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The guide provides actions emergency managers and public
officials can take to prepare for response and recovery operations during
ongoing COVID-19 response efforts. Specifically, the guidance:
·
Describes
anticipated challenges to disaster operations posed by COVID-19.
·
Highlights
planning considerations for emergency managers based on current
challenges.
·
Outlines
how FEMA plans to adapt response and recovery operations.
·
Creates
a shared understanding of expectations between FEMA and emergency
managers.
·
Includes
guidance, checklists and resources to support emergency managers response
and recovery planning.
Private sector and
non-governmental organizations can use the guidance to gain an
understanding of the government’s posture, planning and readiness
efforts.
To expand awareness and
understanding of the guidance, FEMA’s National Preparedness Directorate
is conducting four webinars. The webinars will allow emergency managers
an opportunity to discuss how the guidance can assist jurisdictions
review and modify their plans given the constraints and limitations of
the ongoing pandemic. To register:
Download the COVID-19
Pandemic Operational Guidance for the 2020 Hurricane Season on the FEMA website.
An above-normal 2020 Atlantic hurricane season is
expected, according to forecasters with the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Association's (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center, a division of
the National Weather Service. The outlook predicts a 60% chance of an
above-normal season. Visit the NOAA website for more information.
FEMA released the Notice of
Funding Opportunity for $10 million in funding for the Regional
Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program. The program provides
funding to eligible states and local governments to close known
preparedness capability gaps, encourage innovative regional solutions to
issues related to catastrophic incidents and build on existing regional
preparedness efforts, including pandemic preparedness.
Changes to the 2020 funding
include regional pandemic preparedness as a program objective, with
specific focus on pandemic planning activities. This is to address the Community
Lifelines and Core
Capabilities that are essential to pandemic preparedness.
The application period
closes 5 p.m. ET on July 15. Submissions must be made through Grants.gov.
The funding notice and additional information is available on the FEMA website as well as on Grants.gov, under Assistance Listings
Number 97.111.
In response to the
coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, FEMA's Public Assistance program is
reimbursing eligible states for the purchase and distribution of food as
an emergency protective measure.
The pandemic has
exacerbated the need for food assistance, especially to people who
have difficulties obtaining and preparing food and those individuals
considered high-risk by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Many states used Public
Assistance funding to purchase and distribute millions of pounds of food
to their networks of food banks to help feed those who cannot otherwise
prepare or obtain needed food due to the pandemic. States like Arizona
are using their National Guard troops to help package and deliver meals.
Pennsylvania state agencies partnered with Operation BBQ Relief to
provide freshly prepared meals using the power of closed restaurants,
available restaurant workers and available commercial-sized food products
to produce family style meals. In California, the Great Plates Program
helped seniors and other adults at high risk of COVID-19
infection to stay home and healthy by delivering three nutritional
meals a day.
Food insecurity is not
limited to any one region or state, and almost all states are supporting
the purchase and distribution of food to vulnerable and high-risk
populations to save lives and protect public health during this pandemic.
You can learn more about the purchase and distribution of food eligible
for Public Assistance on the FEMA website.
Pennsylvania state agencies partnered with Operation BBQ
Relief to provide 180,000 freshly prepared and pre-packaged meals per
week to individuals, seniors and families in need.
FEMA released the revised
National Incident Management System (NIMS) Training Program, which
provides a structure for national training and strengthens the nation's
ability to manage incidents, events and emergencies.
The training program
establishes the roles and responsibilities of FEMA and members of the
NIMS stakeholder community. It identifies specific activities for
developing, maintaining and sustaining a training program that prepares
all incident personnel to understand their respective responsibilities
and work together during incidents. The focus areas of the program
include the Incident Command System, Joint Information System, Emergency
Operation Center and the Multiagency Coordination Group.
On May 21, FEMA hosted a
virtual public meeting on developing a voluntary agreement under the
Defense Production Action. The voluntary agreement will help maximize the
effectiveness of the distribution of critical medical resources
nationwide to respond to pandemics, specifically to the coronavirus
pandemic. FEMA is now seeking comments on the development of the
voluntary agreement.
Earlier this month, FEMA
released the agency’s updated Preliminary Damage Assessment Guide (PDA
Guide) and its accompanying Preliminary Damage Assessment Pocket Guide
(PDA Pocket Guide). A one-year comment period for the PDA Guide will
begin June 8, 2020 and close on June 8, 2021. To provide additional
information on the guide, FEMA is holding three separate webinars at 2
p.m. on May 26, May 27 and May 28.
To register:
·
Audio: 1-888-270-9936;
Access Code 4025899#
 In response to the
coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, nonprofit and voluntary organizations
work together with the federal, state, local, and tribal governments,
and the private sector to address needs of those communities most
affected. FEMA is highlighting stories from our partners that
show how communities are addressing the needs of the most
vulnerable population by providing food, emotional and spiritual care,
and other resources during the pandemic.
One organization
on the frontlines of these efforts is the Corporation
for National and Community Service (CNCS). To date,
more than 8,502 AmeriCorps members and Senior Corps volunteers have
served in direct response to COVID-19. They have assisted nearly 1.4
million people, provided 2.4 million meals and distributed nearly 15
million pounds of food.
AmeriCorps
in St. Louis, MO is supporting the St. Louis COVID-19 Homeless
Outreach Coalition in partnership with the City of St. Louis to provide
outreach services to the unhoused population of St. Louis. In
partnership with The Salvation Army, they are delivering food prepared
by local caterers to congregate shelters and the homes of the elderly
and those with access and functional needs.
In Michigan,
Senior Corps members have partnered with the United Way to reach out to
vulnerable populations, provide transportation to medical appointments
and sew homemade face masks for anyone who needs one. They have also
brought comfort and companionship to assisted living residents through
letter writing.
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To ensure access to
critical information for everyone, the agency has updated the FEMA website with coronavirus (COVID-19)
response-specific pages that include critical information for the general
public, as well as various federal, state, tribal and territorial
stakeholders.
All COVID-19 webpages were
available in Spanish a week after the initial launch, and additional
languages of Haitian Creole, Vietnamese and Simplified Chinese are being
added for all items related to various stakeholders, to ensure
information in the top four languages in the country is available. News
releases and fact sheets that provide critical information to the general
public are also being translated into an additional eight languages.
As of Tuesday, May 26, 93
agencies across 29 states and the District of Columbia, as well
as two Indian tribes and one U.S. territory, have sent a total
of 338 messages. This includes 275 alerts containing information on
COVID-19 to cell phones and other wireless devices via the Wireless Emergency
Alerts and 63 alerts to radios/televisions via the Emergency Alert
System. For more information on IPAWS and how to be able to use the
system to send alerts, visit the FEMA website.
IPAWS is a national
system for local alerting that provides authenticated emergency alert and
information messaging to the public through cell phones and internet
applications using Wireless Emergency Alerts and to radio and television
via the Emergency Alert System.
Application
Period Closes Friday for Fire Prevention and Safety Grants
The application
period for Fire Prevention and Safety (FP&S) grants
closes at 5 p.m. ET this Friday, May 29. The grants support projects
that enhance the safety of the public and firefighters from fire and
related hazards within the areas of fire prevention and firefighter
safety research and development. There is $35 million in funding
available.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
FEMA Seeks
Feedback on NIMS Update
FEMA is seeking public
feedback for an update of the 2009 National Incident Management System
(NIMS) Implementation Objectives for federal departments and agencies.
National engagement provides an opportunity for interested parties to
comment on the draft implementation objectives to ensure they are
relevant for all implementing partners. The national engagement period
will conclude at 5 p.m. ET on June 17. For more information on the
webinars and to review the draft objectives, visit the FEMA website.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
FEMA Accepts
Applications for High Hazard Potential Dam Grants
The application period is
open for the Rehabilitation of High Hazard Potential Dam Grant
Program. The grant program provides technical, planning, design and
construction assistance in the form of grants for the rehabilitation of
eligible high hazard potential dams. Eligible applicants must be
non-federal sponsors, which include non-federal governments and
non-profit organizations. Applicants can apply on Grants.gov
by the June 26 deadline. For more information about the Rehabilitation of
High Hazard Potential Dams Grant Program, visit the FEMA website.
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