September 26, 2017. FEMA Hiring Temporary workers and volunteers.

FEMA is hiring!

FEMA is currently hiring temporary workers and volunteers in several locations across the United States and Puerto Rico to support hurricane response and recovery efforts. Find a list of available positions and how to apply.

09/26/2017 New Report on Suicidality and Death by Suicide Among Middle-Aged Adults

New Report on Suicidality and Death by Suicide Among Middle-Aged Adults

SAMHSA E-mail Updates sent this bulletin at 09/26/2017 03:32 PM EDT

Having trouble viewing this email? View it in your browser. New Report Now Available: Suicidality and Death by Suicide Among Middle-Aged Adults in the United States SAMHSA's Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality announces the release of a new short report, Suicidality and Death by Suicide Among Middle-Aged Adults in the United States. The report, based on data from the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health and the National Vital Statistics System, analyzes suicide attempts and suicide death rates among adults ages 45 to 64 from 2009 to 2014. Access the Full Report For people in crisis and for family and friends who are concerned about their loved ones at risk for suicidal thoughts and attempts, SAMHSA offers helpful resources through its suicide prevention programs. People in crisis can also contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255. The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources, and best practices for professionals.

Sept 30, 2017. Disaster Recovery...Caribbean. "We Stand As One".

"We Stand As One".
Now, the change is coming.

Support efforts for recovery in our communities globally in the U.S., it's territories (Puerto Rico, Virgin Island), the Caribbean.

A start with Caribbean Disaster Relief & Recovery Alliance funding events.

A relationship starts with trust, character, and integrity. 

CDRRA and BEMA International standing together as one for the Caribbean.

Update: September 2017. FEMA Risk MAP Guidance Updates

FEMA Risk MAP Guidance Updates

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) maintains guidelines and standards to support the Risk Mapping, Assessment and Planning (Risk MAP) Program. These guidelines and standards define the implementation of the statutory and regulatory requirements for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). These also guide the development of Flood Risk Projects, processing of Letters of Map Change (LOMCs) and related Risk MAP activities. More information is available at FEMA.gov.

FEMA maintains the Risk MAP guidelines and standards and issues updates on an annual basis each November.  For the 2017 Annual cycle, a Public Review for standards was held in August. FEMA is now initiating a review of all guidance, technical references and other resources.

This annual update includes routine maintenance and completion of the transformation of legacy guidelines and specifications to produce new guidance documents that align with the current structure of the Risk MAP Program.  In additional to these updates, there are several more significant changes that FEMA plans to implement that include:

• establishing guidance for Base Level Engineering (BLE)
• clarifying how submitters can use Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) or other elevation data for Letters of Map Amendment (LOMAs)
• updating Flood Risk Product (FRP) requirements based on feedback from FRP users and stakeholders in the Fall of 2016
• updating coastal standards to consolidate the definition of the V-Zone for coastal flood risk

Listed below are the guidance, technical reference, and other documents that are being updated for the 2017 Annual (Fall) cycle. If you are interested in reviewing any of the documents listed below, you can access the documents through the Risk Management Directorate SharePoint site and should provide comment through SharePoint if you are a mapping partner who has SharePoint access.  For stakeholders who do not have SharePoint access, email FEMA.GS@riskmapcds.com to request the documents that you wish to review.

FEMA recognizes that many stakeholders have been impacted by the recent hurricanes and other events.  If you feel like you need more time to review any of these materials, please email FEMA.GS@riskmapcds.com.

Comments received by October 16, 2017 will be considered for incorporation. 

Major Changes

Base Level Engineering: New content to establish consistent requirements and to support the emerging creation and understanding of Base Level Engineering (BLE).  Affected documents:

• BLE Guidance (New)

• Discovery Guidance

• CNMS Technical Reference

• FIS Report Technical Reference

• Domain Tables Technical Reference

• FIRM Database XML Schema

LiDAR for LOMAs: New/revised content to clarify how submitters can use LiDAR or other elevation data for a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA).  Affected document:

• MT-1 Technical Guidance

Flood Risk Products: Updates to reflect Flood Risk Product (FRP) improvements that were implemented based on feedback from FRP users and stakeholders in the Fall of 2016.  Affected documents:

• Areas of Mitigation Interest Guidance

• Changes Since Last FIRM Guidance

• Flood Depth and Analysis Grids Guidance

• Flood Risk Database Guidance

• Flood Risk Assessments Guidance

• Flood Risk Map Guidance

• Flood Risk Report Guidance

• Quality Management for Flood Risk Projects Guidance

• Flood Risk Database Technical Reference

• Data Capture Technical Reference

• Domain Tables Technical Reference

• CNMS Technical Reference

• Flood Risk Database XML Schema

• Flood Risk Products Checklist

Coastal Updates:

• Coastal Floodplain Mapping Guidance - Updates to support the combination of two existing standards (SIDs 91 and 98) to define the V-Zone for all coastal Flood Risk Projects, regardless of the flooding source.

• Coastal Erosion Guidance - Updates to simplify language and to clarify that wave setup should be used for dune erosion analyses regardless, of the coastal flooding source.

  Guidance Transformation

• Coastal Wave Runup and Overtopping

• General Hydrologic Considerations (Update to existing document to include transformation of the follow content: Hydrologic & Hydraulic (H&H) Analyses of Lake Levels for Closed Basins, , Hydrology: Regression Equation Analyses, and Hydrology: Stream Gage Analyses)

• Hydrology: Rainfall-Runoff Analyses

• Ice Jam

• Levee

• Project Planning

• Post-Flood Hazard Verification/Recovery Tools

• Acceptable Models List

• Mitigation Planning Technical Assistance

Other Minor Changes

Guidance

• Appeal and Comment Processing

• Coastal General Study Considerations

• Database Verification Tool (DVT)

• Data Capture Workflow

• Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) Database

• Key Decision Point (KDP) Process

• National Flood Hazard Layer (NFHL)

• Metadata

Technical References

• Data Capture

• FIRM Database

• Metadata Profiles

Templates

• FIS Report Template

• TSDN Checklist

• FEDD Checklist

• Metadata Profile XML Schemas

Regulatory Checklists

Sept 23rd. California CBC Delegation Special Presentation. Surviving Crisis and Disasters

HOT! Event. Saturday, 9/23/2017. "Surviving Crisis and Disasters" presentation at the 2017 California Congressional Black Caucus Delegation. BEMA International

Non-deployed BEMA International members in D.C. area plan to attend

Register at: 

      http://ccbcd.org .  Follow ‘REGISTRATION’ link to all events.  This event is free.

PRESS RELEASE

CONTACT: Alicia Hamilton Universal Citizens Media Network Web: http://ucmedia.net Email: prpress@ucmedia.net Phone: 424.248.7688 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 21, 2017, Washington, DC California CBC Delegation Presents “Surviving Crisis and Disasters” at the Renaissance Marriott in Washington, DC In consideration of the recent disastrous storms that have impacted millions of American nationwide, the California CBC Delegation is presenting “Surviving Crisis and Disasters” with Subject Matter Experts speaking on various aspects of emergency and disaster preparedness.  Topics include;      -Environmental and Climate Justice by Ms. Jane English, NAACP,      -Preparing for Economic Threats by Bishop Clarence Harris,      -Global Threats and Hazards by Mr. Charles Sharp,                CEO Black Emergency Managers Association International, and      -Individual and Community Preparedness by Alicia Hamilton,                Founder of PAC RED, The event will be held at The Renaissance Marriott at 999 9th Street, Washington DC, 2001 in the Renaissance Ballroom A on September 23, 2017 from 3:00PM to 5:00PM.  Register at:   http://ccbcd.org .  Follow ‘REGISTRATION’ link to all events.  This event is free. PAC RED (Preparation and Awareness for Community Resiliency in Emergencies and Disasters), is a Non-Profit Organization based in the Los Angeles California. The organization works to help improve individual and community emergency preparedness, response and recovery in the event of a natural or man-made disaster through training, resource, relationship and capacity building. ###

Response & Recovery. Time to Expose and make our communities more resilient physically & mentally

During times of natural disasters and evacuation of residents and communities, can these crisis events also be a time to address other social crisis events from homelessness, human slavery, sex trafficking, and other issues thru evaluation, and therapy from the trauma of natural events to individuals and families?

Rebuilding communities to be more resilient physically and mentally.

bEMA International 

CNN....................

Victims of modern slavery



Of the 40 million slaves in the world, one in four are children

Sex trafficking survivor working to end 'The Game'

I was raped 43,200 times

Fighting modern slavery on Florida farms

School brings hope to child slaves in India

Family rescued from slavery in the Amazon