It would seem that $40,000 is not such a large amount;
but to a small police department, it was a budget buster.
It is our fear that slow reimbursement will eventually result in
reluctance to lend critical resources under EMAC due to the adverse
economic impact on local budgets.
Over the past few years, FEMA's Emergency Management Institute
(EMI) in Emmitsburg, Maryland has greatly increased the training that
is available to emergency managers and responders. Increasingly
frequent delivery of these courses in State and local venues as well as
the development and update of many new on-line courses has lead to a
stronger more robust emergency management community in Alabama. Last
year our staff was able to attend both debris management and volunteer
management training. During our internal after-action review, we were
discussing how relevant the training is and reviewing the course list
to see what else we could have benefitted from in the aftermath of the
storm. There were several new courses since the last time I reviewed
the list. Recommended training will be part of our after-action review
and we will be even better prepared next time.
For the last few years, the State of Alabama has passed through a
substantial percentage of Emergency Management Program Grant (EMPG)
funding to local EMAs. Building strong local programs and fostering
State-wide mutual aid agreements enabled counties to quickly assess the
extent of and begin the response to a truly catastrophic disaster
before the wind stopped blowing. Counties were helping each other
during the initial response and are still providing mutual aid as we
speak. EMPG with its history stretching over 5 decades continues to
allow local and State governments to develop basic emergency management
capability even in these difficult economic times. In the absence of
EMPG funding, there are counties in Alabama that would not have full-
time emergency managers. It is fundamentally different than the post-
September 11, 2001 homeland security grants, and symbolizes the true
partnership between local and State governments with its 50 percent
cost share. EMPG has enabled Alabama to develop a well-trained and
experienced cadre of emergency managers and is demonstrated by our
rapid transition from response to recovery in light of the severity of
the event.
Through strong county programs in Alabama, we were able to build
partnerships with Government, volunteer, non-profit, and private sector
organizations. These partnerships resulted in some remarkable
accomplishments.
Our local Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) has
been recruiting member organizations for the past 7 years. The various
faith-based and volunteer groups have developed internal guidance which
helps to minimize duplication of effort and improve efficiency in
resource allocation within the community. On a regular basis, they
sponsor training events and participate in the county's exercise
program. As an Emergency Management Director, I am blessed to have one-
stop shopping for the management of volunteer and donated resources
during an emergency. The utilization of volunteer reception centers and
the ability to match volunteer resources with the unmet needs in the
community, greatly improved our ability to respond and recover. The
credentialing of volunteers also helped provide controlled access to
the impacted areas during the response.
Alabama has actively embraced the Community Emergency Response Team
(CERT) program from its inception. With a portion of our EMPG and
Citizen Corps funding, our county has trained more than 540 people and
30 teams including employee groups at local businesses such as Teledyne
Brown, SAIC, Dynetics Corporation, The U.S. Space and Rocket Center as
well as many neighborhoods. During the recent disaster, they served in
the volunteer reception centers as coordinators and as leaders for
groups of untrained spontaneous volunteers in the field. Some counties
used CERT teams to distribute ice, water, food, and tarps in the
affected areas. Others had their CERT teams active in the immediate
response. Billy Green, Assistant Director for Tuscaloosa EMA, writes:
``I guess my biggest highlight is on Saturday April 23 I graduated my
first all Hispanic CERT Team. They were members of the Knights of
Columbus from Holy Spirit. Who would have ever known that on Wednesday
they would be putting all their skills to use? Several of them lived in
the Alberta City area that was affected. They came together and first
began search and rescue. I was actually unaware of them getting out
until we took the tour with the Governor and I look up and there is a
truck load of Hispanic guys wearing CERT vests and helmets. Those were
my guys!!!! I actually got a call from Indiana about their use of Urban
Search and Rescue (USAR) markings. They would later assist the
Tuscaloosa Police Department as translators. They would go on to staff
a shelter at Holy Spirit Catholic Church. I'm really proud of them. I
also had several individuals from my Campus CERT Class that helped out
in the areas where they lived. They however, acted individually and not
as a group. But they used the training to take care of themselves which
allowed them to help their neighbor. One of them has volunteered at our
Volunteer Reception Center and is now working for the City of
Tuscaloosa as part of the disaster response.''
The Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS) funding has been
the cornerstone of our medical and responder team building since 2002.
We have been able to develop plans and build medical response
capability in 14 counties across north Alabama. We were able to provide
training and exercises that have added cohesion to the way traditional
responders and medical professionals work together during emergencies.
In November, 2007, a Huntsville City School bus with a driver and
41 students plunged 75 feet from an interstate overpass in Huntsville.
The bus landed vertically and toppled over killing three students and
injuring several others. The response was immediate and working within
the MMRS plan 40 students were transported to our two major hospitals
within the first 50 minutes after the accident. The actual emergency
part of the response was quickly and definitively over after 1 hour
although the media frenzy and the investigation lasted for months. The
very same responders and hospital personnel had participated in an
eerily similar exercise just days before which involved a simulated
airplane crash.
During and after the 18-hour onslaught of the recent tornadoes,
responders, and medical teams were activated and the emergency medical
equipment and supplies provided through the MMRS program were deployed
and used in the impacted areas of even the most rural counties. The
planning and training paid off and surely helped save many lives as
trauma victims were quickly triaged and cared for. In my county, 49
patients were dug out of the debris and transported during the first 24
hours. Hundreds self-presented to the emergency rooms over the next few
days. Responders and hospital staff were readily able to coordinate and
communicate and provide efficient patient tracking.
The North Alabama Medical Reserve Corp (MRC), now more than 300
members strong, was developed as an MMRS initiative in 2006. Our MRC is
comprised of retired and active medical and non-medical professionals
and serves 16 counties. On a daily basis, they staff the county's free
clinic and assist with medical and health-related outreach programs in
schools and senior centers. They man booths at community events to give
out brochures, answer questions, and even check blood pressure. They
provide comfort stations during sporting events in our summer heat.
They assist the Health Department in the fall with the flu vaccines. In
partnership with the Alabama Department of Public Health, we provided
continuing education opportunities so retired professionals could
maintain their certifications. The MRC is also a member of our VOAD.
During the storms, MRC teams were deployed immediately. They
staffed 211 lines and medical hot lines which handled thousands of
calls from confused and anxious citizens. They also established and
staffed temporary clinics in the impacted areas to administer tetanus
vaccine and treatment of minor injuries.
Cullman County's State Mortuary Team (SMORT) that was partially
funded by MMRS was deployed in north east Alabama. Twenty-six victims
were respectfully processed there during the initial response.
Each year there is a proposal to severely cut or do away with the
MMRS program. Loss of MMRS funding will result in degradation of the
ability to maintain and coordinate these essential capabilities. MMRS
needs to be maintained as a separate program.
In conclusion, while FEMA has been sluggish and bogged down by
bureaucratic oversight in the past, there seems to be a revitalization
of the attitude and purpose in the FEMA folks I have dealt with during
this event. If the long-established and proven Federal, State, and
local partnership programs, EMPG, MMRS, and CERT can be maintained or
enhanced and the innovative Clean Sweep and HMGP program changes I have
discussed become reality, disaster survivors will be further down the
road to their ``new normal'' more quickly than any time in the past
decade. It seems that reduction of red tape and striving to do the
right thing because it is the right thing will actually work after all.
I would be happy to answer any questions at this time.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you, sir, appreciate very much.
Ms. Willis, you are recognized for 5 minutes or so.
STATEMENT OF CHAUNCIA WILLIS, EMERGENCY COORDINATOR, OFFICE OF
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, CITY OF TAMPA, FLORIDA
Ms. Willis. Okay, thank you, sir. Chairman Bilirakis and
Ranking Member Clarke, thank you for having me today. I am the
emergency coordinator for the City of Tampa and also the
Medical Response System Program Manager and a member of the
Urban Area Security Initiative working group. It is an honor
for me to be with you today; thank you very much.
Today, I am here to highlight the enormous benefits that
this area has received from Federal grant funding and programs
and to clearly outline the detrimental effect that would be
evident if Federal money is cut. I believe this open discussion
will be extremely beneficial and provide us with new
opportunities and other options to consider. Terrorists
hijacking planes and attacking buildings in New York City and
Washington, DC; hijackers boarding planes in Los Angeles with
destruction in mind, and so forth--true, these super-sized
larger cities have experienced the tragic results of sadistic
planning. But we find consistently that the majority of
planning for these attacks is done in the medium- to large-
sized cities, cities like the ones that make up Tampa Bay,
Florida. This region is target-rich. Tampa Bay is home to over
5,000 catalogued critical infrastructure targets. The Bay area
is a major banking center, home to numerous backup facilities
for the Nation's largest banks; MacDill Air Force Base, which
is home for the war being fought in Iraq and Afghanistan; the
Port of Tampa, the State's largest port which brings in 50
percent of the fuel to the State of Florida and also houses
massive tanks filled with sulphur, gasoline, and ammonia.
The Tampa Bay region is vulnerable to a wide variety of
natural and man-made threats. It is also host to a number of
special events to include Super Bowl championships and National
conventions, not to mention our famous Gasparilla pirates. How
is it then that anyone would think it appropriate to reduce
funding to a location that is so rife with high-risk targets?
These grants have been critical to the lives and well-being
of our residents and the Nation as a whole. The truth of the
matter is that we cannot afford to cut funding that has been so
useful, so vital for our region and if funds are cut, we will
have no way to protect our citizens who live amongst these
high-risk threats. Does a life in New York have more value than
a life in Tampa Bay? No.
In the event of a disaster, emergency responders and
emergency managers from all disciplines must have the resources
they need to execute an effective and coordinated response.
These programs and grants are critical to this process by
providing the resources to train, equip, and integrate the
necessary responders. Without Federal grant funding, a major
disruptive event in this region is likely to take on a life of
its own, crippling our first responders and depriving our
residents, businesses, and visitors of a quick well-coordinated
response. Such an outcome will most certainly have negative
consequences that far exceed the region and will negatively
impact the State of Florida and potentially this Nation as a
whole.
The Tampa Bay Region is one of the Nation's success stories
for a multitude of reasons. This funding means more than just
more assets and more technology. Our Federal funding has
allowed us to come together as a team and an 8-county regional
partnership. We are not like other areas where the police and
fire do not work well together or where the city will not speak
to the county. We were made stronger because everyone was given
a seat at the table and told to pull up a chair. That is
remarkable and it means something. Tampa Bay is doing it right.
Before making the decision on funding cuts, I would like to
encourage you to do three things. First, put together a peer
review of funding justifications. Establish a group of subject
matter experts that will conduct an analysis of each State's
funding versus positive regional impacts. Have each one verify
success. This process will be considered to be a very fair and
judicious process for determining funding. A peer review also
takes away the waste of lobbyists who push for more funding in
cities that cannot and will not ever demonstrate that they have
spent past money appropriately.
Second, I would like to encourage you to conduct a hazard-
based analysis. Ninety years ago, the Tampa Bay metro area had
a population of less than 150,000, when it experienced the
hurricane. Only 10 people were killed, most due to a storm
surge of 10 feet. Today, over 3 million people live in that
area, roughly 20 times more than in 1921.
Now consider the unpredictable weather patterns that we are
experiencing today. What if a hurricane of a similar track were
to strike today and what if it was even stronger? Without the
Federal funds that have allowed us to invest in preparedness
programs to plan, train, purchase equipment, et cetera, would
we be in a position to help ourselves or would we need to wait
for help from the larger cities who received grant funding and
program assistance?
Last, I recommend holding these larger cities to the same
standards that we are held to. Here, over 50 percent of the
funds are spent on establishing inter-operable communications,
cataloguing and assessing critical infrastructure, and using
the funding to spur innovation and progress for the area.
Every State, each one, every one needs to be responsible
and prudent with the funding that it receives.
In conclusion, these three alternative options--instituting
a peer review process, conducting a hazard analysis, and
demonstrating equity in funding--should, in my view, be the top
priority as Congress considers how to properly distribute
funding without--as Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter
King said, without giving our Nation's enemies an invitation to
attack us.
Thank you so much.
[The statement of Ms. Willis follows:]
Prepared Statement of Chauncia Willis
June 10, 2011
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
It is imperative that the Tampa Bay Region retain its Federally-
funded emergency management programs and grants. In these uncertain
times, it is especially important that this region is prepared for all
threats and disasters. In the event of a disaster, emergency responders
from all disciplines must have the resources they need to execute an
effective and coordinated response. These programs and grants are
critical to this process by providing resources to train, equip, and
integrate the necessary responders. Without Federal grant funding, a
major disruptive event in this region is likely to take on a life of
its own, crippling our first responders and depriving our residents,
businesses, and visitors of a quick, well-coordinated response. Such an
outcome will most certainly have negative consequences that far exceed
the Region, and will negatively impact the State of Florida and this
Nation as a whole.
The Tampa Bay Region consists of eight counties and is located
centrally on Florida's west coast. The region includes the counties of
Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Polk, Hernando, Hardee, Citrus, and
Sumter. The region consists of over 7,024 square miles and has an
estimated population of 3,494,869 people. The region includes the Tampa
Bay Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The area is the second-largest
populated MSA in Florida and the nineteenth-largest MSA in the United
States.
What many people do not know about the Tampa Bay Region is that it
is home to over 5,000 cataloged critical infrastructure targets, many
of which have National impact. Tampa Bay is a major banking center,
host to numerous backup facilities for the Nation's largest banks;
MacDill Air Force Base, home base for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan;
the Tampa Port which brings in 50% of fuel brought into the State of
Florida and houses Chemical Formulators; the Tampa International
Airport, one of the Nation's busiest airports; biological research
laboratories at the University of South Florida, and the list goes on.
Before making the decision to withhold Federal funding and in
effect cripple this region and its ability to positively respond to
major threats, an assessment of the known threats that have been
cataloged and the potential threats that exist for the Tampa Bay Region
should be considered. Furthermore, the benefits that have already been
made evident by the efficient use of Federal grant dollars should be
considered. This region operates using a variety of grant programs,
each mission-specific. Two grant programs in particular will be
described in detail: The Urban Area Security Initiative and
Metropolitan Medical Response System grant. These grant programs
clearly demonstrate the urgent need for sustained funding.
URBAN AREA SECURITY INITIATIVE
The Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) Grant Program provides
funding to address the unique planning, organization, equipment,
training, and exercise needs of high-threat, high-density urban areas,
and assists them in building an enhanced and sustainable capacity to
prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from acts of
terrorism. Per the 9/11 Act, States are required to ensure that at
least 25 percent of UASI-appropriated funds are dedicated towards law
enforcement terrorism prevention activities. The Tampa Bay Area began
receiving UASI funding in 2003. Since that time, this region has been
able to purchase and successfully implement over 39 programs and
projects that have made tremendous positive impacts to the region.
Cop Link
Cop Link is a system that organizes data to provide tactical,
strategic, and command-level users with access to shared data in single
or multiple consolidated repositories. It is an analytical tool that
pulls data from many police databases from the City of Tampa,
Hillsborough County and other surrounding agencies, and then puts it in
a common language. The data is then merged together based on many
different factors and gives law enforcement personnel intelligence that
would normally not be shared among police departments. It pulls in
Person, Vehicle, Gun, Pawn, Locations, and Phone Number info and
relates it to Arrest, Offense, and Calls for Service, Citation, and
Street Check data. All this data is coupled with Crime Analysis tools.
By crossing this data between jurisdictions, it allows an officer
or detective to get information that normally would take weeks to put
together in a matter of seconds. The system can be accessed by multiple
jurisdictions and detectives can electronically share information on
cases at all times. The system has transformed the crime fight because
now officers on the street are able to conduct complete investigations
from their cars. Detectives are solving crimes in record time.
Avalex Technologies
Avalex is an airborne system that provides street maps, electronic
markers, tracking systems, and infra-red television/video recordings
for Airborne Law Enforcement. A flight crew needs several things to
happen to make the mission successful. They have no time to search
through stacks of maps while working an incident or call for police
service. They have no time to ask officers on the ground for directions
so that they can perform their duties as Airborne Law Enforcement. They
must know where they are, and where they are going at all times. In
order to perform their functions properly and safely, Airborne Law
Enforcement use the moving map systems found in Avalex Technologies.
The powerful mapping system works by using a 2.65+ GHZ Pentium 4
processor and Windows XP. It provides real-time GPS moving map data to
the flight crew. They can choose between street maps, marine charts,
and topographical maps anywhere in the State of Florida. Recorded
digital ortho quads provide aerial digital photographs for the City of
Tampa, all of Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties. Avalex also provides
both FAA VFR charts and IFR charts for navigation. This system will
help in situational awareness and flight safety.
E-Sponder
E-Sponder is a web-based incident management and collaboration
portal. The incident management provides multi-jurisdictional/multi-
agency collaboration, planning, recovery, and mitigation of emergency
and special events, whether man-made or natural. Since its installation
in 2006, it has been used to manage over 675 emergencies, events, and
exercises throughout Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas County.
Collaboration sites such as E-Sponder allow information to be shared
across agency boundaries in a secure environment. Collaboration sites
have been created for the Regional Tampa Bay Intel Unit to share
bulletins, Regional Preventive Radiological and Nuclear Detection
(PRND), to track all radiological detections, and Regional School
Resource Deputy/Officer Site share Intel between schools, districts,
and agencies. Sites to be added are a Regional Mutual-Aid site to track
available resources and a Regional Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD)
site to share and track intel.
Interoperable Communications Technology
The horrific events of on 9/11 demonstrated the need for
interoperable communications among first responders. Interoperable
communications systems and technology are critical to saving the lives
of first responders and our citizens. As such, the UASI program
partnered with the Interoperable Communications Technical Assistance
Program (ICTAP) through DHS and performed an assessment of
communications assets throughout the region, which made short-term and
long-term recommendations for changes. The short-term recommendations
specifically addressed the Tampa Police Department moving from an
antiquated UHF system to an 800 MHz System, which was completed in
2009. Long-term recommendations are to implement standards-based
regional P25 communications systems. The interoperable radio system is
a collection of voice-over programmable technologies with ``open
architecture'' for the entire Tampa Bay UASI.
Pinellas County agencies began a multi-year year project in 2006
with the goal of migrating the existing infrastructure to P25
technology. Hillsborough County followed in 2007 with a multi-year
strategy for their countywide communications system. The Tampa Bay Area
strategy aligns with the goals in the State-wide Communications
Interoperability Plan (SCIP), and the National Emergency Communications
Plan (NECP). Since 2006, the Tampa Bay Region has made significant
strides in the system infrastructure migration to P25 technology for
interoperability; however there is still a $20 million shortfall to
complete the implementation of the standards-based technology
throughout the 8-county Region.
ETeam
Maintaining situational awareness is vital for a hazard-rich
community such as Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay UASI and its associated agencies
have taken the most appropriate and cost-effective steps necessary to
mitigate the risks. One of the most important steps toward mitigating
regional risks was purchasing a shared information management system,
ETeam. The overall goal of having an information-sharing system is to
enhance the ability of Tampa Bay's local emergency management agencies
to prepare, prevent, respond, and recover from catastrophic events and
incidents spanning jurisdictional boundaries. ETeam was selected by the
region as the solution for situational awareness because it has
demonstrated its ability to put multiple agencies in the best position
to save lives, reduce injuries, and protect property and the
environment. This system has served as a force multiplier by enhancing
the efficient use of multi-jurisdictional resources.
Risk Analysis Center
The Risk Analysis Center (RAC) software platform provides the
foundation for homeland security risk management solutions, through its
integration, analysis, and visualization of risk data. Digital Sandbox
has created a suite of applications and services that enable critical
infrastructure planners and stakeholders analyze their risks,
understand their capabilities, and allocate resources based on risk.
RAC is a web-based application tool that is utilized to gather
information about critical infrastructure in the Tampa Bay area. To
date, 5,174 assets have been identified and catalogued in the RAC. In
addition, full field assessments have been completed on hundreds of
infrastructures throughout the 8-county Tampa Bay Area. Intelligence
data collection and assessment features enable users to gather asset
information in a single location, establish asset priority, and
systematically assess vulnerability to and consequences of a
jurisdiction's threats and hazards. A detailed report, complete with
security options to consider, is then provided to the asset owner. This
approach promotes security awareness which leads to planning and
implementation of enhancements, designed to help prevent, deter, and/or
respond to major incidents, whether natural or man-made. This type of
effort strongly encourages continued regional collaboration and
information sharing among community stakeholders.
APPLICATION OF FUNDING WITH LOCAL IMPACTS
Cop Link, Avalex, E-Sponder, and Interoperable Communications. Why
are these systems and processes critical to the region, to core cities
like Tampa? These very systems were used to manage one of the city's
most horrendous local tragedies to ever occur in the Tampa Bay Area. On
June 29, 2010, Officers Jeffrey Kocab and David Curtis were shot and
killed while attempting to make an arrest at a traffic stop. Officer
Curtis stopped a vehicle because it did not have a visible license
plate. He called for an additional unit to assist him because a male
passenger in the car was wanted on a misdemeanor charge for writing a
worthless check. When Officer Curtis arrived, he and Officer Kocab
attempted to arrest the suspect. The suspect drew a weapon and shot
both officers at close range. A witness called 9-1-1 to report the
shooting. Officer Kocab died shortly after arriving at the hospital and
Officer Curtis was pronounced dead a few hours later. After a 4-day
manhunt, the suspect was arrested and taken into custody.
Cop Link, Avalex, E-Sponder, and Interoperable Communications. Each
of these systems and many more like it were in full use in the Command
Post, where law enforcement from the city, county, State, and Federal
government spent 4 days searching for the murderer that left two wives
without their husbands and small children without their fathers. Cop
Link was used in the Command Post to perform Crime Analysis and share
information with the multitude of law enforcement agencies there to
assist. Avalex was used to perform airborne search and tracking. E-
Sponder was used for incident management, resource tracking and multi-
agency collaboration. Interoperable Communications were vital as
communications was coordinated on common systems, mutual aid channels,
and console patches between local, State, and Federal law enforcement
agencies. UASI funding made it possible. The investment in technology,
communications, and training provided the foundation from which TPD
could provide a joint, well-coordinated structure to manage an
unspeakable tragedy. This incident demonstrated the success of
Federally-funded grant programs as applied to a local incident.
APPLICATION OF FUNDING WITH NATIONAL IMPACTS
The Tampa Bay Region has benefited from grant funding tremendously.
This area has been extremely successful in applying grant-funded
resources to real-life scenarios. The regional capacity-building that
has taken place has required local, regional, State, and Federal law
enforcement to provide common operating policies, exercise together,
and develop a strong sense of mutual respect and appreciation for
integrated emergency management in accordance with the National
Incident Management System (NIMS).
Tampa has hosted four Super Bowls: Super Bowl XVIII (1984), Super
Bowl XXV (1991), Super Bowl XXXV (2001), and Super Bowl XLIII (2009).
In March 2005, the National Football League (NFL) awarded Super Bowl
XLIII to the City of Tampa, Florida. Due to the magnitude of the event,
the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) designated Super Bowl
XLIII as a Level I special event. The City of Tampa and regional
partners undertook a range of measures to ensure that the Super Bowl
event and its festivities were safe and secure.
The planning and execution of Super Bowl XLIII is notable for a
variety of reasons, most importantly for its use of current assets and
relationships to provide adequate security for a National event. Due to
the unexpected economic downturn that occurred in 2009, the Mayor of
Tampa mandated that no additional funds could be expended for Super
Bowl XLIII. Considering that previous Super Bowl venues such as
Glendale, Arizona spent nearly $12 million on Super Bowl purchases,
this funding constraint could have presented an astronomical challenge.
However, because of the 6 years of UASI funding that had been invested
in the Tampa Bay region, the Tampa Police Department was able to lead
the region in the push to use only grant-funded, available regional
resources towards the Super Bowl event. As such, the City spent less
than $1 million on the Super Bowl, and the majority of that amount was
spent on overtime pay for law enforcement officers. The Tampa Bay Area
was able to effectively utilize the grant-funded equipment and assets
already in place within the region to the extent that new purchases
were not made.
In today's world, hospitals play a major role in consequence
management and are an important piece of Critical Infrastructure.
Tampa General Hospital is the only Level I Trauma Center on
the West Coast of Florida.
St Joseph's Hospital and Bay Front Hospital are Level II
Trauma Centers.
All facilities are Tier 1 Response facilities.
Primarily the security upgrades included enhanced closed circuit
television (CCTV) coverage and upgrading the existing systems to
digital with alarm and event triggering. These upgrades were identified
as a result of vulnerability assessments conducted by UASI in 2006.
These upgrades have allowed these facilities to have greater
surveillance of their particular campuses. Strategically placing the
cameras helps to help to prevent crimes and break-ins and also allow
operators to watch for troubled patients and monitor for unauthorized
visitors in restricted areas from centralized stations. Surveillance
cameras can provide invaluable visual evidence for investigations of
criminal activity and other specific events that have taken place
within or around health care facilities.
Should a mass casualty event occur, the surge of patients could be
overwhelming to a facility and require restricted access to allow for
timely treatment of victims as well as additional protection measures.
CCTV systems allow our trauma centers to quickly lockdown a facility
and reduce the number of manpower necessary to monitor external
entrances and other critical areas. By pinpointing exact locations of
an incident security protocol response time is dramatically reduced and
patient/staff safety greatly enhanced.
As the Tampa Bay area hosts many major National events that draw
very large crowds, the use of the CCTV systems has become a major
factor in response and recovery plans for the health and medical system
of the area. Major sporting, political, and entertainment events that
attract large crowds all have the potential to become major mass
casualty events. Planning for protection of our medical facilities is a
key component of all response plans. These systems are used to monitor
medical assets which have been permanently placed at some facilities as
well as those that are temporarily staged in the area for a specific
venue. For example, these systems received extensive use during the
Super Bowl XLIII to monitor Federal medical assets from the Strategic
National Stockpile at TGH and St Joseph's hospitals.
METROPOLITAN MEDICAL RESPONSE SYSTEM
The Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS) Grant Program
provides funding to support the integration of emergency management,
health, and medical systems into a coordinated response to mass
casualty incidents caused by any hazard. Successful MMRS grantees
reduce the consequences of a mass casualty incident during the initial
period of a response by having augmented existing local operational
response systems before an incident occurs.
The Tampa Bay MMRS and St. Petersburg MMRS were established within
the region in 2000. The MMRS is an operational system at the local
level that was put in place to respond to terrorist incidents and/or
other public health emergencies that create mass casualties or
casualties requiring unique care capabilities. The Tampa Bay and St.
Petersburg MMRS Programs are fully integrated within their respective
communities and provide the hospitals, public health responders and
other emergency management personnel with critical training and
pharmaceuticals. Because of the MMRS funding this region has received,
health care providers, both individual and institutions, have become
more organized and work cooperatively in planning, training, and
exercises. This program has funded critical pharmaceutical stockpiles
for emergency responders, standardized decontamination equipment, and
training for all hospitals and continues to provide hospital training
for Weapons of Mass Destruction.
The Tampa Bay Region recently sponsored a State-wide tabletop
exercise for air medical resources. During the crisis that ensued
during and after Hurricane Katrina, it was recognized that aeromedical
resources were not efficiently and effectively integrated into the
regional and Federal medical response for a disaster. This State-wide
tabletop exercise was the first of its kind to address these critical
issues, while paving the way for a coordinated medical response in our
State. Meaningful collaborative training sessions would not have been
possible without the much needed MMRS funding from the Federal
Government.
The MMRS also supports the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) by providing
qualified medical personnel from the throughout the State with the
opportunity to volunteer during a disaster. Tampa has the largest MRC
Program in the State of Florida. This dynamic program actively recruits
current and retired medical professionals, as well as resident
physicians from the University of South Florida. This program has
received National recognition for their benchmark performance in to the
Haiti Medical Refugee Mission. Without the MMRS Program, the
coordinated response of all of the public and private health care
partners could not individually accomplish what they can collectively
as whole. By conducting a valid needs assessment, this area has been
able to build a strong response system and team for the continuum of
medical care. The support of the MMRS is critical to this region's
medical response.
CONCLUSION
Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King put it very
eloquently when he bluntly warned that new proposed cuts from port,
transit, and urban security assistance amount to an ``invitation to an
attack.'' After all, are we trying to protect our citizens or hurt
them? To cut grant funding to major cities is a horrible decision, but
to cut grant funding to major cities before you even conduct a
qualified threat assessment or analysis on use of past funding, is pure
folly. Tampa Bay is a region that has a multitude of targets and
vulnerabilities that if targeted, will have catastrophic impacts for a
large sector of our population.
Super-sized, larger cities like New York and Washington, DC have
experienced the horrible result of sadistic planning by terror cells,
but we find consistently that the majority of planning is done in the
medium- to large-sized cities, such as those that make up Tampa Bay,
Florida. The truth of the matter is that we cannot to cut the funding
that has been so useful, so vital for this entire region. If funding is
cut, then we will have no way to protect our residents who live, work
and play among some of the country's most high-risk hazards and
threats. Does a life in New York have more value than a life in Tampa
Bay? No.
We recognize that we are not the size of a New York City or a Los
Angeles, but we are just as inclined to protect our citizens. We do not
feel the same sense of undignified entitlement that other cities do, so
we put our heads together and work extra hard to make certain that
every dime, every penny in grant funds that we receive is well
accounted for and put to good use. It is our sincere hope and
expectation, that the members of Congress will continue the efforts of
Congressman Hansen Clarke by pushing forward the amendment to preserve
grant funding for urban areas such as Tampa Bay, Florida.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you very much, appreciate it, thanks
for the testimony.
Now we will call on Ms. Carbone. You are recognized for 5
minutes or so.
STATEMENT OF LINDA JORGE CARBONE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER,
TAMPA BAY CHAPTER & FLORIDA WEST COAST REGION, AMERICAN RED
CROSS
Ms. Carbone. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Chairman Bilirakis
and Ranking Member Clarke, thank you so much for having me
today. I am honored to appear before you on behalf of the
American Red Cross. My name is Linda Carbone, I am the chief
executive officer of the Tampa Bay Chapter and Florida's West
Coast Region of the American Red Cross.
For more than 130 years, our Nation has relied on the
American Red Cross in emergency situations. The Red Cross
provides shelter, food, clothing, emotional, and other support
to those impacted by disasters in communities across the
country and around the world. We supply nearly half of the
Nation's blood. We teach lifesaving skills to hundreds of
thousands of people each year, and we provide support and
invaluable resources to the members of the military and their
families. Whether it is a hurricane or a heart attack, a call
for blood or a call for help, the Red Cross is there when
America needs us.
The issue we are discussing today, ``Weathering the Storm:
A State and Local Perspective on Emergency Management,'' is
very important to the Red Cross and particularly important to
me and my colleagues serving around the State of Florida. As we
marked the beginning of the 2011 hurricane season last week, we
especially appreciate your attention to this subject and are
very grateful to those colleagues and partners working together
to help Florida prepare for this hurricane season.
I am sure you have read my remarks, so I will not go into
them in detail, there is quite a bit of detail in there. But I
would like to touch on some of the things that my colleagues
have already talked about and in particular talk to you a
little bit about the shelter situation and how important our
community partnerships are in that and maybe some of the unique
technologies that we use in social media and that type of
thing.
The American Red Cross is chief in sheltering our citizens
in these times of disaster. Shelters often become a focal point
for the interaction between disaster victims and the community
at large. Certainly my colleague from Alabama can agree with
that. They are a place of safety, often a place of refuge and
comfort. When a family or an individual walks through the door
of a shelter either operated or supported by the American Red
Cross, they can expect food, a safe place to sleep, mental
health support, functional and access services, and basic needs
of health care and first aid. We do this in conjunction with
our partners. It is very important that the Red Cross never
does this alone, we do this in conjunction with our partners
from FEMA, we do this in conjunction with our emergency
partners. One of the things we are focusing on at that time is
making sure that we are meeting all of the needs with regard to
functional activities.
As we look at this issue with our partners across the
State, we are doing things like making sure we are reviewing
our shelters for accessibility, making sure our staff, our
shelter staff--mostly comprised of volunteers, 90 percent of
what the Red Cross does is actually done by volunteers--get the
proper training so that we can make sure people are safe and
comfortable in our shelters. It might be a small thing such as
access points and how our shelters are actually set up that can
make a really big difference to a community in making sure that
they actually feel comfortable in our shelters. We are focused
on training and we are focused on working with our community
partners to make sure that these needs are met.
As my colleagues talked about, one of the many things that
we are doing in a disaster, and really an important step, is
using social media. What we have seen in our recent disasters,
and certainly even in small disasters--we had nine tornadoes
come through Florida on the 31st of March. What an important
role social media can play. It is not just about getting our
message out to the community, but it is also about listening.
It is listening to what is happening in the community. One of
the things we found is we need to make sure there is someone in
our disaster operations center who is in fact listening to the
social media channels, to the tweets that are going out, to
Facebook sites and those types of things, so that when they are
reporting areas of damage, we are sending our disaster
assessment teams out there to make sure and to cover that as
well.
We certainly saw the impact of social media first in the
Haiti situation. Social media was the very first place where
that information about what had happened went viral. It helped
us certainly raise significant awareness and funds to help us
be able to fund the response in Haiti and we are still there
today.
Beyond that, social media is what the public expects of us
in emergency response--69 percent of the public said they
expect emergency responders to be monitoring social media sites
and 74 percent said they expected people to come in less than
an hour after they tweet or post a Facebook message about an
emergency situation. Those numbers are staggering, and that
means that we at the American Red Cross, a 130-year old
organization, need to be very active in changes and very active
in what we are doing to make sure that we are following it.
Certainly, in Haiti, we experienced a very heartbreaking
situation where people were sending messages about needing
assistance and we were able to communicate that to some of the
responders first on the scene, but we are working hard with our
emergency managers locally, through FEMA, we are working hard
with an organization called Tweak the Tweet to make sure we are
able to share information with the State emergency operations
centers and connect crisis social data with decision-makers who
can act on it.
My closing remarks--my fellow Floridians and I are
privileged to live in one of the most beautiful places in the
world. But because our waterways can turn to destructive surge
zones, because our winds can blow awfully hard, we also know it
is an awesome responsibility to ensure that Florida is one of
the most prepared places on the planet. I am confident that the
plans, processes, and most importantly the partnerships, the
people that are here today, that we have in place with our
Federal, State, local, non-profit, and private sector partners
will result in a proud and strong response from Red Crossers in
this region and around the country.
Thank you so much for your time and attention. I would be
happy to answer any questions.
[The statement of Ms. Carbone follows:]
Prepared Statement of Linda Jorge Carbone
June 10, 2011
Chairman Bilirakis and distinguished Members of the subcommittee, I
am honored to appear today on behalf of the American Red Cross. My name
is Linda Carbone and I serve as the Chief Executive Officer of the
Tampa Bay Chapter and Florida's West Coast Region of the American Red
Cross.
For more than 130 years, our Nation has relied on the American Red
Cross in emergency situations. The Red Cross provides shelter, food,
clothing, emotional, and other support to those impacted by disasters
in communities across the country and around the world. We supply
nearly half of the Nation's blood. We teach lifesaving skills to
hundreds of thousands of people each year, and we support and provide
invaluable resources to the members of the military and their families.
Whether it is a hurricane or a heart attack, a call for blood or a call
for help, the Red Cross is there when America needs us.
The issue we are discussing today, ``Weathering the Storm: A State
and Local Perspective on Emergency Management,'' is very important to
the American Red Cross and particularly important to me and my
colleagues serving in the State of Florida. As we mark the beginning of
the 2011 Hurricane season last week, we especially appreciate your
attention to this subject and are grateful to those colleagues and
partners working together to help prepare Florida for this hurricane
season.
Allow me to begin by saying this: The American Red Cross stands
ready to respond to the 2011 hurricane season. We have reviewed and
studied what we did well in the recent seasons, addressed any
challenges, and improved upon our successes. Although we've been
fortunate to avoid the impact of a tropical system on our soil in the
past few years, we've gained valuable experience for our paid and
volunteer staff by deploying them to disasters around the country, most
especially the recent spring storms across much of the southeast. We
have also taken a hard look at those areas where we must continue to
improve our response and we've identified and addressed shortcomings.
From a Florida tropics perspective, Tropical Storm Fay affected the
majority of Florida counties in the 2008 hurricane season. Over 1,400
Red Crossers came to the aid of affected Floridians and the vast
majority of those volunteers came from our Florida Red Cross Chapters.
We opened 118 shelters with 21,224 overnight stays and 372,919 meals
and snacks.
The American people can continue to rely upon the Red Cross to
deliver our promise of neighbor helping neighbor. Our legendary corps
of volunteers is well-trained and ready to help America. We are working
closer than ever with our colleagues in the nonprofit, charitable, and
faith-based communities to bring the message of preparedness to our
communities and partner to coordinate the best response in times of
emergency. We continue to improve our coordination with Federal, State,
and local officials. Here in Florida, the partnership with State and
County Emergency Management is very strong. From responding to single
family fires to a major hurricane response, we keep our Emergency
Management Partners informed and work alongside of them to serve
disaster survivors.
We have been participating with our Federal, State, community, and
faith-based partners in State-wide and risk area planning. Red Cross
representatives at all levels have been involved in planning with
concentration on mass care, sheltering, and feeding, as well as family
notification and reunification, post-disaster relocation, repatriation,
update of the CEMP (Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan), case
management, and evacuation workgroups.
I am very pleased to share with you today our perspective on
emergency management, our plans for the coming season and our
rejuvenated sense of urgency as we address our goals. The next disaster
may occur with little or no warning, as we have seen too often these
past few months with the terrible tornadoes throughout the South, the
Midwest, and even Massachusetts last week. Florida has deployed over
450 trained volunteers and staff to these disasters since March 1,
2011. These folks not only serve their fellow man, they come back to
Florida better prepared to respond to Florida events. I want you to
know that we do not wait each year for June 1 and the start of
hurricane season to be ready for disaster response. The American Red
Cross remains on guard each day, every day.
AMERICAN RED CROSS SERVICES--WHAT WE DO IN TIMES OF DISASTER
Our citizens rely on the American Red Cross to provide comfort and
care during an emergency. Floridians in particular know that the
American Red Cross will be there to provide the basics of food,
shelter, and a shoulder to lean on in times of disaster. But it is
important to know the details of these services and I would like to
take a moment to expand on them.
Sheltering.--Shelters often become a focal point for the
interaction between disaster victims and the community at large. They
are a place of safety, refuge, and comfort for many. When a family or
individual walks through the door of a shelter operated or supported by
the Red Cross, they can expect food, a safe place to sleep, mental
health support, functional and access services, and basic first aid and
health care. The Red Cross often uses congregate sheltering in
facilities such as schools, churches, or other large facilities as
shelters for individuals or families. Those shelters may be opened in
anticipation of a disaster, during an evacuation, or after a disaster
occurs. The Red Cross usually initiates sheltering activities in
coordination with Government and/or emergency management or with other
community organizations.
In Florida, we are prepared to support and manage safe Hurricane
Evacuation Centers, which really serve as a lifeboat, bringing bring
people out of harm's way as well as shelters where we provide the types
of services listed above.
We coordinate our shelter operations with our Government partners.
The State of Florida has adopted the American Red Cross National
Shelter System as their official State Shelter Database. Subsequently,
during a tropical event, through the Division of Emergency Management's
website: floridadisaster.org, we are able to provide both responders
and Floridians with a public site that can direct people to open
shelters. In partnership with the Florida Department of Health, we also
indicate any open Medical Needs shelters. We are committed to the
important work of moving people out of the shelter environment and into
transitional and long-term housing. This is where our communities truly
depend on our partnerships with Federal, State, and local government.
Feeding.--In addition to feeding efforts at shelters, the Red Cross
also meets this basic need through mobile distribution and fixed
feeding sites in affected areas for people who cannot travel to a
shelter, those who choose to stay in their homes, or those cleaning up
after a storm. Emergency workers or other groups providing disaster
relief need meals as well and the local chapter or disaster relief
operation can provide feeding services to those groups. Mobile feeding
is critical to meeting the immediate needs of affected communities and
establishing the presence of Red Cross relief efforts. Red Cross
workers drive through damaged neighborhoods delivering meals, snacks,
and beverages to people returning to and cleaning up damaged homes.
Bulk Distribution.--In many disasters, essential items clients need
to assist their recovery might not be immediately available in the
local area. In such cases, the Red Cross distributes clean-up kits,
shovels, insect repellant, sunscreen, toiletry items, or other things
that may be needed. This may be accomplished through the establishment
of fixed Emergency Aid Stations or mobile bulk distribution.
Disaster Mental Health Services.--Red Cross workers provide mental
health services wherever a client is in need. Our mental health workers
are present at shelters, feeding sites, and emergency aid stations.
They also travel with our Integrated Care Teams including caseworkers,
and console families at hospitals and in disaster-affected
neighborhoods where clean up and rebuilding is taking place. Red Cross
mental health volunteers are licensed mental health professionals and
often work with practitioners in the community.
Client Casework.--Disaster victims often need the type of one-on-
one advocacy our caseworkers can provide. In the complex world of
disasters, it is often hard to know where to get help and how to start
on the road to recovery. Red Cross caseworkers are skilled in matching
a client's needs with the resources available in the community and then
advocating on behalf of the client to access those resources.
Caseworkers can also help their clients with wellness issues such as
replacing lost medication or damaged medical equipment.
Safe and Well Information.--Red Cross workers help concerned family
members communicate with their loved ones during an emergency. Within
the disaster-affected area and through the use of tools like our Safe
and Well website, the Red Cross helps individuals and family members to
communicate with family and friends outside of the affected area.
Outreach to People With Disabilities.--In developing mass care and
sheltering capacity throughout the community, the American Red Cross
has made it a priority Nation-wide to ensure that services and shelters
are as accessible as possible to people with disabilities, as well as
functional and access needs. Our Red Cross chapters work closely with
their local Centers for Independent Living offices on disability issues
as well other expert organizations. To that end we have been taking a
number of steps including:
Reviewing all our shelters for accessibility.
Participating on the Policy and Analysis working groups with
our State partners to plan for Functional Needs Support
Services in shelters.
Working with other subject matter experts (including experts
from FEMA, State Emergency Management, our State Disability
Coordinator, and the State Department of Health) to identify
specific items that need to be available in shelters to make
them more accessible to people with disabilities. Based on
those recommendations, we have pre-stocked accessible cots,
shower stools, and commode chairs in some of our warehouses.
Focus on Training.--
Providing training developed by the American Red Cross in
conjunction with our State Disability Coordinator to Red
Cross chapters, the Florida Association of Centers for
Independent Living and local Emergency Management in order
that they might be able to survey a building for
accessibility and compliance with all ADA regulations.
With the Department of Health, Emergency Management, and
Florida State University we are developing training for
shelter workers on how to provide functional and access
services to shelter residents. This training will be out in
the next few months.
DIVERSITY ISSUES
We carefully analyze the demographics of our very diverse State in
our response planning. From our training to our casework to public
messaging, we offer materials in Spanish and much of it also in Creole.
With our other chapter partners, we are working to coordinate and
expand our language bank and other diverse language resources to be
sure that we have the capacity to effectively communicate with those
with limited skills in English.
GOVERNMENT, NONPROFIT, AND OTHER PARTNER COLLABORATION
In Florida, as is the case across the country, the American Red
Cross staffs the State and local Emergency Operation Center(s) (EOC)
with Red Cross Government Liaisons who collaborate with their
Government and non-profit agency counterparts. This staffing provides a
direct link between the Government agency most directly responsible for
the event and the Red Cross and the resources that we can bring to
support that Government agency.
The Red Cross takes a lead role in actively working with the local
VOADs (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster), which are
coalitions of voluntary agencies that meet regularly to ensure a
coordinated community response that addresses the needs of victims and
minimizes overlap of services in the event of a disaster.
To ensure effective disaster readiness and response, the Red Cross
has established relationships with partner community agencies. While
our National headquarters seeks out and negotiates partnerships with
National-level agencies and organizations, our local chapters make
those partnerships come alive by establishing and nurturing local
relationships. Besides the VOAD partnerships, we look to AmeriCorps,
CERT (Community Emergency Response Teams), the Florida General Baptist
Association, the NAACP, and many other faith-based groups in times of
disaster.
SOCIAL MEDIA: A NEW TOOL IN DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE
The American Red Cross is a 130-year-old organization, and the
tools we use to respond to disasters have evolved over the years.
Perhaps the most exciting innovations are social technologies because
they allow us to listen to and engage with the public as never before.
We saw this with our fundraising efforts during Haiti. When we
rolled out our mobile giving campaign, Text HAITI to 90999, it was the
social media community who took it viral. In the first 48 hours, there
were 2.3 million re-tweets of our Text number as people sent it to
their networks of followers. Before long, we had raised $32 million
dollars via text--$10 at a time. And 42 percent of our text donors were
under the age of 34.
We saw the same phenomenon with Japan. The earthquake happened at
2:47 a.m. east coast time in the United States, and in hours, our text
number was trending on Twitter. Social media communities were already
way ahead of us.
But new technologies are not just helping us fundraise; they are
becoming part of our operational DNA.
In Haiti, we sent out 4 million text messages to Haitians about the
symptoms of cholera and how to prevent and treat it.
Here at home, we have built a dynamic shelter map using Google maps
to update our open shelter information. We provide this information to
the public on our website and have built an iPhone app so people can
find a shelter on their mobile phone.
We are also helping families connect in those first hours after
disaster strikes through our Safe and Well website, where people can
post their whereabouts and update their Facebook and Twitter status.
We are training Red Cross volunteers who deploy to disasters to use
their smart phones and social media to let people know where they can
go to find shelter, food, and other services. And we are creating a new
digital volunteer role where volunteers can help us monitor,
authenticate, and route incoming disaster requests without ever leaving
their homes.
We know that in a crisis, people turn to the communications tools
they are familiar with every day, and disaster response and relief
agencies must do the same.
An American Red Cross survey last year found that more web users
get emergency information from social media than from a NOAA weather
radio, Government website, or emergency text message system. And not
only are they seeking information, they are sharing it. One in five
social media users report posting eyewitness accounts of emergency
events. If someone else is in need, they are enlisting their social
networks to help or using Facebook and Twitter to notify response
agencies.
And, they expect us to be listening and responding.
69% said that emergency responders should be monitoring
social media sites.
74% expected help to come less than an hour after their
tweet or Facebook post.
These are very high expectations. But today, they don't match
reality. Most disaster responders are still not staffed to monitor or
respond to requests via social media during major events.
At the Red Cross, we experienced a heartbreaking situation after
the earthquake in Haiti when we began receiving tweets from people
trapped under collapsed buildings. We didn't have a good way to handle
those pleas for help. We had to go through the messages manually and
try to route them to the right places. In some cases, it was too late.
While we won't solve these issues today, we are making progress in
collaboration with our partners as we're seeing in the spring storms.
People affected by recent tornadoes are posting urgent needs at an on-
line gathering point. Working with an organization called Tweak the
Tweet, as well as with FEMA and Crisis Commons, we are able to share
this information with the State Emergency Operations Centers and
connect crisis social data with decision-makers who can act on it.
AMERICAN RED CROSS: READY FOR 2011
In our efforts to continuously prepare for the coming season, I am
pleased to share our on-going efforts with you:
Supplies.--We have expanded pre-positioning supply inventory
to support feeding and sheltering for 500,000 people.
Technological Improvements.--We have upgraded our IT systems
to improve greater controls over financial management and can
more easily share shelter and client information with our
partners.
Improved Relationships.--Our Disaster Field Structure is
aligned by State and provides a point of contact and
integration of plans with other Federal and State officials
across the country. We rely upon this robust network to provide
field support, performance improvement, strategic project
management, and Federal disaster relations.
Communications.--We have pre-positioned communications
equipment and supplies in 48 cities in high-risk States
including Florida.
Logistics.--We have built a more effective logistics supply
chain and inventory control system and are more engaged with
NORTHCOM, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) and FEMA's
logistics teams.
Volunteers.--We have more than 80,000 people in disaster
response database, 93% of which are volunteers.
There are other improvements post-Katrina that will ensure
improved response from the Red Cross to those we serve,
including:
Creation of the National Shelter System;
Enhancements to the Coordinated Assistance Network (CAN);
Better coordination with other non-profit partners and
agencies;
Refinements to the Safe and Well website;
Redesign of the Shelter Intake Form in conjunction with
DHS to better evaluate health needs of shelter residents.
CLOSING REMARKS
My fellow Floridians and I are privileged to live in one of the
most beautiful places in the world. But because our beautiful waterways
can turn into destructive surge zones and our winds can be some of the
hard and fastest in the country, we also know it is an awesome
responsibility to ensure that Florida is one the most prepared places
on the planet. I am confident that the plans, processes, and
partnerships that we have in place with our Federal, State, local, non-
profit, and private sector partners will result in a proud and strong
response from Red Crossers in this region and around the country.
Thank you for your time and attention. I would be happy to answer
any questions you may have.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you very much, Ms. Carbone. You do
wonderful work.
Ms. Carbone. Thank you.
Mr. Bilirakis. All right, my first question--I will
recognize myself for 5 minutes or so for questions. We will go
back and forth, if that is okay with you.
Mr. Clarke of Michigan. Yes.
Mr. Bilirakis. October marks--this is for all the
witnesses, anyone that wants to respond--October marks the 5-
year anniversary of the enactment of the Post-Katrina Emergency
Management Reform Act. By all accounts, FEMA has made great
strides--that is what I hear--since Hurricane Katrina, and
today's FEMA is far more nimble and forward-thinking. I am
interested in your assessment on FEMA's current capabilities.
What is working well with FEMA, what is not working? How can we
do better?
We are going to have a hearing this fall and I am going to
question FEMA on these particular issues, so I welcome your
input. What changes do you believe are necessary to further
enhance FEMA's disaster preparedness on the response
capabilities side?
Why don't we go ahead and start right here with Ms. Willis,
if you would like to respond.
Ms. Willis. Well, here in the Tampa Bay area, we have not
had to experience what the gentleman from Alabama has had to
experience with FEMA. However, that being said, we rely on
their support to be there should the need occur.
Mr. Bilirakis. Absolutely.
Ms. Willis. We know that there have been a lot of changes
to FEMA as a result primarily of Katrina, but several other
instances where they were perceived as performing very poorly.
Because of their willingness to listen, a lot of great strides
have been made and we anticipate that should anything occur in
the Tampa Bay area, we can rely on their support.
We have been interacting with FEMA recently. They are going
to provide us with technical support for any consequence
management issues and hopefully we will not have the amount of
casualties such as has been experienced in Alabama.
Unfortunately, we are entering the hurricane season, so we are
relying on FEMA to provide their expertise in that area as
well.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you.
Ms. Carbone.
Ms. Carbone. Mr. Chairman, you asked what FEMA is doing
right, and I think one of the things they are really doing
right is the partnership aspect. None of us stands alone in
helping our communities recover and helping our communities
when they need a safe place to stay. It is all about the
partnerships. It is about the discussions you have before the
storms, before they come, and it is about how you partner
together. Certainly one of the things that the Red Cross has
done in Alabama that has been very successful is a very close
partnership with FEMA in sending a care team out to the
community, so you have one place to go or that the people come
to you, and it is getting them mental health assistance at the
same time maybe that we are sending food out into a community
or that type of thing. It is really about our citizens and the
people who have been impacted by disasters getting the most
assistance in the shortest amount of time. I think that is one
place that we have really seen FEMA step up to the plate and
improve. It is about those partnerships and the discussions
that we have ahead of time about what everyone's role is, about
what our capabilities are, about how we can meet the needs of
citizens in their stressful time.
So I have very high confidence in FEMA's assistance in
Alabama, and what I hear from my colleagues across the country
as well.
Mr. Bilirakis. Yeah, I noticed, Mr. Russell, you said that
in your testimony as well. Can you elaborate on that? What was
done well, can we learn from your experience?
Mr. Russell. Yes, sir. One thing that we found right off
the bat, 3 days into the storm, I had a FEMA liaison in my
county and things started happening. That had not happened for
a long time.
Mr. Bilirakis. That made a huge difference, is that
correct?
Mr. Russell. It absolutely did.
Mr. Bilirakis. FEMA did not have a liaison in New Orleans,
did they?
Mr. Russell. Not in 3 days.
Mr. Bilirakis. Go ahead, I am sorry.
Mr. Russell. I worked Hurricane Ivan, Hurricane Katrina,
Hurricane Rita, Hurricane Gustav. This is the best response I
have seen from FEMA. Seems like FEMA has a little bit more
autonomy than they have had in the past. The people that came
in were not inexperienced, they knew what they were doing, they
knew what they needed to do. They are working well with the
Corps of Engineers, something we had not seen before. I am
really just impressed with them.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you, sir.
Mr. Smith, would you like to respond?
Mr. Smith. Yes, sir. I will echo what everyone said, I do
believe that they are making the changes that are necessary,
that were requested, and why we had to have this legislation to
reform. I do like the fact that they have qualified emergency
managers and senior leadership. That is key, so that when I am
talking to somebody, they understand exactly what I am talking
about. It is not an appointment-type thing, political
appointment. It is somebody that is actually qualified and has
had some experiences in dealing with it.
On that point, the National response framework talks about
having a principal Federal official for Incidents of National
Significance and then you have the Federal coordinating officer
under the Stafford Act. We saw significant challenges with that
principal Federal official concept with Deepwater Horizon. Now,
that is not FEMA's fault, that is the DHS' philosophy about how
they wanted to go about doing that. We also recognize that some
of these laws, some of the HHS things for the Haitian
repatriation are not FEMA. FEMA does get involved with trying
to help us coordinate things a little bit. But like the
Deepwater Horizon, they were nowhere near. We were not dealing
with the Stafford Act, so we were not dealing with that type of
reimbursement philosophy, and that created some real
challenges, specifically for all of us. FEMA is making those
changes in the Stafford Act. I was very interested in what Mr.
Russell was talking about, speeding up the Hazard Mitigation
Grant Program. We had to wait a year to get funding for a new
emergency notification system. So we are excited about that,
that is very good news.
I am glad to hear that he is talking about that they are
leaving people in there, because one of the practices that FEMA
had been using was disaster assistance employees. That I think
goes back to a lot of the stuff about recoupment, where you had
one person coming in and telling you one piece of policy and
they were not trained as well as the next one that came in and
said oh, no, you cannot do it that way. When you put the train
in motion, it is kind of difficult to stop it. So being able to
do that.
Like I mentioned before, I am very happy with the new
training, I am excited to hear about the EM Academy, Emergency
Management Academy. I would like to see how we can duplicate
some of that and hoping that that will be duplicated at the
local level. EMI is kind of far away for us to go and they are
offering it over the summer, which there is not really anybody
in Florida that can take the time off to complete that, but
there are--I see progress.
Working with volunteers, their emphasis on the volunteers
and the whole community. That is something that Craig had
worked with us here in Florida on. You know, he had a strong
relationship with Volunteer Florida and the VOAD here. So we
have incorporated a lot of that already in Florida about how we
are working that and working with our non-Governmental agencies
and faith-based to pull them in, so I am happy to see that.
From the staff that I dealt with--Mr. Russell talks about a
liaison in your county. I had Linda Lowe, she showed up that
Friday--no, excuse me, it happened on Friday morning, she
showed up Saturday. That was phenomenal. So bringing that
person in and being able to talk directly to that FEMA liaison
is very important.
Mr. Bilirakis. Okay, thank you very much.
Does anyone else wish to respond here?
Ms. Dragani. I have a couple of comments I want to make
about positive changes, but also a couple of cautions as well.
A couple of things FEMA has done recently that I think are
very productive is they are really trying to get at how we
measure outcome, how do we measure improvement, both with the
Emergency Management Performance Grant and the Homeland
Security Grant Program. That is not an easy task because how we
do it in Ohio works in Ohio. It is going to be entirely
different in Florida and it is going to be different at the
local level. They are working very hard collectively on how do
we get at measuring improvement and what does Congress, what
does the American citizenry get for the dollars that we are
spending in this program. I applaud FEMA for really diligently
working on how we get there.
A couple of other things. We talked kind of around about
this focus on bringing everyone to the table. Craig would say
the whole of community, but bringing everyone to the table and
making everyone part of the solution. One of the most important
areas is bringing the private sector to the table as a true
partner. Not as a ``Wal-Mart, what can you give us?'' but
``Wal-Mart, what can we give back to you so that you can get
your doors open faster and we get the community to recover
faster?'' It is a real sea change in the way historically the
emergency management community has worked with our private
sector partners.
They are leaning forward, I think that is evident in what
we heard from Mr. Russell. They are really engaged in being
there early and go big, go fast, get the boots on the ground,
and then we can pull back--deploy fast and then correct as
needed. That is also an important change I think in the speed
of their response and the effectiveness of their response.
Then one last improvement that I think goes to what Mr.
Smith said, for years the system of emergency management, the
profession of emergency management kind of languished.
Universities and colleges really view emergency management as a
system, but internally to FEMA, EMI was not really a priority,
training of both FEMA professionals as well as State and local
professionals was also not a priority. FEMA is really
intentionally taking a look at that. How can we grow the
profession at all levels? They are looking at EMI, they are
looking at embedding some of their own staff in State and local
programs, because when you live it and you work it at the local
level and State level, you will go back to Washington with a
much better understanding of how you operate.
Final improvement, and then I do have a couple of cautions,
the National Advisory Council, I am on my second 3-year
appointment. The first 3 years were a little bit tough, we
really did not know what the goal was, what the purpose was.
But I just came back from Los Angeles from a meeting with the
National Advisory Council and between FEMA's engagement and the
Council itself, I think we are positioned now to really provide
some advice and counsel to the Federal Emergency Management
Agency.
Two quick cautions. In the effort to lean forward, FEMA
needs to be careful about the down-range impact. Some of the
effects that Mr. Smith's constituents are facing, that my
constituents are facing, are the result of an effort to get
money out fast post-disaster, which is great until you are
audited 6 years later and somebody determines that the money
did not go out correctly and now we have to recoup the money
from either Government or citizens. So making sure that we are
looking at the entire effects of a program decision and not
just how it will benefit us this year, but how it will affect
us in 5 or 6 years, I think is a caution that I would have as
we look at revamping these programs.
The final caution I would have, and I think Mr. Smith
brought this up, is encouraging FEMA to continue to make sure
that they are engaging State and local partners as they relook
at these programs. Sometimes there is a motivation to get it
done and we appreciate that, but they need to get it done in
concert with their partners. They are good at that, but it is
just a continuing request I think.
Thank you.
Mr. Bilirakis. Mr. Koon, what improvements can FEMA make?
Mr. Koon. I think, first of all, they do have an excellent
core of individuals there, qualified emergency managers, who
are forward leaning and changing the paradigm from what we saw
prior to Hurricane Katrina, ensuring that the right partners
are engaged.
I think one recommendation I would have for improvement is
something they have already embarked upon, which is ensuring
that the processes that they utilize are appropriate. They have
begun a bottom-up review of their recovery programs and some
other programs as well, to ensure that they are meeting the
needs without being overly bureaucratic or cumbersome.
While they have streamlined many of their processes on the
response phase, we still have a way to go on the blue sky
portions of the administration. They are in recovery and
mitigation. Sometimes the appearance during audits and other
program closeouts is that they are spending a dollar to track
down a dime in those cases, and so we might want to take a look
at those as well, to ensure that we are utilizing our scarce
human resources appropriately in the agency.
Mr. Bilirakis. Very good, thank you.
Next question and then I will turn to Hansen. Well, the
Mayor is here, Mayor Hibbard from the City of Clearwater. Do
you want to say a couple of words?
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE FRANK HIBBARD, MAYOR, CITY OF
CLEARWATER, FLORIDA
Mr. Hibbard. Thank you, Congressman. It is our great
pleasure to have you here in the City of Clearwater. Nice to
see you again. We appreciate you coming here.
Obviously we are at heightened awareness right now as we
have entered hurricane season here. We are always trying to
make certain that our citizens are prepared. We get a little
bit lax when we have not had landfall of a storm in so many
years. So that is always a challenge for us, but we have
wonderful emergency managers in our area and also in our State.
So I appreciate the fact that you are having this hearing
and continuing to focus on best practices. I can tell you in
2004, we did have a very positive experience with FEMA as we
were being reimbursed for much of the clean-up from Charlie
that we experienced. But I think it is critically important
that we keep our eye on the ball and not just for hurricanes
but all natural disasters.
Sorry I was not here to greet you at the beginning of the
meeting, we had a groundbreaking for our aquarium, which is a
big deal for our city. You will be seeing it in a major motion
picture called ``Dolphin's Tale,'' about a dolphin and if you
have kids, you are going to be going to the movie, I can
guarantee it. But it will be coming out in September starring
Harry Connick, Jr. and Kris Kristofferson and Morgan Freeman,
Ashley Judd. So it is going to be a great hit and it is going--
unfortunately, Clearwater is featured in it and there is a
hurricane in the movie, which we have not had one here, a
direct hit, since 1921, but we will deal with the rest of the
publicity. We think it is a great thing.
But thank you for all your work, we certainly appreciate
your diligence and are appreciative of you having this hearing
here in Clearwater.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you for all your good work as well.
Mr. Hibbard. God bless.
Mr. Bilirakis. God bless you.
On that topic, how can we better engage the public in
developing a culture of preparedness? Why don't we start on
this side, please.
Ms. Dragani. I had an epiphany watching the former FEMA
administrator, watching a YouTube video that Dave Paulison did
and some of you may have seen it, where he walked around his
house and showed a full pantry and talked about how his wife
restocked the pantry on a regular basis so that he had 3 days
worth of food. He showed the hurricane shutters in his garage
and where he kept the duct tape and the plastic and all of the
things that he needed to prepare. It caused me personally to
rethink some of the messages we give our public. I think we
need to take a look at what we are telling the public to do and
determine whether or not we are asking them to do things that
make sense in today's culture, that people can afford to do,
that people can do realistically and legitimately so that we
can actually move the needle on how people are preparing and
how many people are preparing.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you very much. Anyone else want to
comment on that? Yes, sir.
Mr. Koon. Mr. Chairman, there are several things we can do.
I think one of the primary things that we can do to help
encourage a more prepared public is to help, as Ms. Dragani
said, set the expectations. Help them understand what is
actually going to occur or what could occur during a disaster.
Help them understand the process that goes on in getting food,
water, other lifesaving commodities to an area. Also, help them
understand the cost involved with that, that this is not
raining from the sky, this is a substantial cost to Government
and other entities involved with that. I think that the process
that FEMA has undertaken with the whole community will help us
get there.
I think we should approach it in a positive way so that
citizens understand how they can contribute to the overall
success after a disaster and response effort, empower them to
help take care of their friends and neighbors who may not be
able to take care of themselves.
I think we should continue to re-evaluate where we are as a
society with regard to preparation. I had the occasion
yesterday to meet with representatives from the Taiwanese
National Fire Association, an extremely prepared nation, but
one whose apartments do not lend themselves well to maintaining
a gallon of water per person per day. So we should take a look
at those other cultures, other societies, to see how they are
preparing and help to understand how we can utilize those
messages in Florida and across the Nation.
Finally, I think we need to ensure that we change up our
tack when we talk to citizens about preparedness. You know, we
hammer them over the head, at least I do, time and time again
with prepare, prepare, prepare. The CDC recently came out with
here is how you prepare for a zombie attack. Which got the
message across but in a slightly humorous way and allowed
people to think about it in an outside-of-the-box way. So I
think we should continue to make sure that we evaluate the way
in which we give messages to the public.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you. Anyone else? You are recognized,
Ms. Carbone.
Ms. Carbone. Thank you very much.
The message of preparedness is something the Red Cross does
every single day, and it is so very important, you cannot be
too scared tactic. We have done the same YouTube video of what
you have in your house that you can get together in your
emergency kit and it is a continuing message that honestly the
public needs to hear in stereo sound, which is one of the
reasons I am so grateful that you have this hearing today,
because it has to come from all different sectors. Certainly
the Red Cross can be a good partner in that. It is also
important who we are reaching. One of the things we do as the
Red Cross is continually message to our youth. The zombie
campaign is something that was really clever and cute as well.
But getting our youth involved, maybe even in a school setting,
so that we are talking to them about preparedness and giving
them messages that they can bring home, homework for their
parents, as it were, that they can do together as a family. It
does not have to be super expensive, you can use a lot of
things you have in the house. Maybe there is a list that you
can go through and add one extra thing in your grocery cart
every week for a few weeks or something like that.
Mr. Bilirakis. Great suggestion.
Ms. Carbone. The key is really just to be consistently on
that message and to give it every chance that we can about
being prepared in the community. What we recognize is the more
prepared our community is, the more resilient our community is
going to be. It is no single entity's responsibility, it is all
of us together coming forth, being as prepared as we can.
Mr. Bilirakis. Very good. Anything further?
Mr. Russell. Yes, sir.
Mr. Bilirakis. You are recognized.
Mr. Russell. In Alabama, we have a program called ``Be
Ready Camp for Kids.'' It is at the U.S. Space and Rocket
Center in Huntsville every year. We train about between 300 and
500 kids every year, they are fifth-graders. We bring them in
there and they go through the CERT training, they learn first
aid, they learn everything about how to respond, even a little
bit of disaster psychology. They end with an exercise, they
actually have pyrotechnics out there and the kids, you know,
they have moulaged victims. In our community, we provide about
100, 120 volunteers who go out and shadow the kids as they are
going through this exercise. The thing is they are fifth-
graders. I remember when I was a kid we had ``Duck and Cover''
and everybody that lived back in that time knows what I am
talking about. It was in the schools, it was taught, it was
part of the curriculum and we were prepared. Thank God, we
never had to do any of that, but we were prepared to do that.
It is not part of the society today, preparedness is not part
of our culture and we need to bring that back.
Mr. Bilirakis. Absolutely. Yes, sir.
Mr. Smith. Thank you. I think one of the things, as you
mentioned in your opening remarks, about the changes in what we
have seen, Congressman Clarke, in the Newsweek article. We see
that it seems as though Mother Nature is angry and that will
get the attention of the public. One of the things that Craig
started here in Florida and that we have incorporated is
changing the mindset of do not refer to people as victims,
refer to them as survivors. A survivor gives you the mental
stimulus that you will get through whatever it is that happened
to you, and that you are a survivor and you can make it. So
that gives you that psychological edge to get through that.
The other thing is, you know, on the local level, I work on
my local elected officials. Any time that they can get into the
newspaper or they get in front of the media, any time they are
talking about something, even when they are talking about
economic development. You know, we talk about--the Small
Business Administration will talk about the number of small
businesses that will never open up again if they are not
prepared and are closed during a disaster. So we have got to
work on that type of thing when we do bring the businesses into
the community, and yes, we have got to have the big stores or
the big suppliers. But I need mom and pop because I need mom
and pop to be working and back to work so that they can
generate revenue to keep our local economy going. So that is
one of the things we push on, is to work with our business
incubators locally to try to get them to be involved with what
is going on too.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you very much.
I will now ask the Ranking Member if he has any questions.
You are recognized for the same amount of time that I used.
Mr. Clarke of Michigan. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thanks for the equal treatment. You know we Democrats do not
usually get that in the House of Representatives.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Clarke of Michigan. But here on this subcommittee, I
do, so thank you again.
My questions are really for anybody. The Emergency
Management Performance Grants, have many of your communities
had a tough time meeting that 50 percent match? Is that an
issue?
Mr. Smith. In Florida, sir, we have, as we mentioned the
Emergency Management Preparedness Assistance Trust Fund. We are
able to be able to utilize that as a global match most of the
time. However, the locals do have problems with that. We have
seen a reduction in the local general fund allocation across
the State. However, in the EMPA, that is because it is non-
Federal revenue, we are able to be able to meet those matches,
so luckily we have not had that specific issue although there
are counties that have had maybe return some EMPA money to the
State for reallocation because of budget cuts and they were not
able to meet--they were not allowed to spend that, as a
reduction process within their own community.
Mr. Clarke of Michigan. Your trust fund is through a fee on
insurance policies?
Mr. Smith. Yes, sir, on your homeowner's insurance, there
is a $10.00 fee and then for business insurance policies, a
$4.00 fee. However, we are struggling with that quite a bit
with the Department of Revenue because the allocation has not
changed since 1994. We have grown just a little bit more in
Florida since 1994, so I imagine there are a few more insurance
policies that have been written.
Mr. Clarke of Michigan. Do you know just roughly how much
is raised in that area?
Mr. Smith. Probably about $15 million a year.
Mr. Clarke of Michigan. Do any of you have any thoughts if
we should have a Federal dedicated public source? Do not worry
about the policy.
Ms. Willis. Okay, great. I would agree with that. I think
realistically the match is somewhat of a hardship, especially
in these economic times. For the most part, I know with the
City of Tampa, if the grant match is too large, we are not
allowed to even go after the grant. Now that could be
supplemented by partnerships with the private sector and in-
kind funding. However, the realism of it is, just to be honest,
is that match is too great, and that is just the way it is.
Ms. Dragani. If I could offer a dissenting opinion. Ohio
shares many of the same challenges that Michigan has right now.
Yes, we have had probably a third of our 88 emergency
management, county emergency management agencies, have a
difficult time meeting the match. We have been able to
reallocate that to other counties that can.
The challenge, and I surveyed our county emergency managers
a couple of years ago when it became evident that doing it with
the local budget was going to be a problem, and asked them
about whether it would be helpful to them if we picked up more
of their match in a short-term fashion, to allow them to
continue to receive the allocation. What my emergency
management directors told me in Ohio was that to do that would
long-term--it would have a long stream impact--they would lose
their local funding because the local government tendency would
be we do not have to fund that 50 percent any more. So there
was real concern that if we reduce the 50/50 match, they will
lose that attendant responsibility on the local level, and
their budgets will decrease, it will be very difficult to get
that 50/50 match back.
So I guess I would offer that somewhat dissenting concern.
Mr. Smith. No, no. We work the same way, when we take a
reduction on the general fund, there is a formula, but if it
meets a certain formula, we have to get a waiver from the State
for them to be able to do that. That was written into the
administrative rules years ago just because of that. Yes, I
have last 2 years had to get a waiver. However, the ability--
that is a concern we have, but I do use that. I go, ``Hey,
wait, wait, wait, I get this Federal money and I have to have
this dollar-for-dollar match.'' So in the budget negotiations
with the county manager, it does come in, it is very helpful to
have that requirement.
But I think your question was to find a specific funding
source?
Mr. Clarke of Michigan. That was one of my questions, yeah.
I was looking at if we should look at a Federal dedicated
funding source for EMPG. You know, especially in light of the
fact that our needs may be dramatically more in the next couple
of years. I see your point about having some type of
maintenance or effort by the locals, but I wanted to get your
advice on if we on the Federal side should look at a different
way of funding EMPG and actually broadening the scope of that,
either how it functions or in actual dollars.
Mr. Bilirakis. Mr. Russell.
Mr. Russell. I think the EMPG should be separated from the
Homeland Security Grants. That is the first step.
Mr. Clarke of Michigan. I hate to interrupt you, but NEMA
has also mentioned that as a recommendation. So I am just
curious, what is the concern there?
Mr. Russell. Every year, the administration--or at least
for the past few years, the changing administrations have
always recommended a cut in EMPG. Congress has managed to
actually enhance EMPG, which has helped us a lot. The 50
percent match is the demonstration of the partnership. It is
how the locals earn their part of the money. It is a spirit of
partnership. Remember, it has been around for 50 years and it
started out as a 50/50 match--State 25, local 25, Feds 50. That
was a program approach and it has lasted for 50 years. I really
do not think that a change in it would be beneficial right now.
However, to mix it in with all the other homeland security
grants, there is a danger that eventually it will lose its
identity. When it loses its identity, it is going to change
what it is doing now.
Mr. Bilirakis. Mr. Smith, you wanted to add something?
Mr. Smith. Yes, sir. The danger of having--and we fight
this constantly sir, because we have the trust fund. The danger
of having that--well, first off, it is extremely challenging.
We were very fortunate that the Florida Insurance Council was
not opposed to the idea. So that helped us a great deal.
Mr. Clarke of Michigan. Yes, it did.
Mr. Smith. They are a great partner of emergency
management. The other thing is that when you do get that
dedicated funding source, you become a target and you are
evaluated constantly for that. There are others that when they
come in--and that is the way our great republic works, is
elected officials change and elected officials have different
views on different things. We just recently in Florida had to
deal with our trust fund being rolled completely into the
general fund and being allocated a different way. The
legislature saw the plight and decided not to go that way.
However, that is some of the challenges we face with a
dedicated funding source.
I would highly encourage you, as NEMA, IAM, FEPA and I can
guarantee you almost every other State EM association would say
EMPA has to remain separate and I believe your committee was
very involved in making sure that that occurs. Thank you.
Ms. Dragani. To quickly add NEMA's perspective, and it
really follows on to what Mr. Smith and Mr. Russell said. EMPG
again is a 50/50 match. It allows us at all levels of
government to fund people. Without the funding to be able to
pay the salaries of the emergency managers at the State and
local level, we do not have emergency management programs at
the State and local level. That program also in turn is primary
in administering things like the Urban Area Security Initiative
grants, the Homeland Security grants, many of the other
programs that come through other funding sources. So the
emergency--if we do not have EMPG, I would suggest we do not
have an emergency management system in the Nation, or with
significantly--significantly--decreased capabilities Nation-
wide. It is really critical I think to the community that that
program remain separate and it be allowed to do what it does
currently.
Mr. Clarke of Michigan. This is my last one. Many of you
mentioned about the role of the private sector----
Mr. Bilirakis. We will do another round.
Mr. Clarke of Michigan. Oh, okay. The role of the private
sector, whether it be for-profit or non-profit. My background,
I used to work at the local county level in the bowels of the
bureaucracy in acquisitions and purchasing. So that is why I
always consider being a bureaucrat something that is not
negative.
I signed purchase orders for 6 years and also too, I
understand how elected officials sometimes do not understand
the importance of having clear procedures that are out there.
Do you have any thoughts collectively on how FEMA can
encourage the type of innovation that the private sector could
provide FEMA as contractors or other partners? Ms. Dragani, do
you see a role of the private sector in being able to offer
innovation in how we respond to these disasters; and if so,
second, how can FEMA best encourage it if you do not think they
are doing that right now?
Mr. Koon. Yes, sir, I believe they are encouraging it and I
think we saw that start after Hurricane Katrina when both DHS
and FEMA formed the private sector office. In my previous role
at Wal-Mart, I had numerous and frequent engagements with both
of those private sector offices. I hosted numerous Federal
officials at Wal-Mart, at both our home offices as well as at
our distribution centers and stores, so that they could
benchmark how we were doing things.
I think the best way to spur that innovation is to
encourage FEMA to think like the private sector does, to think
about streamlining their processes as much as possible,
eliminating waste, and trying to return to normalcy quickly
after an event. One of our goals as emergency managers is to
put ourselves out of business as quickly as possible. We do not
want to be the ones out there delivering food and water, we do
not want to be the ones sheltering and housing people. We want
the community to get back to operation as quickly as possible.
The way that communities operate on a day-to-day basis,
every single day, relies heavily upon the private sector. So in
order to help replicate that, we want to think like they do and
ensure that we are not adding steps into the process that
should not be there, that we are streamlining as much as
possible. Wherever possible, not trying to replicate or
duplicate something that is already being done out there.
So I think probably one of the best ways that FEMA can
innovate is simply working with the private sector, working
with businesses to give them that information to get them up
on-line as quickly as possible, to prepare them ahead of time
and help them understand the importance of preparedness,
utilize the communications channels that they already have with
their employees and with their customers to spread that message
of preparedness. Then in the response phase, working with them
to get the information so they can come back up on-line as
quickly as possible, get people back to work, restore the tax
base in that community, and then basically get things back to
as normal as they can as quickly as possible.
Mr. Smith. On that point, we have Florida statutes and as
you know, there are Federal procurement guidelines that really
prevent--and it also goes back to what Bryan said about
spending a dollar to chase a dime. You know, FEMA is somewhat
bound--their hands are tied because of Federal procurement
rules, plus, you know, they have processes where they will
say--debris collection is a perfect point. They want you to
have a contract in place prior to the event. However, in my
local state of emergency, I suspend my normal process for
following all those rules. So let us just say I could not get a
better price when I am at that 7 days before my state of
emergency, suspending my rule. There is also the questions of--
and hopefully they are working through these at FEMA about
well, why did you buy that? I am going to use Craig's comment
and it is one he used quite a bit after the 2004 storms when he
testified before Congress. ``It seemed like the right thing to
do at the time.'' But that does not work for those people that
come in to work closeouts or to review our FEMA--for FEMA's
review of our expenditures. So there is that question and that
is one of the things we need to work with them on. I know that
coming from local government, I know their hands are tied on
some of the things that they have to do. The Stafford Act
requires them to do a lot of different things. So that is a
challenge that we have. I would love to see some innovation and
be able to work through some things, but my hands are tied on
the local level. You know, I cannot go to a preferred vendor
until I go out--depending on the price of it--go out and get a
request for bids or request for quotes. I cannot get any
construction company or any architect until I go out and do
that, regardless.
Mr. Clarke of Michigan. Is that because of your State and
local rules?
Mr. Smith. Right. Then FEMA says did you follow your
State?--and different things like that. So there are some
challenges.
Mr. Clarke of Michigan. So how about if we gave you
flexibility from your own State and local rules, procurement
rules, in certain situations?
Mr. Smith. I imagine that would be helpful. I think we
would have to work with the AG's office on how we would be able
to do that.
Mr. Clarke of Michigan. You know, the other concern we
have, in an emergency situation, vendors will jack up the price
and that type of thing, so we have to safeguard. But what you
are saying is if you had the flexibility to work quickly,
contract quickly, you would be able to get a better job done?
Mr. Smith. Well, yes, but going back, you have got to be
careful about not just what satisfies us right now, but where
we are at 5 years when we go through the audit. So that is some
of the things we will have to look at.
Ms. Willis. Not to interrupt, but I think there is a huge
benefit in keeping the process formalized in terms of entering
contracts. We are able to negotiate the costs ahead of time,
which avoids litigation on the back end. So that benefits us to
have those purchasing contracts for feeding, for anything that
might be needed--for personal care, showers, whatever, all
those things are negotiated ahead of time and that benefits not
only the municipality but the county and I imagine the State as
well.
Mr. Clarke of Michigan. One question. Which level of
government contracts, is it the local----
Ms. Willis. Each one.
Mr. Clarke of Michigan [continuing]. Or the State?
Ms. Willis. Each one. City of Tampa has its own contracts
and Hillsborough County has its contracts, the State has its
contracts. If you imagine during Katrina what would have
happened if all of the parishes shared the same vendors. That
would have been an issue, right? They would have been
struggling, I need them for this, we need them for that. They
only have 25 front-end loaders; who gets them? So it benefits
all of us to maintain separate contracts, because when a
disaster happens, we do not want to argue over limited
resources. Post-disaster, we do not want to come back and have
all of these issues with improper spending or price gouging.
Mr. Clarke of Michigan. Thank you.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you. You will be recognized again for
a second round.
Mr. Clarke of Michigan. I believe Mr. Koon has something.
Mr. Bilirakis. Oh, yeah, you would like to make a comment
on that.
Mr. Koon. Just two brief ones. I believe that the fear of
price gouging after an event probably far outweighs the actual
occurrence of it. I think you will find that the vast majority
of businesses that are involved in that situation want to do
the right thing and will not use it to take advantage of the
situation.
The second piece of it, there is an inherent cost of doing
business with Government as a Government contractor, becoming
involved in these types of situations. If you walked up and
down the street right outside this building, you would find
that the majority of businesses have no interest whatsoever in
dealing with the Government.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Koon. Frankly, because it is too much of a headache and
would cost them a fortune to do so. So we truly want to pursue
a whole community effort in this and work on restoring these
communities as quickly as possible. You have got to meet them
on their terms, not try to get them to come to Government's
terms when it comes to procuring their goods and services.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you. Anyone else?
[No response.]
Mr. Bilirakis. Okay, I have a couple of questions.
This question is for Ms. Carbone. Last month the Red Cross
announced the Ready Rating Tool--I know you brought it up a
little bit--to assist schools and businesses in their efforts
to enhance their preparedness for natural disasters and
terrorist attacks.
What has the response been like and then also have the
schools cooperated? Do we have any schools in the Tampa Bay
area that, or businesses, that participate, in the Tampa Bay
area? If you know, maybe the Detroit area as well.
Ms. Carbone. The Ready Rating Program, Mr. Chairman, came
out of a successful program that our St. Louis Chapter is
working and so it has a long history of success.
Basically, for those who are not familiar with it, it is an
on-line tool now that a business or a school system can go on
and rate your readiness to prepare for emergencies and respond
to emergencies. It is a tool for businesses and also for
schools. It has been very well received and what we have really
tried to do over the past about year or year-and-a-half at the
Red Cross is making it an easy tool to use, so that it is
very--it is on-line now and it is a simple thing to do and it
gives you specific suggestions. If you want to remain part of
the Ready Rating Program, it may tell you, let us say for
instance for your business, that you are at a certain level of
readiness, but if you have four or five more employees that are
trained in CPR or something like that, that you could meet that
next level.
It is a bit of a challenge to get it into our school
systems here in Florida. Obviously they are very, very focused
right now on meeting EPCAP requirements and those types of
things. Although we have a similar program, which does meet
curriculum, there is just a lot of pressure right now on our
school systems. So what we are really trying to do in our
school systems is work with them to bring the message to our
youth and be able to do it that way. We do not have a
particular school system in place. We do have a number of
businesses that have expressed an interest in Ready Rating.
There are local leaders at Coca-Cola and others in Florida that
we have worked with and that are looking at it. They made the
first step, they approached the American Red Cross to train
some of their employees on CPR, that type of thing.
But looking at it holistically as a business really is just
taking that next step, taking that next step of preparedness.
It is a great program, we are really hoping to get some muscle
and meat behind it this year and really bring everyone's
attention to it.
I appreciate, Mr. Chairman, that you became aware of it and
I think it is a great tool for us to really use to start people
thinking about preparedness. Even more important, what is that
next step concretely that I can take as a business to get my
business prepared, as Mr. Koon mentioned, being able to come
back and if you are more prepared for the emergency up front,
you will be able to come back quicker. Then maybe also beyond
that, it is about allowing your employees volunteer time so
that they can get the information that they need and be out
there in some of our volunteer communities and things like the
American Red Cross.
So it has met a lot of success around the country and we
are hoping to really ramp it up further and be able to take
those next steps with it in our communities.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you. If we can be helpful, please let
us know. I am sure Congressman Clarke would be helpful as well.
Ms. Carbone. Thank you.
Mr. Bilirakis. Administrator Fugate--this is for the entire
panel to respond--has provided more authority to the 10 FEMA
regions in an effort to decentralize the organization and make
it more responsive. That is the key, that is the bottom line.
Has this decentralization been effective, first? What changes,
if any, would you recommend to maybe further strengthen FEMA's
regions?
Who would like to respond first?
Ms. Dragani. I can start.
Mr. Bilirakis. You are recognized.
Ms. Dragani. Region V out of Chicago supports both Ohio as
well as Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.
Certainly some of the devolution, if you will, that FEMA has
done from the National to the regions has been very productive.
The disability coordinator, we did not have one previous to
this. We have legal counsel in the region, which is important,
there are legal counsel for each State. I think that it is a
work in process, I do not think they are done yet. But
certainly from a National Emergency Management Association
perspective, we applaud their efforts to create--to push as
much of the authority down to the regional administrator and
his or her staff as possible. They are making strides to do
that.
Mr. Bilirakis. Okay. Tell me why?
Ms. Dragani. Because the people in Chicago and Illinois
have a much better understanding of the issues that face our
region than somebody who has never lived in the Midwest. This
really came up with the snow a couple of years ago and there
was a new snow policy. Many of the people at FEMA were not from
snow States, so they did not get it, they did not understand
it, they did not think it was an issue. Then we had
snowmageddon in Washington, DC and all of a sudden, snow became
an issue that people could embrace.
Mr. Bilirakis. Right.
Ms. Dragani. So I think just having people in the region
that actually understand the issues that are facing Michigan
and Ohio and Indiana is really beneficial as we start to talk
about the issues that impact us and you begin to develop plans,
exercises, and training on a regional basis.
Mr. Bilirakis. Makes sense to me.
Mr. Koon.
Mr. Koon. Congressman, I concur with Ms. Dragani. I would
also add that the frequency of the interaction we have with the
people at FEMA Region IV, which is our FEMA region, allows them
to fully understand what our issues are. We can also engage
them in our training and exercise program so that when the time
comes, they know everybody on our team.
Mr. Bilirakis. Anyone else? Yes, sir.
Mr. Russell. I think for the most part, what they have done
so far has been transferring to the local level. However, I do
know that these changes are necessary because we do not always
have the devastating type of disasters in Alabama, sometimes we
have a borderline when we have a touchdown, and the approval
for the declaration can take up to a month, you know, rather
than a few days. I think that more authority at the regional
level will help expedite that, especially if it is not declared
and there is an appeal process. That can take too long, because
it goes to Washington and some black hole up there handles it.
Mr. Bilirakis. Yes, sir.
Mr. Smith. I will echo what Bryan said about the
relationships or the contact, building those relationships.
That is one of the most important things in emergency
management, is having the relationships with the players so
that we are not, as the saying goes, exchanging business cards
during the disaster.
What I have personally experienced for an appeal on an HMGP
project, we went right up to the Region IV director and it was
approved, came right back down. We were looking at--for our
emergency operations center, we were looking at modifying our
contract, they sent an individual down from Atlanta, went over
it with us, with the local office, and approved it right there
on the spot. So that was huge, to be able to have that so I
could move forward quickly with our project at the local level.
So I was very appreciative of that.
Mr. Bilirakis. Anyone else?
[No response.]
Mr. Bilirakis. Okay, Mr. Smith, I have a question for you.
I know you briefly touched upon this, but we have discussed
this issue in the past and I have discussed this with my locals
as well. I have been contacted by emergency management
officials from around the country, as a matter of fact, who are
concerned about FEMA's Functional Needs Support Services
Guidance and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities
Act for emergency sheltering, an issue you raised, of course,
in your testimony. All of us share the goal of ensuring all
populations are considered and accommodated during disaster
response--no question.
How have you worked to address the various functional needs
of your constituents? As you plan your emergency shelter
operations, what challenges have you faced in addressing this
issue? You talked about the long-term shelter as opposed to the
short-term 72-hour shelter. I know Mr. Russell probably wants
to comment on this too. What assistance have you received from
FEMA and from the Department of Justice? I have spoken with the
Department of Justice on this issue. When do you anticipate you
will convene the hurricane sheltering risk summit that you
talked about? I hope you will inform us of the results of the
summit too, because I would like to know.
Mr. Smith. Yes, sir, actually we will probably invite one
of your staff members.
Mr. Bilirakis. Please. Maybe I could attend as well.
Mr. Smith. Sure, that would be great.
What we have done in Lake County and what people are doing
across the State is they are looking at what they currently do
and how they can easily make some accommodations. Things like
if they provide a TV at their shelter, make sure that the TV
can use closed captioning. If they do not provide TVs, if they
can provide an interpreter or an American sign language
interpreter, work through that. However, that is extremely
challenging to do because typically the people that want to
provide that service, want to leave the area also for an
evacuation.
We are working to try to use the American Red Cross
translation. They have a big billboard trifold card that they
can point to and work through those different things. That is
not just for people that are unable to talk, but it is also for
language barriers, things of that nature.
In Florida, we have already had pet-friendly shelters.
However, we recognize service animals and we have been able to
try to make accommodations for those service animals.
So the challenges that we have are: (1) That it really kind
of caught us by surprise, this document that came out. I
recognize that Florida DEM had a representative, I like Chip
Wilson, does a great job. Chip is the disability coordinator.
We did not see an emergency manager on that process. Florida
has a dynamic and very robust sheltering system. We are--we
shelter all the time, we practice it. American Red Cross
partners are there with us constantly. As I explained in my
opening remarks, we shelter three-quarters of the State or can
shelter a third of the State at one time, just depending on
what the trajectory of the storm is.
So in discussions--just last month was the Governor's
Hurricane Conference and FEMA staff came down and DOJ staff
came down and the representatives from the organization that
crafted--took administrative responsibility for putting the
document together--came in to provide training. One of the
challenges that occurred in that training was that they tried
to stop us from using the term ``Special Needs.'' That is a
problem in the State of Florida because Florida Statute 252,
which is the emergency management statute, specifically says
you will have a Special Needs program. I am responsible for
having a Special Needs registry in my county. Also, my review
of the Post-Katrina Act showed that Special Needs is a term
that was used within their Act. So we had some frustration with
that.
It was a great conference, we had a lot of dialogue with
FEMA representatives and it really came to a point where we
recognized that their understanding of risk or hurricane
sheltering is non-existent. What they are talking about doing
for a post--how it is going to work for a post-shelter, we are
in agreement. We believe that we can work through very easily
on a post-sheltering, probably 72 hours after a hurricane
event, we can work on getting those things accomplished.
However, you are talking about sheltering, starting
sheltering maybe 2 days or a day before and then sheltering is
a mentality of grouping and herding and putting all the people
together as best they could.
Mr. Bilirakis. It is to save lives.
Mr. Smith. Yes, sir, it is to save lives, not to actually--
because our standards are that we follow with American Red
Cross, you talk 20 square feet per person and if the wind is
really blowing, you go down to 10 square feet. So there needs
to be work with the Americans with Disabilities Act advocates
to explain those issues to them and to work with them on that.
I completely agree that there needs to be provisions and
people need to have that access. They should not be denied it
at all. However, we need to work to make sure that we can be
able to provide that legitimately. An example I use is there is
an individual that comes in and we need to make the
accommodation to provide them a cot at the shelter. We do not
provide cots in Lake County and the majority of counties do not
provide cots for hurricane sheltering. It is a place to hide
for a certain period of time, 12 to 18 hours, from the wind.
All right? So then I have a family of four sitting there and
the mother is pregnant and she sees an individual is getting a
cot because they qualify for the ADA accommodation. So whose
rights am I violating, you know? That is some of the
discussions we are trying to have with DOJ.
In Florida, we have seen that the Department of Justice has
had completely inconsistent rulings on settlements with
different--City of Fort Meyers, roughly 100,000 people. Their
settlement with DOJ was they only had to have one shelter that
met the FNSS criteria. Fairfax County, Virginia, the most
populous county in Virginia, they only had to have one. So we
cannot figure that out. They are in negotiations with Broward
County, there is a requirement for air conditioning. They told
Broward County that all of their shelters had to have air
conditioning, but just on the other side of the State is the
City of Fort Meyers, they only had to have one that did.
An example of the cost of that, Florida put generators in
shelters across the State of Florida, put 56 of them in
shelters, that were large enough to run the air conditioning,
because our shelters are at schools. There is a law that says
they have to build the schools to a certain protection level.
Schools use central energy plants for cooling, so you have to
have a big generator. For 56 sites, it cost over $77 million.
So the cost there is significant to be able to provide that. We
cannot just go buy a little air conditioner window unit or
something like that to stick in there, because again, I do not
know who I need to be able to provide that service to. They
said I need to be able to provide it for anyone that would show
up to our shelter. I do not know who is going to show up to our
shelter.
So there is the frustration in just being able to work
through these issues. I know we can resolve them. I know we can
work with the experts on the ADA disability side of this and to
be able to work and come to a common goal. That is why I said
that we want to work on having the summit. More than likely,
sir, it will probably be the November time frame because, as
you know, August, September and October are our three busiest
months for hurricanes. So we will have to bide our time to be
able to work through that, but we are working with the Florida
Division of Emergency Management and the Florida Department of
Health. We have created two committees, one is a policy
committee to work through and develop policies. Right now, we
are looking at working on developing policies for post
sheltering, because that is the most realistic.
Mr. Bilirakis. Post sheltering is----
Mr. Smith. Post-hurricane; yes, sir.
Mr. Bilirakis [continuing]. Katrina-type sheltering.
Mr. Smith. Yes, sir, after the storm. It is not like you
saw in the Super Dome because that was a refuge of last resort.
But this would be for such as like Alabama or like we had with
Groundhog Day. Then we are trying to do a gap analysis of what
resources are available. There are groups working on gap
analysis, such as how much more money would generators cost?--
and different things like that.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you. Anyone else want to contribute to
this? Yes, Ms. Carbone.
Ms. Carbone. Mr. Chairman, the American Red Cross is
working very diligently with our community partners to do
everything we can. What I would really like to say about this
is that all of our partners need to come to the table and that
includes the private sector, because they can help us meet
these needs. You cannot do it at every single shelter every
single time, especially when you are talking about hurricane
shelters. What you need to do is you need to know how to get
that resource to that shelter in a certain amount of time. So
we are committed to working with our community partners. I
think there is a lot of attention and a lot of good work being
done on this around the State of Florida to really try our
hardest frankly to make sure that we can serve every citizen in
the State of Florida as best we can to meet those needs.
Mr. Smith. I am sorry, I need to re-address something. One
of the things that is in my testimony is an article by Ms. Lynn
Ross from out in Washington State and one of the things that is
important to note in that is that she pointed out to me in our
discussion, earthquakes. I do not deal with those, but she
pointed out to me that she can identify all the buildings in
the world that she wants to meet ADA, but that may be the
buildings that are inhabitable after an earthquake. So the time
period to be able to provide that is extremely important.
Mr. Bilirakis. We have got to resolve this, most
definitely.
Mr. Russell.
Mr. Russell. I had the opportunity to serve on the
Comprehensive Planning Guide Development Group with FEMA and
one of the CPGs they are coming out with has to do with
functional needs and it is a hairy subject, but the key is at
the planning stage to get everybody to the table. That is at
the community level.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you. Anyone else on this side?
[No response.]
Mr. Bilirakis. Okay. I am going to recognize Congressman--
Ranking Member Clarke for any further questions. I know he has
got to get to the airport, probably has to leave in a few
minutes. Would you like to add a couple of things?
Mr. Clarke of Michigan. This has been a great session. I do
not have any further questions but I really appreciate your
input, especially on the EMPG and also the Federal procurement
process and contracting. Chairman, thank you for raising these
issues. I know that you plan on having a subsequent hearing
with Administrator Fugate and actually convey to him what this
panel's insight is all about. Hopefully I can work with you on
getting our message out.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you very much.
Mr. Clarke of Michigan. I appreciate it.
Mr. Bilirakis. If you will bear with me, I do have a few
more questions. We can go over 12:00. I do not know if anyone
has to catch any flights. Are we okay? Very good.
As part of FEMA's integrated public alert and warning
system--and I know you all brought this up--all cell phones
must be capable of receiving emergency alerts through the
Personal Localized Alert Network, known as PLAN, by April 2012;
New York and Washington, DC, as early as the end of this year.
That is what I am told.
Have you been able to provide input to FEMA or the FCC on
the type of system that will best meet your needs? What
guidance, if any, have you received from FEMA and the FCC on
PLAN and the best way to use it to warn citizens of a hazard in
your area? I know Pasco County is working on this issue as
well.
Who would like to begin on this one?
Mr. Koon. Congressman, I have actually had conversations
with Pasco County's emergency management about this system as
well. We are very excited about the possibility of it. As I
mentioned before, the State does have--many counties, many
municipalities, schools, hospitals, et cetera, have emergency
notification systems, but none of them are going to be able to
reach those citizens who are visiting the State, you know the
million-plus tourists who could be around, they are not going
to be in that system. It will also not localize it. It is going
to be based on--a fixed system will be based on their home
address and so will not help them if they are on the
interstate, for example.
Mr. Bilirakis. Right.
Mr. Koon. So we are very excited about this system as part
of the overall notification system within the State, to be able
to alert citizens to an emergent issue, tornado warning, flash
flood warning, et cetera. Thus far, we have not had significant
conversations with FEMA about this system, but we are pressing
so that we can implement as quickly as possible following the
April 2012 implementation date.
Mr. Bilirakis. Anyone else? Yes, Mr. Smith.
Mr. Smith. Mr. Chairman, we completely agree this needs to
occur. In Florida, we have 103 percent saturation rate of cell
phones, I carry three of them myself.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Smith. I will tell you this needs to be in partnership
with the NOAA weather radio system, because I will tell you on
Groundhog Day, the people that died, the reason they died--we
lost 21 people in my county. The reason they died is what woke
them up was their mobile phone or the home that they were in
being destroyed by the tornado. So they did not have NOAA
weather radios and we push them significantly.
But there are issues like in some parts of our State where
the NOAA weather radio coverage is not as good as cell phone
coverage. So we know that if they are getting that cell phone,
people are going to pay more attention to their cell phone, we
believe. Because the NOAA weather radio is one of those things
that if it keeps going off a couple of times, they are going to
turn it off so they can get some sleep. But they will not turn
off their cell phone. So that is why we are very excited about
this process.
I will tell you that any county in the State of Florida is
willing to be a test bed to be able to utilize that system.
Mr. Bilirakis. Very good. Right now if you have the land-
based, you have the reverse 9-1-1.
Mr. Smith. Yes.
Mr. Bilirakis. This would not work for visitors and those
that do not have land lines.
Mr. Smith. In Lake County, it does not work for those that
do not have--that are visitors.
Mr. Bilirakis. How would it work with a cell phone, would
it be a text message?
Mr. Smith. That is my understanding; yes, sir. We are
looking for the--most of the information I have is from the
press release that they had and in discussions with our State
representative and the gentlemen in Pasco County, is that it
would be a text message and it would be a different type of
tone. However, it is not all that exciting just yet because
there has to be an enabled phone. So we will have to go through
a generation or two of cell phones for everybody to be able to
get that. But, you know, at my house, I am getting one every 2
years because my kid wants something newer. So I think we are
going to be able to get there rather quickly because of the way
the plans are and different things like that. So this really is
the way to work, to be able to do this. I think because of the
way our society is, and there may be a way that we push out the
information and be able to go back to what you were asking
about, about getting our citizens more engaged. If they know
they are going to be able to get that--you know, we do have to
be careful of the big brother philosophy that he can reach out
and touch me. But having that issue or that knowledge is
tremendous.
Mr. Bilirakis. We must take our hearing impaired and our
visually impaired folks into consideration as well.
Ms. Willis.
Ms. Willis. Yes, sir. One of the issues that we are facing
in Tampa is we have a system called Work Tampa. We have moved
away from one that was actually upgraded to having a
notification that provides text messages, that will call their
home phone system and that will provide e-mail. We recognize
that people are carrying smartphones, the majority of people in
the United States certainly in highly populated areas are not
registering for land-line service.
One thing that I find exciting about the Federal level
pushing this notification process and system out is that it is
somewhat taking the onus off of the citizens. We are having a
major issue with getting residents to actually register for the
system, getting subscribers. We have had the system in place
for about a year now, we have a population of over 300,000
people, we have 5,000 people registered for the system. So it
is on us to actually promote the system, tell them why they
should use it. You know, here in Florida, we have something
called hurricane fatigue, people get a little bit tired.
On top of all of this, we have a lot of visitors that come
to our area. We would like them to receive alert texts, alert
messages. So if the Federal Government is pushing out this
program, it's so beneficial because no matter where they are,
they can receive an alert text or an alert message. They do not
have to go into Tampa to register for the system. But chances
are, they will not even know about it unless we are promoting
it so effectively in the towns and everywhere else, that they
actually can use the system.
So, you know, from my point of view as an emergency manager
in Tampa, having the Federal Government push out a notification
system is absolutely awesome.
Mr. Bilirakis. Very good. Can someone maybe elaborate on
what is in place for the hearing impaired or visually impaired
as far as a warning is concerned? Could someone address that?
Mr. Smith. I can tell you with the NOAA weather radios,
there is a device that they can get where there is a flashing
light and then to wake people up at night, there is a bed
shaker. It is a device that they can attach to their bed.
The use for the sight--if it is a text, I believe that they
have phones that are capable of being able to convert that
text. Like my new Bluetooth converts my texts to audio so that
I am getting email, so I am not texting and driving--because
that is illegal--or not yet, but it should be.
So there are--as was mentioned, getting the private sector
involved, this is an innovative way to get them involved with
the service that is going to need to be provided. Because if it
is a text, we are still going to want the people that are
driving to get it and we do not want them to wreck while they
are trying to read the text about the wreck that is up ahead of
them. So there are a lot of things that we are going to have to
deal with, to include all the different specific populations.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you.
My next question is for Mr. Smith, Mr. Russell, and Ms.
Willis. The International Association of Emergency Managers has
supported a number of initiatives to strengthen FEMA's disaster
response capabilities, including ensuring that local emergency
managers have meaningful participation in FEMA's policymaking
process. Do you believe FEMA has fostered a culture of
cooperation with local emergency managers with respect to
policy development? As a follow-on, as I am sure you are aware,
the Gulf Coast of Florida was significantly impacted by the
Deepwater Horizon oil spill last year. During the response,
local officials in this area were frustrated by the unified
command's communication efforts. I heard it everywhere. That
is, they were concerned that while the unified command was
proficient in providing information, problems arose when local
officials attempted to pass information on needs or conditions
on the ground back up the chain.
In your experience in working with FEMA in response to
disasters, does the information chain sufficiently work in both
directions? Because it must. Are your concerns heard and
considered promptly and effectively? If they are not, I need to
know about it. I would imagine the FEMA liaison position
discussed by Mr. Russell will go a long way in helping to
correct these issues. Are liaisons in place throughout the
different States? I know that is a lot, but if you can--maybe
all of you want to comment on that.
We will go with Mr. Smith, Mr. Russell, Ms. Willis, and
anybody else who wants to comment.
Mr. Smith. The answer in general to the question is yes.
One exception that I did bring up earlier is the FNSS document.
I am not sure--that is one of the biggest concerns we have at
the local level, is why did that not go through the normal
vetting process, why were we not consulted? All of a sudden,
here is this document. That is what caused that frustration is
because they had gotten so good at asking us our opinion.
However, do we provide--you know, their challenge is do we
provide it as much as we should? I would hazard to say no, we
do not, because we are dealing with other things, and then we
complain about it, ``Hey, how did this get through?'' So in
their defense, you know, there are some things that the locals
need to do better on providing that feedback.
But the answer in general to your question is yes, I do
believe that. Their e-mail has been very good, about being able
to provide that, they are real good about being able to accept
it electronically and put things on their FTP site and there
are different committees that they are looking at for locals to
be engaged with.
On the Deepwater Horizon issue, you know, that was not
FEMA.
Mr. Bilirakis. No, I realize that.
Mr. Smith. That was DHS.
Mr. Bilirakis. Yes.
Mr. Smith. That was in all issues because of OPA 90,
because of the fact that OPA 90 was designed really and truly
from the Exxon Valdez and from the incident that occurred here
in Tampa Bay where the tanker hit the skyline bridge. So that
is what OPA 90 was designed for. It was not designed for a
volcano of oil spewing from the bottom of the ocean. So really
and truly systems were overwhelmed. The way the Coast Guard is
designed, Florida is split up into two different Coast Guard
commands, so there are challenges with that and that goes back
to the point about the sovereignty of local and State
government.
There was not an ability for the locals to be able to
control the assets. Eventually we got that, we were able to get
that, but it took some time and that was a huge frustration,
not being able to do that. So I believe that DHS has heard us
on that, I believe the Coast Guard has heard us on that.
Definitely, you know, I spent a week-and-a-half in Tallahassee
working with the DEM staff, all the DEP staff or Department of
Environmental Protection, that were involved with that. They
are working to try to work that with our Federal partners to be
able to get that better. I know that the Coast Guard has
reached out to us at the local level better. We have
established that relationship a little bit better.
You know, one of the challenges is not so much for like
this area here in the Tampa Bay area, because as Ms. Willis
pointed out in her testimony, they are used to dealing with a
lot of this stuff. They are used to an active port. But when
you have our smaller counties, particularly up in the
panhandle, and that is what was impacted, was our smaller
counties, they do not have active ports, they were not having
that relationship with the Coast Guard. I do believe the Coast
Guard has heard that, they are engaging with the smaller
communities that have just a little bay that people will come
in and out of, that does not have the actual commerce. So there
is improvement on the horizon for that--not to make a pun. But
there are ways that we can do that and I believe we are
engaging.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you very much.
Mr. Russell.
Mr. Russell. Yes, sir. As to FEMA involving the local
emergency managers, as I said before, I do have the opportunity
of serving on the Comprehensive Preparedness Guide Development
Team. That is probably 50 percent local. We have a few State
representatives and the rest are FEMA and the contractor group.
But we put together some new documents, working together, and
they are actively putting the concerns that we have into these
documents. So I am satisfied that is happening.
I am disappointed that the peer review program for vetting
of the Homeland Security Grants, including EMPG, has
disappeared I believe within the last couple of years, and that
is something I think really benefitted the country, because
there was a peer review process. I think if we had more peer
review-type processes in the way policies are made, I think we
will have a better partnership all along.
Mr. Bilirakis. Makes sense to me. I know you agree with
that, Ms. Willis.
Ms. Willis. Yeah, I do agree. One area where I would like
to see more interaction--let me give you the overview of how it
works in Florida and for every State, and this is something
that you probably have heard time and time again. It is FEMA to
the State to the county to the city. So I work with the City of
Tampa and as a result, I have very little interaction with
FEMA. Now we have over 400,000 people in our population that we
deliver--over 300,000 people, but the point of the matter is
that I have very little interaction with FEMA. So whatever we
are doing, you know, they may or may not be aware of it.
Our interaction is just that they are telling us, setting
guidance and telling us what we need to do. So as far as
pulling up a chair to the table and having everyone involved in
the policymaking and discussions, that has not happened.
Now on the flip side, with the Deepwater Horizon, I did
appreciate them reaching out to our Mayor and our inter-
governmental affairs and getting us on the conference call and
allowing us to participate and have some local input into what
was going on in the State of Florida specifically, since we are
dealing with Tampa Bay and the Gulf area.
So, you know, in summary, we need more interaction with
FEMA at the local level, because if something happens in Tampa
with the port, with the Republican National Convention, with
the Super Bowl, it would be good to have a liaison that I
actually am familiar with and I actually know their name.
Mr. Bilirakis. There is not a liaison in this area that we
know of?
Ms. Willis. There may be, I do not know that.
Mr. Bilirakis. Okay, very good. Yes, Mr. Russell.
Mr. Russell. It was the National Advisory Council that was
comprised of private sector, local, State, and other groups to
help with the policymaking in the past. I think that has kind
of faded away. We do have a regional DAC in place, but it has
pretty much become inactive. Maybe more emphasis on reviving,
you know, the advisory councils in all the regions and then a
National council, may be a step towards achieving that
partnership.
Mr. Bilirakis. Very good, thank you.
Ms. Carbone, did you want to add something?
Ms. Carbone. No.
Mr. Bilirakis. Okay. Anyone over here?
Mr. Koon, what went wrong with the response plan as far as
the Deepwater spill?
Mr. Koon. Congressman, I was not with DEM at the time, but
I do believe there were some issues in the beginning in simply
understanding who was in charge of the situation. It took
several weeks for that to rectify itself. Luckily, it was a
slow-moving event so they had a little bit of opportunity in
the State of Florida to get that in place before the oil hit
the beach.
One of the things we are concerned about is the Cuba
offshore oil drilling. We are potentially within 90 days now of
them actually beginning to drill. My latest estimation was that
they are about 30 days away from moving the rig from Singapore
and then about 60 days once it is in place--or 60 days to move
it in place off Cuba. Its position in the Gulf stream should a
similar incident occur there could put that on Florida beaches
within 1 to 3 days. So we would not have the same luxury of
time that we had with the Deepwater Horizon spill. We are
working very closely with the Coast Guard to ensure that we do
have a better game plan going forward, but the concern is that
we may not be there in time for this rig to be in place. So we
are working very closely, again, with the Coast Guard at the
State to ensure that the same situation does not repeat itself.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you. Anyone else who would like to
comment? Please, Ms. Dragani.
Ms. Dragani. I will comment on the liaison, positioning of
the liaison. The thing when Mr. Russell was talking about
having a liaison on the ground, it was in a response capacity.
We do not typically have FEMA liaisons in the State on a day-
to-day basis.
Mr. Bilirakis. But they are designated.
Ms. Dragani. They are available through those regional FEMA
offices. So just a clarification.
Mr. Bilirakis. Anyone else? Yes.
Mr. Smith. The Florida liaison is based out of the
Thomasville, Georgia office of FEMA.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thomasville office.
Mr. Smith. I have got him in my Blackberry, so it is not an
issue with us. But Ms. Willis, I agree with what she said as a
municipality, I just happened to meet him when I went up to
Tallahassee for a meeting. But that does exist for us to be
able to do that.
Mr. Bilirakis. Very good. Thank you.
Are there any further concerns that you would like to
address? Because I do not have any more questions and we still
have a few minutes. Mr. Koon, you are recognized.
Mr. Koon. Congressman, I will be brief. It follows on with
the Red Cross' Ready Rating Program. One of the programs that I
have concern about of FEMA's is the Private Sector Preparedness
Program, the PS Prep Program for short. Although I have not
paid close attention to it in the last couple of months since I
joined the State, I feel that that program is somewhat
languishing. That is the program that would certify businesses
as being prepared for emergencies, for disasters. I feel that
they have got a structure in place but they have yet to create
the incentive for a business to take part in that program.
There are really two reasons that a business would participate
in it. One is that it was regulatory or required by law. The
other is that it provided some return on investment. At this
point, it is a voluntary program, but it does not provide any
return on investment.
The return on investment could come in one of two ways. It
could either be a financial return on investment in that you
increased your sales or you reduced your costs because you had
the certification. No such provision is in place for that at
the moment. The other reason that a business would participate
in this program is because it generated some kind of goodwill,
either the goodwill of their employees, the goodwill of their
customers, the goodwill of the community as a whole through
increased media exposure, et cetera.
But right now, the program has no such way in which to
generate that goodwill. As a result, there is no real incentive
for a business to participate in the PS Prep Program. Unless
FEMA comes up with a way to generate such goodwill or comes up
with a way to help generate such financial incentives, I
believe that program will continue to languish and nothing will
come of it.
Alternatively though, the Ready Rating Program I think is a
good alternative. It is easy to use and it is associated with
the American Red Cross, so by participating in that program,
there is a goodwill associated and so businesses are more
likely to participate in the program. It is easy to use and it
comes with American Red Cross' stamp of approval.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you. Anyone else? Anything further?
Yes, sir.
Mr. Smith. One thing that we are going to need more details
on is the changes of frequencies and narrow banding by the
Federal Communications Commission, the inter-operability. Here
in Florida, we have our smaller counties, our constrained
counties, are on a VHS system and have had to go to the narrow
banding and they are losing their footprint. There are some
challenges with that. So that is something that I would
encourage you to review and look at and see what other types of
things are out there, because as we see the Federal budget
constricting, working on the ability to provide for those areas
that are not able to really--their budgets are constricting
also and communications equipment is not something that is
easily bought, very expensive.
Mr. Bilirakis. I agree. That should be a priority. Good
point. Yes, sir.
Mr. Russell. Homeland Security has a consortium of training
centers and EMI is not funded anywhere the level of those
training centers. Those training centers are able to take their
resident courses and put them on the road. EMI cannot do that,
they are under-funded. I think that would go a long ways toward
preparedness in the local communities if we could deliver those
resident courses out in the field, like the Homeland Security
courses are offered. So it is not just a matter of funding, it
is a matter of supporting that program.
Mr. Bilirakis. Very good. Ms. Willis.
Ms. Willis. I just would like to say it would beneficial to
get FEMA to tell us what is going right across the country, at
the National level, so that we are not operating blindly.
The other thing is I want to applaud FEMA for initiating
the private sector partnership. I think that is one area where
there has been a big gap and I think that we will be able to
fill it with some more private sector partnerships. I am
looking forward to that. I would like to see how FEMA puts
boots on the ground, how FEMA is going to make sure that
program is fully put into process.
That is just what I would say, more public-private
partnerships.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you. Ms. Carbone.
Ms. Carbone. Well, I think we have all talked about the
important work of all of our agencies and what we are doing
here. If I could just personally thank you for bringing this to
everyone's attention, because in the State of Florida, each
citizen needs to bear personal responsibility for being
prepared. That is the message we are trying to give in our
communities. We give it as often as we can and as loud or soft
as we can, depending on the circumstances, depending on our
audience. But really to take that message to our communities
and to partner together and say we are all working together the
best that we can, but you still bear responsibility for
yourself, for your family, and your community. When you make a
difference and you do that, then that is going to mean a big
difference for our community coming back together.
So, thank you, Mr. Chairman, for bringing this really
important message to us.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you very much. I like Mr. Russell's
suggestion. It starts in our schools and with our children. We
have to create this culture of preparedness.
Thank you very much and I appreciate the audience being
here, the constituents, but also representatives of local
agencies as well.
I thank the witnesses for their valuable testimony and, of
course, Congressman Clarke, for his questions. The Members of
the subcommittee may have some additional questions and I am
sure there are Members that could not attend today that will
have questions for the witnesses and we will ask the witnesses
to respond in writing.
The hearing record will be open for 10 days. The
subcommittee stands adjourned. Thanks so much.
[Whereupon, at 12:25 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]