the guardian august 2010 edition

August 2010 Volume 4, Issue 2

Inside this issue:

The Guardian A Publication of the International Association of Emergency

Managers Student Chapter at the American Public University System

Toll Free Access Number

1-877-643-6951 Canadian Access Number

1-877-722-6536 International Number

1-302-607-2017

Participant Passcode 21082304#

Message from the President

2

Message from Dr. Phelan

3

Sub-skills of EMs 3-4

EM & Public Health 5 Advancing HLS Ed 5-6 DWH Response 6-7 Hurricanes 8-13 Books 14 IAEM Conference Info

14-18

Upcoming Chapter Teleconference Dates:

Date Time

Sat., 18 Sep 1200 ET Sat., 16 Oct 1200 ET Sat., 20 Nov 1200 ET

Phelan Appointed Program Director By Dawn Heyse IAEM-USA at APUS Treasurer Dr. Christopher Reynolds recently announced that Dr. Thomas Phelan will be suc-ceeding him as the Program Director for Emergency and Disaster Management and Fire Science. Dr. Reynolds will be moving on to become the Dean of Dr. Phelan, or “Dr. Tom” as many of his students know him, has taught in the Ameri-can Public University System for several years, bringing a wealth of emergency man-agement experience to the student body. He is President of Strategic Teaching Associ-ates, Inc. and the author of Emergency Management and Tactical Response Opera-tions: Bridging the Gap (2008, Butterworth-Heinemann). Dr. Phelan was named a Founding Member of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security by Secretary Tom Ridge, and is a member of the IBM Crisis Response Team, responding to Katrina, and the Indian Ocean Tsunami. He serves on the Advisory Board for Canadian Centre for Emergency Preparedness, on the Editorial Advisory Board for Disaster Recovery Jour-nal, and is a member of IAEM. Dr. Phelan has taught EM courses in the Elmira College, Emergency Management Concentration, M.S. Degree program, Onondaga Community College, Empire State College, and is a consultant to Clearview Management, IT Crisis, Virtual Corporation, the American Institutes for Research, and Vantage HRS. Clients he has served are FDIC, USDA/APHIS, Boeing, Disney, Booz Allen, Verizon, States of California and Mis-souri, City of New York, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Sanofi Pasteur, Wyeth Pharmaceu-ticals, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Pearson Technologies, the Department of the Army, and several municipalities. Dr. Phelan served with DMORT in St. Gabriel, Louisiana (2005), at the World Trade Center (2001), and received the New York State Senate Liberty Award for his service at Ground Zero. He holds an earned a Doctorate from Syracuse University, and has con-sulted and presented in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, India, Sri Lanka, and Singapore. Please join us in congratulating and welcoming Dr. Phelan as our new Program Di-rector! A message from Dr. Phelan follows on page 3.

Join us for our monthly meet-ing using the numbers/passcode below. Hope to hear you at the next meeting!

APUS Attendees at the 2010 FEMA Higher Education Conference, held 7-10 June at the Emergency Manage-ment Institute in Emmits-burg, Maryland.

The Guardian

The Guardian

A quarterly publication of the American Public University

System Student Chapter of the International Association of

Emergency Managers

Officers

2010-2011

President

Hannah Vick

Vice President

Ryan Carpenter

Secretary

Jeanette Holt

Treasurer

Dawn Heyse

Faculty Advisor

Dr. Thomas D. Phelan

Program Director


The Guardian

Staff

Editor

Dawn Heyse

Contributors


Prof. Brett H. Hicks

Michelle Barnett

Joshua Jones

William Duchanse

Message from the President By Hannah Vick IAEM-USA at APUS President

What a great time to be a part of our student chapter! In the past three months, we’ve been able to build on the success of the previous executive team and start moving for-ward with several new projects. As always, our goal is to be a resource for our members and APUS students to further the field of emergency management – and now is the time to get involved! What’s been going on? In June, our chapter hosted Ms. Kay Goss as the featured guest for the Masters of Dis-aster Distinguished Speaker Series. Ms. Goss’ extensive experience in emergency man-agement and intergovernmental relations gave us a great look at where the field is head-ing. The presentation was lively, informative and encouraging. Also in June, several of members attended the FEMA Higher Education Conference in Emmitsburg, Maryland. APUS students, faculty and alumni were given the opportunity to learn more about emerging issues in higher education and network with some of the most notable players in emergency management. Our chapter transitioned from the APUS classroom site and is now only using the Org-Sync.com website for all chapter announcements and discussions. If you haven’t signed up with OrgSync.com, you’re missing out! E-mail me for more details. What’s up next? The annual IAEM conference will be held in San Antonio October 29 – November 4. Everyone is strongly encouraged to attend – this is THE place to network, learn and find new opportunities in the emergency management field. Our chapter is fortunate to have members serving on a variety of IAEM committees in support of the conference, which means our members have access to information and guidance from those “in the know.” More information will be posted on our OrgSync.com site and be sure to check out the Masters of Disaster LinkedIn site for upcoming announcements. Our chapter is planning a new initiative in support of National Preparedness Month in September. Although we’re still hammering out the details, we want to offer our mem-bers ways to support their communities in disaster preparedness. Keep your eyes open – we’ll be sending out more information soon. We’re very excited to start working with Dr. Tom Phelan, the new Program Director for APUS’ Emergency and Disaster Management and Homeland Security programs. Any-one who’s taken a class with Dr. Tom knows he’s a great instructor and now we’re look-ing forward to his leadership in this new capacity. Congratulations! More opportunities are on the horizon, so get involved and make it happen! -Hannah

[email protected]

Entries for the IAEM Conference Student Stipend Lottery end Sept. 3, 2010! See page 16 for details!

Volume 4, Issue 2

Message from Dr. Phelan

By Dr. Tom Phelan Program Director This excerpt from Dr. Phelan’s book, Emergency Management & Tactical Response Operations: Bridging the Gap, was presented at the 2010 FEMA Higher Education Conference, 8 Jun 2010

Students in college emergency and disaster management and fire science degree programs enter at all stages of life and career. Some colleges attract students currently serving in emergency response services—fire, law enforcement, emergency medical services, search, and rescue, 9-1-1 centers, hospitals, and psychiatric clinics, and others. Those with special skills in tactical response operations seek to learn about the management aspects of safety, security, and disaster prevention and response. Often, they are seeking career advancement in departments and agencies where col-lege degrees are required for key leadership, promotional positions. Many of the larger municipalities are requiring col-lege degrees for police and fire chiefs. When those with experience in tactical response operations enter college emer-gency management degree programs, they bring invaluable, transferable skills. There is no question that fire ground, law enforcement patrol, or investigative experience is a benefit to an emergency management student. What is sometimes overstated is the notion that all emergency managers need to have this experience. Though it is highly valuable, it is not a requirement for success in an emergency management position. As detailed in Chapter 2, this is largely due to the dif-ferences in skill sets. The prerequisite skills most applicable to college study of emergency management are reading, writing, speaking, analytical, and computer skills. Even in introductory emergency management courses reading is essential. We are en-riched by the volume of scholarly writing and current practices presented in textbooks and journal articles. The reading can become overwhelming if a college student lacks reading skills. In practice, emergency managers spend hours read-ing instructions for grant proposals, new laws and regulations, after-action reports, news articles, research findings, and association publications. Reading is so essential in practice, it would benefit any college degree applicant to assess and improve one’s reading ability. It is also important to recognize the amount of time one will spend reading as a college student of emergency management and to plan for time to devote to reading. Writing skills are required for the college assignments of reports, discussion boards, and research papers. Emer-gency managers will be required to write grant proposals, budget justifications, emergency communications, memos, after-action reports, and press releases. In addition to the fundamentals of proper grammatical structure and spelling, most college-level writing requires proper documentation. Emergency managers must support their ideas with evidence from scholarly sources, articles, legal documents, Presidential directives, and historical facts. Colleges will require stu-dents to follow a style guide such as the Publication Manual of the American

Continued on page 4

Sub-skills of Professional Emergency Managers

By Dr. Tom Phelan Program Director I am excited to be the Program Director of the best emergency and disaster man-agement and fire science academic program. Filling the shoes of Dr. Chris Reynolds is a challenging task. Along the way I will support our students and ask for your sup-port as well. Our students have done exceptional work and proven to be lifelong learners and professionals. My work has focused on educational preparation of emergency managers. I hope to gain insights from experienced colleagues on the successes of their graduates when entering the workplace. I am also interested in emergency preparedness plan-ning and training for colleges and universities. My current research agenda includes creating a comprehensive glossary for business continuity, emergency management and homeland security, and investigating funding sources for healthy practices to reduce heart disease in firefighters. Following the FEMA Higher Education Conference in June, where I met so many APU/AMU students, I had the privilege of traveling to Singapore to present to the Business Continuity Management Institute at their “Meet the Experts” program for business continuity planners and emergency managers. While in Singapore I attended sessions at the International Communication Association confer-ence. I’m looking forward this fall to presenting at the Disaster Recovery Journal conference in San Diego and in attend-ing and meeting many of you at the IAEM conference in San Antonio.

The Guardian

Sub-skills of Professional Emergency Managers

Psychological Association which is updated regularly. Using consistent form for documenting sources, regardless of the style guide required or selected, is a basic requirement of college writing. Why is this important to emergency managers? The field of emergency management frequently involves conversations, discussions, arguments, and other forms of in-formal communication. Learning is often acquired from such interactions. In order for opinions, facts, lessons learned, comments, and criticisms to be widely understood and valuable, they must be captured in writing, so there will be less misunderstanding of what was stated or accomplished. It is just as important in the field of emergency management to write clearly and document correctly as it is in any other professional endeavor. By using highly recognized, acceptable writing standards, we distinguish ourselves as professionals. Speaking skills are equally important to emergency managers. Presentations are common in public arenas. We speak to present a budget, to inform the public, to conduct a briefing session, or to issue on-scene instructions. Our speaking skills need to be effective. Colleges offer courses in public speaking, conflict mediation, and group facilitation. There are proprietary courses, some of which are acceptable for college credit. High on my list are the Dale Carnegie® Course and their course in High Impact Presentations. Both are excellent and highly respected sources of presentation and speaking skills. Today, my graduate students in emergency and risk communications pose questions on presenta-tion skills that clearly indicate the need for acquiring speaking skills. One aspect of speaking in public that emergency managers learn in college courses is audience analysis. Knowing the needs of multiple audiences before, during, and after a crisis is critical to crafting appropriate emergency communication. Responding to the media also requires speak-ing skill. An excellent source for research-based advice on audience analysis and message generation is the work of Vincent T. Covello, Director of the Center for Risk Communication.5 Dr. Covello’s work on message mapping and his analysis of questions asked by the media have provided invaluable insight to college students in emergency manage-ment programs. [Sic] From Chapter 6, p. 113, “Presentation skills are often overlooked in the greater scheme of career development. Effective speaking is not the only presentation skill. In today’s world, messages are often enhanced with visuals. It is im-portant for emergency managers to be able to craft visual aids using computer technology such as Power Point or to communicate at a distance using WebEx.” Analytical and computer skills are growing in importance as required tools for success in emergency management. Mitigation plans involve use of geographic information systems (GIS); preparedness and early warning systems are en-hanced by a number of commercially available computer applications; weather information is largely computer based; incident management systems such as E-Team6 and WebEOC7 are widely used by municipal emergency management offices; and 9-1-1 centers across the nation are employing sophisticated computerized telephone technologies. For emergency managers, basic understanding and application of computer skills have become daily essentials. Colleges offer countless opportunities from courses to help desks for students of emergency management to acquire such skills. Analyzing data of all sorts is helpful in emergency planning. Hazard identification, population densities and demo-graphics, evacuation routes, communications plans, weather data, resource allocation, and personnel accountability all require analytical skills. Emergency managers are required to make informed decisions that may save lives. The ability to analyze or assess a situation is critical to emergency communication and the activation of emergency plans. The prerequisite skills discussed above are essential to success in emergency management. Though they are part of college curricula in emergency management, they can also be acquired before entering a college degree program. Prac-titioners in emergency response organizations often have job requirements that provide opportunities to practice all of the skill sets mentioned above. Students in high school have more than adequate opportunities to learn reading, writing, speaking, analytical, and computer skills. Those involved in tactical response operations may find time to enroll in pro-prietary or community adult education courses where these basic skills are taught and practiced. One thing is clear, in today’s world of emergency management, perhaps more than ever before, these basic skills are required—all of them.

Continued from page 3

Join the APUS IAEM Chapter on OrgSync!

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Volume 4, Issue 2

The Role of Emergency Management in Public Health By Joshua Jones BA EDM Student When people think of emergency management, seldom does public health come to mind. The reality is that emer-gency management has become an important part of the public health system. Since September 11, 2001, the public health industry has changed dramatically. While preparedness has always been a concern for our health infrastructure, it has taken a whole new life since that fate full day. In Kansas each local health department is required to have an emergency response/bio-terrorism planning program in place. The state receives a grant from the federal government and then disbursed that to the local counties and re-gions in order to help fund the positions required due to these programs. In this part of the country we do plan quite a bit for natural disasters. We are in the heart of tornado alley so tornados are defiantly a real threat. In addition, we sometimes have pretty wicked winters. We get snow and ice! We are con-stantly improving on our special needs sheltering plans and looking for innovative ways for us to help in a natural disas-ter. In the summer of 2007, Manhattan, KS was hit by an EF4 tornado; in fact it was from the same cell that nearly wiped the city of Chapman off the map. The Riley County-Manhattan Health Department responded to the scene and quickly began giving tetanus vaccine to those that were affected. Additionally in the winter of 2007 we received one of the worst ice storms on record. The hospitals were inundated with patients and power was out across the majority of the county. The health department quickly came up with a plan to house some of those that were to be released from the hospital, but didn’t have heat or water at home. It is programs such as these that allow us to continue to provide excellent service to the citizens of our county. As with a lot of places in the country, the threat of bio-terrorism is real. Some may think that because we are in the middle of the country and there isn’t necessarily much around, the threat of something occurring in this part of the coun-try is unlikely. While this is somewhat true those individuals fail to realize the assets we have in Kansas. Kansas is a leader in the bio science industry. We have several research labs that run from Manhattan to Kansas City. One of these labs is located in the heart of Kansas State University. The Biosecurity Research Institute supports comprehensive "farm-to-fork" infectious disease research programs that address threats to plant, animal, and human health1. BRI is a level 3 lab. Additionally the National Bio and Agro Defense Facility is currently being constructed in Manhattan. NBAF will be a level 4 lab, and will house some of the most infectious disease known to man. The threat of terrorism is concerning, but so is an accidental release. While unlikely, an accident release of a toxin would be devastating to the local livestock population as well as to human life. The Department of Homeland Security and the U.S department of Agriculture are taking this possibility seriously and planning accordingly. While the response to such an incident would mainly be a fed-eral one, the health department would be naive to think they would not have some role in the activities after a release. We are currently determining what our role will be in this scenario and how we would respond. As with any facet of emergency management, public health has a similar mindset that we hope nothing ever happens, but we should be prepared in the event it does. The thought of a Chemical, Biological, Radiological, or Nuclear release is defiantly concerning, but know this; Public Health is preparing for such an event and will be prepared for it! References 1Biosecurity Research Institute http://www.bri.k-state.edu/

Continued on page 6

Homeland Security Education: Advancing Education By Brett H. Hicks, CEM, CHS-V, SEM Professor, APUS School of Public Safety and Health This article originally appeared in the May 2010 Essential Guide Supplement to Government Security News. Reprinted with the au-thor’s permission. Homeland security education has flourished since September 11, 2001. There are numerous undergraduate and graduate education degree and certification programs available. However, one must ask one’s self, is our current cur-riculum adequate? Is it responsive and/or adaptive? Do we address the developing threats, such as the homegrown terrorists and militias? Likewise, do we study how the Internet has expanded the terrorists’ reach or the ideology of terrorism (which is losing more and more of its religious edict)? Obviously, one can also ask tandem questions of whether we should discuss team building, governmental pol-icy, economics, and cyber security? Homeland Security higher education must be more than simply recounting history. It must look to the future.

The Guardian

Homeland Security Education: Advancing Education

Currently, many Homeland Security education programs are deeply rooted in historical fact. We discuss, at great length, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, Post-9/11 and Post-Katrina fall out. While these events are important milestones in the field, are they producing responsive and proactive Homeland Security practitioners or are we merely creating historians? Should we not develop students to a higher level of mastery? I put forth that we should accelerate our HS Education programs five to ten years into the future. We should graduate professionals with the vision and skills to tackle tomorrow’s crisis today. This can be accomplished through the develop-ment of a “Fluid Curriculum Model”, whereby the theory and practice relies on contemporary examples of the latest threats employed by the terrorists. Homeland Security students should follow the least structured curriculum and degree plans at your University. They should receive a brief introductory foundation of DHS. Once completed, they should be given greater flexibility and autonomy (with an Advisor) to take courses outside the educational school that houses the Homeland Security program and have these courses count toward their degree. For example, we should allow HS students to take courses in eco-nomics, public health, finance, psychology, government, ethics, law, group dynamics, engineering, religion and more. Homeland Security Educational Curriculum needs to be as fluid and adaptable as the field. As events occur around the world, a HS student should be able to alter their educational path. For example, in the weeks after the Christmas Day airplane-bombing attempt, a HS student, in an adaptive curriculum, is able to meet with their advisor, go “off track”, and take a chemistry course. A fluid educational design complements the dynamic world of Homeland Security. How can we qualify the Christmas Day attempt a failure, if we do not fully understand the intent? Did Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab fail to bring the airliner down? Yes. However, if his mission was a “dry run” measuring security measures or a simple chemistry experiment. Can we still call it a failure? Current Homeland Security education provides students with an excellent foundation of HS doctrine, events and prin-ciples. If we develop our curriculum a bit further we can produce a more capable and proactive Homeland Security pro-fessional. One empowered with confidence and trained in an adaptive environment. An adaptive professional can work at all levels of Homeland Security. They lead interoperability and change more effectively. A comprehensive and current education prepares students for service. In addition, when budgets and resources become critical, a well rounded, Homeland Security generalist is a much more practical and attractive option than hiring a chemist, economist, theologist, an attorney and a HS practitioner. Homeland Security’s ever-changing field creates an open-ended learning continuum. We should invest in the future of our field and educate students in an autonomous model filled with choice, adaptability and flexibility. Our graduates do not operate in a static environment; we should not educate them in one.


Continued on page 7

A New Emergency Manager Reports: Deepwater Horizon Response By Michelle Barnett State Training Coordinator, Florida DEM I intended Emergency Management to be my second career, after I retired from the fire service. When an injury de-railed my fire service career, my second career plans quickly moved up. I was hired by the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) in February 2010, as a “Training and Education Specialist”. My title is State Training Coordinator and I help coordinate the FEMA G-series courses throughout the state. That’s my “blue sky” job. When the State Emer-gency Operations Center (SEOC) is activated, I am a member of the Planning Section, usually in the Documentation Branch. For the first couple of months with FDEM, I only had a vague idea of what that meant. I expected I would get a lot more understanding and experience once hurricane season started, because that’s what Florida does: hurricanes. I was wrong. My understanding of the depth and breadth of emergency management grew by leaps and bounds following the events involving the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and sinking on April 20, 2010. The SEOC activated to a level 2, Partial Activation, status on April 30th, when it became clear that the oil gushing from the broken well head was not stop-ping and there was a distinct possibility that Florida would be impacted by oil, and we activated to a level 1, Full Activa-tion, on June 4th, when oil first hit Florida shores. During that time, I became adept at writing situation reports. The amount of information available was astounding! Our job was to sort through it, decide what was important enough to be sent out to our state, county, and local partners, and then figure out how to make it all fit on one page. I learned more than I ever knew about how an EOC operates both within, and outside of, ICS. It is a complicated dance that somehow works quite well to

Volume 4, Issue 2

A New Emergency Manager Reports: Deepwater Horizon Response

ensure all affected or concerned parties have the information they need. I was deployed to BP Unified Command in Mobile, Alabama, as a member of the Planning Section, for two weeks in June. I have not been deployed for a hurricane yet, so I do not know from personal experience, but I am told that Mobile was quite a cushy deployment. We had a hotel to stay in, they provided three hot meals a day (well, four if you include “midnight lunch”), a continuous flow of beverages and snacks, all the supplies and equipment we could ever ask for, and more technical experts than we could ever think to ask for. Despite the cushiness of the assignment, a 12-hour day was long and by the end of it, you were drained. It was a constant struggle to find the most up-to-date, the most accurate, information. One of the most important things I learned during my two weeks in Mobile was that you must know where to find the information you need. Know who has the information and know where to find them. Know who the backups are for those people. If you can find a third level, know that too! It wasn’t necessarily a surprise to me, as information is paramount in the fire service as well, but emergency management requires so many different pieces from so many differ-ent people and places. However, even more important than finding all the information: getting to the right people. Not only do you have to know where to get it, but you have to know where it needs to go! After two weeks, I returned to the “slower” pace of the SEOC with a greater understanding of the Deepwater Horizon event, that I am certain I can translate to a “less complicated” event, such as a hurricane or wildfire. Among other things, throughout my continuing involvement with Deepwater Horizon and the Emergency Management world, I learned: • Information sharing is paramount to an effective response. Information is power in every profession, but do you really

want to be the person that prevented the best possible course of action from occurring, because you played something close to the vest? Lives and property actually do depend on the constant flow of information in Emergency Manage-ment;

• ICS is only as good as its players: if one does not understand how adaptable ICS is, one cannot run an incredibly complex event using it;

• Sometimes pure ICS isn’t the answer, but some adapted form of it is. Know the difference, and know how to make it work;

• Life keeps on ticking while you are stuck in a little room in the EOC, don’t forget to pay your bills and call your mother; • The US Coast Guard KNOWS ICS … I mean they REALLY know ICS; • People that know nothing about ICS can learn ICS very quickly, it’s getting them to love it and embrace it as a lifestyle

that is the challenge; • I truly believe BP has been doing everything it can to rectify the situation, regardless of what the media says, but that’s

just my opinion; • A group of people used to being in charge of things that occur in their state do not like it when they have no control

over things occurring in their state; • And man cannot live on Red Bull alone, though many continue to try!


Are you an undergraduate or graduate Emergency Management or Homeland Security student?

Are you committed to excellence in your chosen profession?

Do you want to stand out among your peers?

Epsilon Pi Phi, the Emergency Management Honor Society, may be for you!

Membership criteria may be viewed at http://www.ffhea.org/3364.html

For more information, contact the APUS Chapter of Epsilon Pi Phi at

[email protected]

The Guardian

Hurricanes and Mitigation By William Duchanse BA EDM Student This paper was originally written and submitted for EDMG498 in August 2010 The United States coastlines have been hit by devastating hurricanes from the Galveston Island hurricane in 1900 to the more recent Hurricane Katrina that devastated the city of New Orleans. Federal, State and Local officials have scrambled to mitigate the damage caused by these monster storms on their population and cities but has it been enough and what more can be done to protect the civilian population that resides on our coastlines. Many scholars have said that we can learn a lot from our past and when dealing with hurricanes, there is no difference. Exploring the history of how hurricanes have ravaged our coasts cannot be ignored. Federal, State and Local Governments have come together to combat the devastation caused by hurricanes, by incorporating lessons learned from different prevention methods used and by developing future methods and technologies to lessen the impact of hurricanes on the population. Hurricane History 20th Century According to google.com, there were over 60 named hurricanes that occurred in the Atlantic in the 20th century which caused significant to catastrophic damage to the United States. Three of the more catastrophic hurricanes of the 20th Century are the Florida Keys Hurricane (1935), Hurricane Andrew (1992) and Hurricane Floyd (1999). All three hurri-canes were unique in their own way from the strongest Atlantic hurricane of the 20th Century, to the third largest evacua-tion in U.S. history, and finally the most destructive in U.S. History. All show the importance of accurate hurricane warn-ing, tracking technology and safety measures are observed. The Florida Keys Hurricane was a unique storm when it made landfall on Labor Day in 1935. It is a prime example of how much a hurricane can change its path in an instant. It was one of the worst ever to strike the US Coast with winds upwards of 200mph and a storm surge of 17.5 feet (SEMP, 2009). Since 1850, when reliable weather records were kept, it was one of three hurricanes to make landfall as a Category 5 hurricane (SEMP, 2009). Another reason this storm was unique was when it made landfall, there was an estimated 750 U.S. Veterans working on building the overseas highways that would link the Florida Keys to the U.S. Mainland. More than 259 of them along with 164 civilians lost their lives dur-ing the storm (SEMP, 2009). Late efforts by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) to aid in evacuation, the caused the ten-car evacuation train, sent from Homestead, FL, to be washed off the tracks due to the high storm surge dooming the evacuation of the Keys (Amos, n.d.). After the storm passed, immediate investigations conducted by Works Progress Administration and FERA, the Florida State Attorney’s Office and the American Legion was launched to determine what happened. All three of them focused on the “Weather bureau’s report and the delay in the relief train” (SEMP, 2009). Many believed that this storm showed the need for “developments in hurricane warning and tracking technology and safety measures” (Amos, n.d.). Even though the Weather Bureau lost track of the hurricane for 48 hours and the evacuation trains were sent late, the investi-gations reported to President Roosevelt and Harry Hopkins, chief administrator of Works Progress Administration and FERA, reported that it was “impossible to reach a conclusion that there had been negligence or mistaken judgment on the part of those charged with safety of the men engaged in the Keys projects” (SEMP, 2009). Hurricane Andrew hit the Bahamas, Southern Florida, and south-central Louisiana as a very strong category 4 hurri-cane, in 2005 is was upgraded to a Category 5 (Rappaport, 1993). With a central air pressure of 922 mb it became the third lowest in the 20th century behind the 1935 Labor Day Keys storm (892mb) and Hurricane Camille in 1969 (909mb) (Rappaport, 1993). Andrew’s cone of destruction was over 11 nautical miles from the eye and had a storm surge of 23 ft. due to the landfall being at high tide. It left a wake of devastation in its path; near $25 billion in damages, destroyed 25,524 homes and damaged 101,241 others (Rappaport, 1993). In Homestead more than 99% of all mobile homes were destroyed and Homestead Air Force base was completely destroyed, it was later closed as an active duty Air Force base (Rappaport, 1993). In Louisiana damage was estimated at $1 billion and the Bahamas suffered over $0.25 billion in dam-ages (Rappaport, 1993). The aftermath of Hurricane Andrew caused a lot of issues to arise that were not considered a factor until then. One of the main issues that homeowners reported was poor construction of houses, poor building codes and the total lack of enforcement of the standards by the State of Florida. Because of this fatal flaw in the construction of homes in the disas-ter area, it forced 11 insurance companies to go bankrupt with a total of $16 billion in payouts ("Hurricane Andrew," 2010). Another area that was found to be an issue was in the area of forecasting and warning. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) was using a brand new system at the time, the Aviation Model (AVNO), to track and route the path of the hurricane and its operational reliability was not established. This caused large errors in the NHC90 model due to the forecast cycle used by the AVNO system was in 12 hr intervals compared to the 6 hr intervals used by the NHC90 model (Rappaport, 1993). The last hurricane to be discussed in this century is Hurricane Floyd in 1999. Floyd’s arrival in the 1999

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Volume 4, Issue 2

Hurricanes and Mitigation

hurricane season triggered the third largest evacuation in U.S. history with an estimated 2.6 million over five states re-ceiving evacuation orders ("Hurricane Floyd," 2010). It started out as the largest Category 4 Atlantic hurricane ever re-corded but, lost steam as it hit North Carolina as a Category 2 hurricane. After making landfall it then skirted up the At-lantic coast of the US causing severe flooding in its wake. It was a major rain maker as it dumped 15-20 inches of rain across the eastern parts of North Carolina causing $6 billion worth of flood damage ("Hurricane Floyd," n.d.). It caused heavy damage to eastern states infrastructures all along the coast with many communities underwater for weeks in cer-tain areas. Ten states were declared major disaster areas with 7000 homes destroyed, 56,000 homes damaged and more than 500,000 customers without electricity (“Hurricane Floyd,” n.d.). After action reports identified several issues with pre and post landfall responses. One area that was identified was in the area of forecasting. NHC officials failed to identify the northward track up the coast or the significant weakening be-fore landfall causing unnecessary Hurricane Warnings to be posted for areas that never received hurricane force winds (Hurricane Floyd floods of September 1999, 2000). Another area of criticism was the slow response by the Federal Gov-ernment particularly with FEMA. The complaint wasn’t with the hurricane response, but with the flooding response. It took FEMA over a month after the hurricane made landfall for FEMA to respond to the situation and claimed that they were overwhelmed by the size of the response ("1999 Hurricane Swamped Clinton's FEMA," 2005). Hurricane History 21st Century Hurricanes Katrina, Wilma and Ike round out the top 5 of all time costliest hurricanes in U.S. history causing over $132 billion worth of damage combined. Hurricane Katrina was one of the five most deadly hurricanes in U.S. history, Hurricane Wilma was the most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic basin with a pressure of 882 mb and Hurri-cane Ike, the third costliest hurricane to make landfall in the United States. These three hurricanes caused devastation, death and tested emergency management agencies at all levels and also showed the holes in our response to these types of disasters. Hurricane Katrina made landfall just east of New Orleans on 29 August, 2005 as a strong Category 3 storm. As of this report, it is the most costly storm in U.S. history with an estimated $81 billion worth of damage ("Hurricane Katrina," 2010). The most severe destruction was on the city of New Orleans where Katrina caused catastrophic breeches in 53 different areas meant to mitigate flooding in the city ("Hurricane Katrina," 2010). The storm impacted all along the gulf coast from Mississippi to Florida and also in the Miami area where Katrina first made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane. What made this storm so deadly was the effects of the storm were felt days after it made landfall with heavy rains caus-ing massive flooding with New Orleans remaining underwater for weeks. “Federal disaster declaration covered 90,000 square miles and left over three million without power” ("Hurricane Katrina," 2010). Hurricane Katrina caused a lot of problems in the federal, state and local response. Inadequate planning and back-up communications systems at all levels created a paralyzing effect in command and control of the response. There were many instances where FEMA was criticized for its lack luster response for only supplying one-fifth of the trailers re-quested for the over 700,000 refuges that applied for federal aid (“Hurricane Katrina,” 2010). In the final report from Con-gress it was noted that “Levees were not built to withstand the most severe hurricanes, FEMA was under-trained and under-staffed, there was a tardy and ineffective execution of the National Response plan, and the most damaging I think was the perplexing inability to learn from Hurricane Pam and other exercises” (A failure of initiative, 2006). Hurricane Wilma made landfall in Naples, Florida after causing heavy damage to the Yucatan Peninsula and Cuba. It was the 22nd storm of the very active 2005 hurricane season and with $29.1 billion worth of damage it was the 4th costli-est hurricane in U.S. history and with a pressure of 882 mbar, it became the most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic basin (“Hurricane Wilma,” 2010). It caused severe flooding in the Florida Keys as it approached and then passed and then made landfall at Cape Romano, Florida with winds in excess of 120 mph. It was a relative fast moving storm taking only 4.5 hours to cross the state of Florida before exiting the state at Jupiter, Florida. Issues arose with the forecasting and warning issued by the NWS. There was uncertainty over the forward speed of the storm which contributed with the large uncertainty of the timing of the landfall in Florida and the lack of prediction of the strengthening of the storm to a Category 3 prior to landfall (Pasch, Blake, Cobb III, & Roberts, 2006). A triage team which deployed to Naples, Florida from Tallahassee to survey the damage reported the following “South Florida was ill prepared for electrical power outages, with gas stations and restaurant not having emergency generators with only one percent of gas stations having power resulting in long lines for gas. Furthermore, there was a lack of preparedness by citizens for long term power outages” ("Wilma Details," n.d.). Finishing out the 21st Century Hurricanes is Hurricane Ike which made landfall in Galveston, Texas on 13 September, 2008 as a strong Category 2 hurricane but with the added bonus of Category 5 equivalent storm surge (“Hurricane Ike”, 2010). Ike rounded out the top three costliest Atlantic hurricanes in history with an

Continued on page 10


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estimated cost of $37.6 billion and was the #1 costliest Cuban hurricane in history with $7.3 billion in damages (“Hurricane Ike”, 2010). When it did make landfall in Galveston, its storm surge was over 17 feet and left many areas in the city under 8 feet of water. The eye of the storm passed over Houston, Texas causing damage to the “75-story JP Morgan Chase Tower and the Reliant Stadium” (“Hurricane Ike”, 2010). After the storm passed there was severe criticism with FEMA’s response in the area of loans and trailers with many waiting several weeks for the trailers. One of the main issues arose concerning insurance. Many residents who pur-chased insurance prior to Ike were denied claims and any aid, while those with no insurance were offered help ahead of them (“Hurricane Ike”, 2010). FEMA was also criticized for not giving home owners home inspections that were required to receive loans and trailers and they also did not provide debit cards like they did for Hurricane Katrina victims (“Hurricane Ike”, 2010). Mitigation Methods There are several mitigation practices and procedures in place to deal with the threat of hurricanes. There have been many improvements over the years in the area of mitigation. Several new technologies, methods and procedures have come into effect due to prior hurricanes and several lessons learned have come out of it. In the area of mitigation three areas of interest are levees, forecasting and building standards. The first area for discussion is the development of the levee systems. Levees There are two different types of levee walls, the I-wall and the T-wall. I-walls, pictured below, were the type used in New Orleans prior to hurricane Katrina making landfall. For the most part they function well except in the case of severe soil erosion which leads to seep-age below the sheetpiling; this causes severe breaching of the levees which were observed after Katrina passed. The subsequent flooding of the lower 9th Ward and other areas of New Orleans were the direct result of these failures. (Bea & Covos-Roa, 2008).

Source: (Bea & Covos-Roa, 2008) T-walls with steel H-piles, pictured at left, are more stable than the traditional I-wall. T-walls are sup-ported by two to four rows batter piles which aid in resistance of the water pressure. This allows for more lateral pressure as the force is dissipated throughout the structure and can withstand greater soil erosion than the I-wall. Almost all of the T-walls through-out the New Orleans area during Hurricane Katrina held back the storm surge (Won, Adhikari, Song, Cheng, & Al-Ostaz, 2008). There is another variant to the T-wall and that is with the use of concrete H-piles instead of the steel H-piles. The I-walls and T-walls are physi-cal mitigation methods that can be used to prevent property damage and loss of life due to the storm surge caused by hurricanes but, effective forecasting and storm tracking can be just as important.

Source: (Won, Adhikari, Song, Cheng, & Al-Ostaz, 2008)



Volume 4, Issue 2


Storm Forecasting Storm tracking and forecasting has come along way over the last two centuries. The development of new technology such as Doppler radar, satellites and reconnaissance aircraft are currently the methods used to help forecasters predict the hurricane’s strength and provides better tracking to protect civilian property and lives. Many lives could have been saved if satellites, radar and aircraft were available in the 1935 hurricane in the Florida Keys. The first weather satellite

TIROS-1 GOES-11 launched into space was the Television Infrared Observation Satellites (TIROS-I) in 1960. This gave weather forecasters a better understanding of cyclones to allow for better prediction of their atmospheric conditions ("TIROS-1," 2010). The TIROS-1 was replaced in 1974 with the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) series. There are currently four orbiting the earth, with GOES-East and GOES-West providing uninterrupted images of the At-lantic and Eastern Pacific which allows for better situational awareness for forecasters. In addition “the GOES satellites carry Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) and Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) receivers, which are used for search-and-rescue purposes by the U.S. Air Force Rescue Coordination Center” ("Geostationary Opera-tional Environmental Satellite," 2010). Doppler radar came into common use in the 1980s with the establishment of the NEXRAD. Between 1980 and 2000, weather radar networks were developed across North America ("Weather radar," 2010). Conventional radars were re-placed by Doppler radars, which allowed for the tracking of position and intensity of storms as well as the relative velocity of the particles in the air. In the United States, the construction of a network consisting of 10 cm (4 in) wavelength radars across the country allowed for total coverage of the continental US and the coastlines ("Weather radar," 2010). Accord-ing to Weather Channel.com, the newer Doppler Radars allow for improved data on “rainfall intensity, movement of tropi-cal cyclones, tornado activity, and wind speeds within a tropical cyclone” (Weather, 2010). The reconnaissance aircraft used today are a sharp contrast to aircraft used in WWII. Airborne Early Warning Squad-ron Four (VW-F) was the only naval squadron on the continent that provided “advance warning against the approach of destructive tropical storms and hurricanes” (Lisi, n.d.) from 1953 until it’s decommissioned in April of 1975. It was re-placed by the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron at Keesler AFB, Mississippi which flies WC-130 aircraft and NOAA’s WP-3D Orion stationed out of MacDill AFB, FL. These two aircraft provide deep penetration into the eye of hurri-canes providing pressure, eye location, wind speeds and storm size to the weather forecasters on the ground (Weather, 2010). Building Requirements As Americans move closer and closer to the shoreline of our country, they rapidly put themselves in harm’s way. By building non-hurricane protected houses and mobile homes, they run the risk of losing it Continued on page 12


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WC-130 Hurricane Hunter WP-3D Orion all when a hurricane makes landfall. Most homes that do not have hurricane protection will sustain damage even in a Category 1 hurricane by strong winds and storm surge. Many houses and mobile homes failed to comply with building codes during Hurricane Andrew and 5,524 homes were destroyed and 101,241 were damaged. Some methods devel-oped to combat high winds are the use of connector straps on roof attachment points, hurricane shutters to protect win-dows and doors from flying debris and garage door reinforcement are all examples of building requirements in high risk areas. In an effort to combat these shortfalls, Congress passed the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 on 30 Oct 2000. The Act’s purpose is “to establish a national disaster hazard mitigation program which reduces the loss of life and property, human suffering, economic disruption, and disaster assistance costs resulting from natural disasters; and to provide a source of pre-disaster hazard mitigation funding that will assist States and local governments (including Indian tribes) in implementing effective hazard mitigation measures that are designed to ensure the continued functionality of critical ser-vices and facilities after a natural disaster” ("Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000," 2000). The act was a step in the right di-rection to provide incentives for implementation of mitigation techniques in buildings and also set the requirements to acquire funding. The Way Ahead: Old and New Hurricanes are becoming stronger and more unpredictable to track each year. New technology for both tracking and mitigating the damage of these storms needs to change with them otherwise they will keep destroying homes and killing civilians. Recently NASA has developed the HIRAD or Hurricane Imaging Radiometer. The HIRAD is designed to “scan large areas of ocean for microwave signals that can give scientist clues to the strength and dynamics of potential hurri-canes” (Oblack, n.d.). It is designed to see through a hurricane by looking past the intense rain bands of the storm to pick up the microwave radiation caused by the froth in the ocean beneath the hurricane (Oblack, n.d). It also provides a wider swath view of the ocean compared to the Stepped-Frequency Microwave Radiometer (SFMR) currently used on the WC-130 aircraft (Oblack, n.d.). Another area that can be improved on is the area of exercises. In 2004 FEMA in conjunction with the “National Weather Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the LSU Hurricane Center” ("FEMA: Hurricane Pam Exercise Concludes," 2004), developed Hurricane Pam to exercise a response. The Hurricane was a Category 3 hurricane that hit southeast Louisiana and topped levees in New Orleans and caused the evacuation of one million residents and de-stroyed 500,000-600,000 buildings” ("FEMA: Hurricane Pam Exercise Concludes," 2004). According to Ron Castleman, FEMA Regional Director at the time, ”Disaster response teams developed action plans in critical areas such as search and rescue, medical care, sheltering, temporary housing, school restoration and debris management. These plans are essential for quick response to a hurricane but will also help in other emergencies" ("FEMA: Hurricane Pam Exercise Concludes," 2004). However when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005 the entire response from all levels of gov-ernment were not able to execute the plans developed during the exercise (A failure of initiative, 2006). The way ahead is riddled with pitfalls that can sideline even the best of technology. Learning from our mistakes and improving techniques and practicing them routinely is the only way to have an effective response to disasters caused by hurricanes. Even with technology such as the GOES satellites, Doppler radar, reconnaissance aircraft, and new technol-ogy such as HIRAD at our fingertips we will still fail in our mission to save lives and property if we do not train on them. Using all tools available is the only way to stay ahead of hurricanes’ destructive forces. As the six hurricanes showed, they are unpredictable both in size, strength and where they will make landfall.



Volume 4, Issue 2

Hurricanes and Mitigation Continued from page 12

Failure to exercise our response with all agencies at all levels of government and then taking lessons learned and hone or responses could result in another Hurricane Katrina response in our future!

References A failure of initiative : final report of the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane

Katrina. (2006). Washington, MD: U.S. Government Printing Office. Amos, J. (n.d.). The 1935 Labor Day Hurricane. HubPages. Retrieved July 22, 2010, from http://hubpages.com/hub/The-1935-Labor-

Day-Hurricane Bea, R., & Covos-Roa, D. (2008). Failure of the I-Wall Flood Protection. Electronic Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, 13. Retrieved

August 8, 2010, from www.ejge.com/2008/Ppr0893/Ppr0893w.pdf Congressional Reports: S. Rpt. 109-322 - Hurricane Katrina: A Nation Still Unprepared. (2006, December 21). GPO Access Home

Page. Retrieved August 08, 2010, from http://www.gpoaccess.gov/serialset/creports/katrinanation.html FEMA: Hazard Mitigation Program. (2009, July 09). Federal Emergency Management Agency. Retrieved July 11, 2010, from http://

www.fema.gov/hazard/hurricane/2005katrina/hmp/index.shtm FEMA: Hurricane Pam Exercise Concludes. (2004, July 23). Federal Emergency Management Agency. Retrieved August 08, 2010,

from http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=13051 Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite. (2010, June 14). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved August 08, 2010,

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geostationary_Operational_Environmental_Satellite Hurricane Andrew. (2010, July 31). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved August 04, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Hurricane_Andrew#Aftermath_and_Impact Hurricane Floyd. (n.d.). NC State: WWW4 Server. Retrieved August 04, 2010, from http://www4.ncsu.edu/~nwsfo/storage/

cases/19990915/ Hurricane Floyd. (2010, June 27). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved July 22, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Hurricane_Floyd Hurricane Ike. (2010, July 31). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved August 07, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Hurricane_Ike Hurricane Katrina. (2010, August 5). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved August 08, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Hurricane_Katrina Hurricane Wilma. (2010, July 30). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved August 07, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Hurricane_Wilma Hurricane-proof building. (2010, June 5). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved August 09, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/

wiki/Hurricane-proof_building Lisi, R. G. (n.d.). AIRBORNE EARLY WARNING SQUADRON FOUR. Airborne Early Warning Association Home Page. Retrieved

August 08, 2010, from http://www.aewa.org/Library/vw4/vw4.html Morning, T. (2009, July 5). Horrific Florida Keys Hurricane, Labor Day 1935. SEMP: Evidence-based disaster management: prepared-

ness, response, recovery,and mitigation. Retrieved July 22, 2010, from http://www.semp.us/publications/biot_reader.php?BiotID=631

Number, F. P. (2000, October). FEMA Library - Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. Federal Emergency Management Agency. Retrieved July 11, 2010, from http://www.fema.gov/library/viewRecord.do?id=1935

Oblack, R. (n.d.). HIRAD - Hurricane Radiometer - Technologies for Hurricane Prediction. Weather Articles - Weather Forecasts and News - Weather Science. Retrieved August 08, 2010, from http://weather.about.com/od/hurricanetechnologies/qt/HIRAD.htm

Pasch, R. J., Blake, E. S., Cobb III, H. D., & Roberts, D. P. (2006, September 28). Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Wilma (Rep.). Retrieved August 07, 2010, from NOAA website: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/2005atlan.shtml

Rappaport, E. (1993, December 10). TPC NHC HURRICANE ANDREW. National Hurricane Center. Retrieved July 22, 2010, from http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/1992andrew.html

Reducing Hurricane Risk. (n.d.). DisasterSafety.org. Retrieved August 09, 2010, from http://www.disastersafety.org/projects/?id=2836&category=1102

This, D. (2010, July 31). Weather radar. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved August 08, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_radar

TIROS-1. (2010, July 29). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved August 08, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TIROS-1 United States., National Weather Service., NOAA. (2000). Hurricane Floyd floods of September 1999. Silver Spring, MD: U.S. Dept. of

Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service. Wilson, D. (2008, January). IEEE Spectrum: Flood or Hurricane Protection?: The New Orleans Levee System and Hurricane Katrina.

IEEE Spectrum Online: Technology, Engineering, and Science News. Retrieved August 08, 2010, from http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/environment/flood-or-hurricane-protection-the-new-orleans-levee-system-and-hurricane-katrina

Won, J., Adhikari, S., Song, C. R., Cheng, A. H., & Al-Ostaz, A. (2008). Evaluation of a T-wall Section in New Orleans Considering 3D Soil-Structure Interaction (Rep.). Retrieved August 8, 2010, from www.serri.org

Entries for the IAEM Conference Student Stipend Lottery end Sept. 3, 2010! See page 16 for details!

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Under a Flaming Sky: The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894, by Daniel James Brown. Harper Peren-nial, 2006. 256p. From back cover: On September 1, 1894, two forest fires converged on the town of Hinckley, Minnesota, trapping more than two thousand people. The fire created its own weather, including hurricane-strength winds, bubbles of plasma-like glowing gas, and 200-foot-tall flames. As temperatures reached 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit, the firestorm knocked down buildings and carried flaming debris high into the sky. Two trains—one with every single car on fire—became the only means of escape. In all, more than four hundred people would die, leading to a revolution in forestry management and the birth of federal agencies that monitor and fight wildfires.

A spellbinding account of danger, devastation, and courage, Under a Flaming Sky reveals the dramatic, minute-by-minute story of the tragedy and brings into focus the ordinary citizens whose lives it irrevocably marked.

Books of Interest

The American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, the Epidemic that Shaped our History, by Molly Caldwell Crosby. Berkley Books, 2006. 308p. From inside cover: The American Plague delves into America’s not-so-distant past to recount one of the greatest epidemics of our time. It tells the story of the yellow fever epidemic in Memphis, Tennessee—one that would cost more lives than the Chicago Fire, San Francisco Earthquake, and Johnstown Flood combined—and it is a narrative journey into Cuba and West Africa, where a handful of doctors, including Walter Reed, would change medical history. Yellow fever shaped the history of the United States. Slave ships brought the virus to the Western Hemi-sphere, and over the centuries, it would strike five hundred thousand Americans, killing one hundred thou-sand of them. It attacked port towns and found its lifeblood in the Mississippi River. It touched states from Texas to Massachusetts, forcing the nation’s capital from Philadelphia to Washington and precipitating the Louisiana Purchase. It paralyzed governments, halted commerce, quarantined cities, and altered the outcome of wars. In 1900, the United States, fresh from its victory over Spain, sent three doctors led by Walter Reed to Cuba to dis-cover how this disease was spread. Camped on sprawling farmland just outside of Havana, they launched one of his-tory’s most controversial human studies. Two of the doctors would be infected; one would die. Two dozen men—veterans of the Spanish-American War—would volunteer to be test subjects. But the virus would not be conquered so easily. It continued to kill the scientists attempting to control it, including several American physicians in West Africa, the virus’s birthplace, where even today, yellow fever strikes thousands of people every year and threatens to return to the United States. Tragic and terrifying, The American Plague beautifully depicts the story of yellow fever and its reign in this country. It is a story that, in the end, is as much about the nature of human beings as it is about the nature of disease.

Volunteers Sought for IAEM Conference Extract from an email by Sharon Kelly IAEM Membership Director

IAEM is seeking Conference Staff (formerly know as Volunteers) for the IAEM 58th Annual Conference & EMEX Ex-hibit, October 29th to November 4th in San Antonio, TX. IAEM utilizes Conference Staff at its Annual Conference for two main reasons: first, the work of Conference Staff is a critical element in delivering successful conferences; second, IAEM uses the Conference Staff as a mechanism to assist people in attending the conference and as an opportunity to further engage student members of IAEM. Conference Staff receive a $25 discount off the registration fee for each hour worked (with a minimum of two hours). You will not be compensated for any hours worked which exceed the value of the registration fee ($180 for IAEM student members, $430/$480 for all other IAEM members, and $530/$580 for non-members). Pre-conference sessions and events that require a ticket at an additional charge are not eligible for compensation. To work as Conference Staff at IAEM’s 58th Annual Conference & EMEX Exhibit in San Antonio, Texas, you will need to do the following: • Review the Overview Document, http://www.iaem.com/events/Annual/documents/2010-

ConferenceStaffattheIAEMConference-FAQs.pdf • Review the Conference Staff Position Descriptions, http://www.iaem.com/events/Annual/

documents/2010IAEMConferenceStaffPositionDescriptions.pdf • Determine whether or not you can commit to serving as Conference Staff at the IAEM Annual Conference • Fill out the Conference Staff Commitment Form, http://www.iaem.com/events/Annual/documents/2010ConfStaffCommitmentForm082310.pdf • Email your completed form to Michelle Savoie, IAEM Conference Staff Coordinator, at [email protected] by Fri-

day, September 17th, 2010.

http://www.iaem.com/events/Annual/documents/2010-ConferenceStaffattheIAEMConference-FAQs.pdf�

http://www.iaem.com/events/Annual/documents/2010IAEMConferenceStaffPositionDescriptions.pdf�

http://www.iaem.com/events/Annual/documents/2010ConfStaffCommitmentForm082310.pdf�




mailto:[email protected]�

Volume 4, Issue 2

New Option for IAEM Conference Poster Competition Extract from an email by Nancy Harris IAEM-SR President We are very excited to introduce a new format for this year's competition. In order to keep up with progressing tech-nology and the interests of our members, presentations this year may be submitted in an electronic format. You may use programs such as Animoto, Wikis, or other Web 2.0 media to create a presentation that will be shown on a laptop computer during the conference. The presentation must not exceed four (4) minutes in length, and all infor-mation, photos and music shall be cited in APA format on the last screen of the presentation. In addition, a copy of the citations must accompany the abstract. Of course the traditional poster format will also be accepted, with the poster not exceeding 4 feet in height or 4 feet in width. See below for more information on this year's Poster/Presentation Competition.

IAEM-USA Student Region Academic Presentation Competition Rules and Preparation Guidelines

The IAEM-USA Student Region sponsors the Academic Presentation competition. Please email abstracts to Kristina Wise at [email protected] in Word or Word Perfect format. The subject line of your email should read “IAEM-USA Poster Abstract”. Who may submit a poster abstract: Any student may enter. Entries will be divided into two separate categories – one for Undergraduate students, and one for Graduate Students. Deadline: Abstracts must arrive on or before October 15, 2010. Submissions will not be accepted after that date. Multiple Presentations: You may enter only one presentation at this meeting. Format of Abstract Submission: Title, presenter(s), affiliation, address, phone and fax numbers, and email address. Abstract and Title Length: Abstracts must be less than 150 words. The program chair reserves the right to edit ab-stracts, if necessary, for clarity, grammar or proper usage. Abstracts above the 150 word limit will not be accepted. Titles of abstracts are limited to ten words. Format: See above. Presentation Theme: The presentation theme must relate to an aspect of emergency management. The presentation must include: Short title of the presentation; identification of either an undergraduate or graduate level presentation; abstract; student’s name, or names, and whether they are a graduate or undergraduate student (there may be no more than 2 students per presentation and both must be at the graduate or undergraduate level); collaborators, advisor(s), and department(s); funding sources; internal review board proof of regulatory committee approval, if required; objectives and significance of the research; methods; results, interpretation of results, and conclusions, and directions for future research if the project is completed. Additional Presentation Rules You must be present at the IAEM 2010 Annual Conference to participate. All presentations must run in the time allotted, and presenters must be present during the entire judging period. The media or design of the presentation is at the creator’s discretion, within the guidelines set forth above. Laptop computers will be provided by IAEM. Presentations should be brought on either a flash drive or other similar me-dia (CD, etc.). All presentations will be virus scanned before being uploaded, and any presentations which are corrupt will not be uploaded or judged. While the author may receive minor assistance, the presentation must be the student’(s) original work and not that of others, including their professors. Judging Guidelines for Presentations The purpose of the presentation is to convey to wide audience research projects significance to scholars in the field and its potential significance to the general public. While all presentations will be publicly displayed for the length of the An-nual Conference, judging will take place in private. Presentations will be judged on their quality in three areas: Content: (50% of score) See above for what the presentation must include. Display: (30% of score) The core of each presentation is either a Web 2.0 driven display with text and graphics intended for a general audience or a poster with text and graphics intended for a general audience. The presentation should at-tract attention and convey important information about the project. Language should be simple and descriptions brief. Jargon should be avoided, and necessary technical terms should be defined. Spelling and grammar must be correct. Photographs, drawings, graphs, charts, figures, etc., should be simple and well organized. All text on computer screens should be in a minimum of 12 point type. If text is on a poster, it should be large



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enough to be readable from 4-6 feet away. Oral Description and Defense (20% of total score): During the presentation judging, each student should be positioned with their presentation, prepared to answer questions, and elaborate upon their research and presentation format and style. The judges will evaluate the quality and accuracy of this discussion. Awards: The award structure is as follows: Undergraduate Level: Graduate Level: 1st Place $225.00 1st Place $225.00 2nd Place $175.00 2nd Place $175.00 3rd Place $100.00 3rd Place $100.00 Program chair reserves the right to alter monetary awards based on the number of submissions for each level.

Questions All questions should be directed to Mike Kelley, IAEM-USA SR First Vice President at [email protected]

Presentation Competition Rules and Guidelines

Enter the IAEM Conference Student Stipend Lottery! Extract from an email by Sharon Kelly IAEM Membership Director IAEM Headquarters is maintaining a list of IAEM student members who wish to receive a student registration fee sti-pend in the amount of $180 to attend the IAEM 2010 Annual Conference in San Antonio, Texas. Students should e-mail their interest to be considered for the registration fee stipend lottery, along with their complete contact information as well as the university they are attending, to IAEM Membership Director Sharon Kelly at [email protected] no later than Sept. 3, 2010. Notification of stipend winners will be sent via email by the end of September.


IAEM Conference Student Hotel Information Extract from an email by Nancy Harris IAEM-SR President IAEM has arranged a hotel block for students attending the IAEM 2010 Annual Conference, set for Oct. 30-Nov. 4, San Antonio, Texas: The Travelodge Alamo River Walk 405 Broadway San Antonio, Texas 78205 www.sanantoniotravelodge.com Rate: $59.95 rate per night (plus tax) – for single, double, triple or quadruple occupancy.

The following amenities are complimentary (included in room rate): In-room high-speed Internet; hot continental break-fast; local calls; unlimited domestic long-distance phone calls; in-room coffee, safe, hair dryer, iron, and ironing board; parking. The TraveLodge is located ½ mile from the convention center. The trolley (Blue Route) stops at the TraveLodge and has stops along St. Alamo Street (convention center is located on St. Alamo). http://www.viainfo.net/BusService/Streetcar.aspx To make a hotel reservation, individuals should call Stephanie Ramos, 210-424-0115, and reference the IAEM Student Block. The reservation deadline is Oct. 16, 2010.


http://www.sanantoniotravelodge.com/�

http://www.viainfo.net/BusService/Streetcar.aspx�




Volume 4, Issue 2

Register online at http://www.iaem.com/members_online/registration/regstart.asp Draft program available at http://www.iaem.com/events/annual/documents/IAEMConfProgram081710.pdf Keynote Speakers • W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency. • Lieutenant General Guy C. Swan III, CEM, Commanding General, United States Army North (Fifth Army).

Featured Speakers • Janine Driver, aka The Lyin’ Tamer. Speaker, author and media personality, Janine has spent more than a dec-

ade as an award-winning Federal Law Enforcement Officer for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explo-sives (ATF), training 30,000+ cops, lawyers and judges in the fine art of separating fact from fiction. Today, Janine teaches her recently de-classified body language strategies to thousands of businesses around the globe.

• Margaret Davidson, Director of the NOAA Coastal Services Center. Margaret has served on numerous local, state and federal committees and has provided leadership for national professional societies. She has focused her profes-sional work on environmentally sustainable aquaculture, mitigation of coastal hazards, and impacts of climate variabil-ity on coastal resources.

• Ana-Marie Jones, Executive Director of CARD (Collaborating Agencies Responding to Disasters). CARD trains and supports nonprofits and their special needs clients in disaster preparedness, response and recovery activities. In her tenure, Ana-Marie Jones has been a passionate advocate for ending America’s disaster victim cycle and building resilient communities, where even the most vulnerable members will survive, thrive and prosper in the face of disasters and emergencies.

• Madhu Beriwal, President and CEO of IEM. As we enter the 21st century, public demand from the emergency man-agement system is only increasing. Emergency managers are challenged to deliver greater service for less cost, while producing better outcomes for the public. How we define our response to these emerging issues will affect emergency management in the coming decades. Madhu Beriwal will discuss “Doing More With Less – Emergency Management in the 21st Century.”

Breakout Session Tracks

IAEM Conference Program & Speakers

• Leadership/Decision Making • Response • Program Administration • Case Study • Education • Public Works – Utilities • Vulnerable Populations • Mitigation – Recovery

• Military • Communications & Technology • Rural – Small • Career Development • Weather • Health – Medical • Social Media • Partnerships

Purpose of the IAEM Annual Conference: The IAEM Annual Conference provides a forum for current trends and top-ics, information about the latest tools and technology in emergency management and homeland security, and advances IAEM committee work. Sessions encourage stakeholders at all levels of government, the private sector, public health and related professions to exchange ideas on collaborating to protect lives and property from disaster. If you are an emergency manager, homeland security official, first response coordinator, private industry risk manager or contingency planner, you will not want to miss the IAEM 58th Annual Conference & EMEX 2010! Benefits of Attendance: • Education and Training: A forum for current trends and topics, latest tools and technology. • Collaboration: A place for all levels of government, private sector, public health and related professions to ex-

change ideas. • Networking: More than 2,000 participants are expected to attend the IAEM 58th Annual Conference & EMEX 2010. • Products and Services: EMEX 2010 showcases technologies, products and services.

The Guardian

IAEM Conference Information Training Opportunities See Conference Program for details CEM®/AEM Prep Course and Exam, Sunday, October 31, 2010 CEM®/AEM Prep Course, 8:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. CEM®/AEM Examination, 2:00–4:00 p.m. Emergency Management Institute @ IAEM FEMA training offerings are a popular add-on and a great way for attendees to maximize continuing education gained from the conference. Classes will be cancelled if minimum registration of 15 is not met by September 1, 2010. • L131 Exercise Evaluation & Improvement Planning • L202 Debris Management • L210 Recovery from Disaster: The Local Gov't. Role • L235 Emergency Planning • L236 Rapid Needs Assessment • L245 NIMS Resource Management • L289 Public Information Officer Awareness • L295 JIS/JIC Planning for Tribal, State & Local PIOs • L308 Weapons of Mass Destruction • L403 Mass Fatalities Incident Resident Response • L427 CERT Program Manager • L775 EOC Management & Operations Pre Conference Training Workshops A wide variety of pre conference training workshops are available. Space is limited. To ensure your spot, register today. Classes will be cancelled if minimum registration is not met by September 1, 2010. • MGT 346 - EOC Operations and Planning for All-hazards Events - (minimum 25) • MGT 347 - Incident Command System (ICS) Forms Review - (minimum 25) • Advanced Writing, Presenting and Teaching Skills for Emergency Management - (minimum 15) • Selling Your EM Program with Effective Presentations - (minimum 15) • THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF INFLUENCE - Your Passport to Powerful Persuasion - (minimum 20) • Risk Communication: The A, B, C's of How To Talk the Talk, and Walk the Walk - (minimum 20) • College/University. Emergency Practitioners Symposium • Teaching Face-to-Face, Online and Hybrid: Which Club to Pull from the Bag - (minimum 15) • Emergency Management Program Fundamentals - (minimum 15) • Data Interoperability to Optimize Local Emergency Coordination - (minimum 15)

Want to attend, but can’t afford the registration fee?

There are two ways for students to reduce or eliminate the fee!

Check out the Conference Staff opportunity on page 14!

Or, enter the IAEM Conference Student Stipend Lottery! Entries must be received by Sept. 3, 2010! See page 16 for details!

the guardian august 2010 edition

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