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| special report
FEMA Builds on Success
Program evolutions for the 2005 hurricane season and beyond.
The
Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response to last year’s
hurricanes resulted in the activation of the National Emergency Operations
Center and other operations centers for more than 55 days—their longest
continuous activation ever. Because its systems, programs and operations
were tested like never before, FEMA will be able to better respond to disasters
this season and in the future, and better aid disaster victims for years
to come.
The 2004 hurricane season inspired program evolutions at FEMA. In addition,
the agency is always adopting new technologies and techniques to help communities
respond and recover from the devastating effects of hurricanes or any disaster—wherever
or whenever they strike (see HP, Summer 2003, page 12).
The following are key elements in FEMA’s “Building on Success”
plan for the 2005 hurricane season and any future disasters. They are program
evolutions that will better serve disaster victims no matter where or when
the next disaster strikes:
PRE-POSITIONING DISASTER SUPPLIES
• 2004: Before the first hurricane made landfall, FEMA had begun
preparations by strategically locating key assets in and around states likely
to be impacted. Through the ensuing onslaught, FEMA pushed supplies into
hard-hit areas, working with state and local officials to identify and prioritize
their needs.
The Pre-Positioned Disaster Supplies (PPDS) Program was developed to pre-position
life-saving/life-sustaining disaster equipment and supplies as close to
a potential disaster site as possible. PPDS positions supplies in containers
on the ground so they are ready to be mobilized and put to use wherever
and whenever disaster strikes. During the 2004 hurricanes, 17 PPDS containers
were provided to support 8,500 disaster victims (each container supported
500 people) in several hurricane-affected states (resources in the containers
included cots, blankets, first- aid kits, personal hygiene kits, tents,
portable toilets, power generators, tool kits and fire extinguishers).
• 2005: PPDS will continue to be used to quickly mobilize life-sustaining
resources to wherever disasters occur—for not only those states that
prepare for hurricanes, but those that are often affected by earthquakes,
tornadoes and other anticipated disasters.
NATIONAL DISASTER MEDICAL SYSTEM
• 2004: During the 2004 hurricanes, the National Disaster Medical
System (NDMS) teams provided medical treatment for nearly 10,000 patients.
Now under the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA is able to better coordinate
the deployment of these medical assistance teams to reach into hurricane-effected
states and treat thousands of disaster victims. (NDMS includes about 8,000
medical and support personnel from across the country who assist local medical
care providers when an emergency exceeds the scope of a community’s
hospital and healthcare resources.)
• 2005: NDMS teams will continue to be deployed to disaster
situations in which state and local officials need coordinated national
medical support during the 2005 hurricane season
and beyond.
WEB-BASED APPLICATION PROCESS
• 2004: On October 5, 2004, FEMA developed and released its online
registration option. Within eight weeks, more than 21,000 applicants used
FEMA’s Web-based registration process to apply for disaster assistance;
and to further expedite disaster assistance applications, FEMA loaded the
Web-based registration to laptop computers, allowing area residents without
phone service or utilities to register from FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers.
• 2005: FEMA will continue to use this successful Web-based application
process for the 2005 hurricane season and in all future disasters as another
tool to speed recovery assistance to impacted individuals and households.
EMERGENCY GROUP SITES
• 2004: Due to the severe devastation of four hurricanes hitting
back-to-back, hundreds of area residents were unable to return to their
homes last year and many could not even find temporary housing accommodations.
Some were forced to sleep in emergency shelters, which are not intended
as a viable long-term housing solution. To transition these individuals
out of emergency shelters until adequate temporary lodging could be acquired,
FEMA introduced Emergency Group Sites (EGS) as an interim sheltering solution.
(EGS are clusters of travel trailers that can be set up in a few days with
fully self-contained utility systems.)
• 2005: FEMA is currently refining interim sheltering options
and intends to utilize EGS again in future large-scale recovery operations,
whether that occurs in 2005 or the more distant future.
HOUSING STRIKE TEAMS
• 2004: In Florida, FEMA deployed Housing Strike Teams (HST)
to the state’s 12 hardest-hit counties to work directly with key local
officials on expediting the emergency housing program. The teams included
representatives from FEMA, the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and highly skilled private-sector consultants
who worked to identify and resolve large-scale housing issues. Through their
efforts, FEMA housed more than 13,000 families in fewer than 90 days.
• 2005: FEMA is in the process of further developing multiple
standing HST for use in future large-scale recovery operations, whether
they occur in 2005 or beyond.
EXPANDED MUTUAL AID ASSISTANCE
• 2004: Due to the scope and magnitude of the 2004 hurricanes,
FEMA realized the necessity to expand the reimbursement program for costs
incurred by local governments that loan their first responders and emergency
resources to aid neighboring cities or counties during a disaster (called
“mutual aid assistance”). FEMA expanded the national mutual aid
policy to allow local governments to be eligible for mutual aid reimbursement
even if a mutual aid agreement was not in place before a disaster declaration.
• 2005: This is now a national policy that will be used in all
future disaster declarations to assist state and local governments with
disaster recovery.
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Hurricane Season
2004:
Largest Mobilization Ever
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FEMA’s response to the extraordinary series of
storms during the 2004 hurricane season was the largest mobilization
of emergency response and disaster recovery resources in the history
of the agency—exceeding operational responses to the 1994 Northridge
Earthquake and the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The four hurricanes that hammered the eastern United States last year
were the most widespread and intense disasters in FEMA’s 26 years
of existence. FEMA responded to a record-setting 27 total major declared
disasters for hurricane-related damage in 15 states, Puerto Rico and
the U.S. Virgin Islands (an area of more than 600,000 square miles).
Florida was hit by four hurricanes and Alabama, Delaware, Georgia,
Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia
were also declared disaster areas due to damages from the storms.
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