|
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Certified Line Worker Training Program at Delgado Community College
U.S. & International Colleges and Universities offering Emergency Management Courses
The College List
Colleges,
Universities and Institutions Offering Emergency Management Courses
The EMI Higher Education Program staff does not provide college
recommendations nor discuss the relative merits of the Colleges and
Universities listed within this College List.Twelve Important Questions About External Quality Review - Reprinted with permission from the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (www.chea.org)
* To recommend new additions or modifications to the College List send an email to FEMA-emi-collegelist@fema.dhs.gov.
•
Emergency Management Programs
Doctoral
Level
Masters Level
Masters Certificate, Specialization, Concentration, Track
Bachelor Degrees
Bachelor-Level Concentrations, Minors
Associate Level
Stand Alone Certificate Programs
One or More Courses
Masters Level
Masters Certificate, Specialization, Concentration, Track
Bachelor Degrees
Bachelor-Level Concentrations, Minors
Associate Level
Stand Alone Certificate Programs
One or More Courses
•
Homeland Security Programs
Doctoral Level
Masters Level
Masters Certificate, Specialization, Concentration, Track
Bachelor Degrees
Bachelor Level Concentrations, Minors
Associate
Certificates/Diplomas
Masters Level
Masters Certificate, Specialization, Concentration, Track
Bachelor Degrees
Bachelor Level Concentrations, Minors
Associate
Certificates/Diplomas
•
Public
Health, Medical, and Related Programs
•
International
Disaster Relief/Humanitarian Assistance
• Emergency
and Disaster Management Programs in Other Countries
•
Executive
Education Programs
•
Related Programs
• Distance Learning
•
Programs
Being Investigated/Proposed
Data
Documents
Monday, October 23, 2017
Progress Underway in U.S. Virgin Islands Recovery after Back-to-Back Hurricanes
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Private Sector Division/
National Business Emergency Operations Center
NBEOC@fema.gov
FEMA-private-sector@fema.dhs.gov
Private Sector Division/
National Business Emergency Operations Center
NBEOC@fema.gov
FEMA-private-sector@fema.dhs.gov
Private Sector Advisory
Progress Underway in U.S. Virgin Islands Recovery
after Back-to-Back Hurricanes
CROIX, Virgin Islands – U.S. Virgin Islanders were making progress facing the devastation of Hurricane Irma when, just two weeks later, a second Category 5 storm pummeled the territory. In the weeks since Hurricane Maria finished the job that Irma started, a massive and united effort is underway to help island communities and survivors put their lives back together.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is coordinating the federal response effort, working with the territorial government, federal and local partners as well as the private sector and voluntary organizations to help restore essential services to the islands and meet survivors’ recovery needs.
Since hurricanes Irma and Maria struck in September, important milestones have been achieved. Roads are getting cleared of storm-related debris, commercial airline flights are coming and going, seaports are active, grocery stores and restaurants have opened, financial assistance for critical needs is getting to survivors and many children have returned to school.
“We are making significant progress in some areas, but we have a long road ahead,” said FEMA’s Federal Coordinating Officer William Vogel. “We will be here for as long as it takes to help the Virgin Islands and its people come back stronger.”
Some students have already resumed the 2017-2018 school year. To date, 10 schools have reopened in the St. Thomas/St. John School District and more than 2,800 students and 271 teachers have returned to the classroom. Additional schools are scheduled to reopen in St. Croix in the coming days to ensure the school year isn’t lost.
Federal partners are working to support Gov. Kenneth Mapp’s priority of getting schools reopened across the territory. To support the governor’s school resumption initiative USACE has installed 28 generators at schools and is working with the territorial Department of Education to assess options to provide classroom space for students at damaged schools. These options may include durable tent-like structures or modular units. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) personnel have helped the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources (DPNRP) and Department of Health (DOH) assess potential environmental dangers and water quality at the schools while local workers from the community assisted with the cleanup effort.
At the St. Croix Educational Complex, Danish Emergency Management Agency personnel helped get the facility ready for students by cleaning up, removing damaged ceiling tiles and repairing parts of the roof.
Debris removal from Virgin Island roadways and neighborhoods has resulted in supermarkets, gas stations and other stores restocking their shelves and reopening for business. Federal, territorial, local and private sector partners have worked around the clock to help restore functionality to the islands’ supply chain that was severely disrupted by port closures and the debris-littered roadways.
Boosted by $11.2 million in expedited assistance from FEMA for debris removal costs, the Virgin Islands has cleared 75,000 cubic yards of storm-related debris, and the territorial government is moving ahead with its residential debris collection effort. This is the first step in removing the estimated 1.1 million cubic yards of debris left in the wake of the two hurricanes. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is on the ground, working with the territorial government on debris clearance and on management strategies to clear the piles of debris.
The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (WAPA) continues to work jointly with the Virgin Islands Waste Management Authority and the Department of Public Works on a clean-up initiative across the territory.
A massive effort is underway to restore power throughout the territory. The importance of having a regular source of power for survivors has been a top priority of the Virgin Islands government since the monster storms knocked out power to the islands.
With $24 million in expedited FEMA grants, WAPA is moving ahead with the emergency repair of transmission and distribution lines in St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John. Although the percentage of customers on the grid fluctuates as work progresses day by day, WAPA is forging ahead to meet its goal of having 90 percent of the territory’s power restored by Christmas.
The power authority is shipping in power lines and poles as well as 500 lineman from across the United States. When all are in place – 250 have already arrived – these workers will have increased the local capability tenfold. This is ten times the amount of WAPA workers in the territory prior to the hurricanes.
At a recent news conference Gov. Mapp said he has asked USACE to assess the territory’s entire power generation system, to include the cost of burying lines, saying, “We are going to work towards a more resilient power production and distribution system.”
With cellphones a mainstay of communications across the islands, the restoration of cell services is another priority in the Virgin Islands. FEMA and federal partners continue to work with the private sector in support of territorial efforts to restore cellular communications. Meanwhile, local telecommunications provider Viya has established nearly 25 Wi-Fi hot spots throughout the islands, giving survivors and responders a vital communications resource.
A whole community effort is in full force to maintain medical care and public health support for survivors across the territory.
Hundreds of healthcare professionals from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Defense (DOD) have supported and augmented local medical staff who were working steady 12-hour shifts in the weeks since the hurricanes. Many continued to care for patients despite damage to their own homes and the need to evacuate their families.
What’s more, the three major hospitals throughout the territory were battered by severe winds and flooding. In response, the military’s 575th and 602nd Area Support Medical Companies (ASMC) established mobile medical units outside of St. Croix’s Gov. Juan Luis Hospital and Medical Center as well as St. Thomas’s Schneider Medical Center to offer backup support for patients needing medical care.
Personnel from the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS), part of HHS, provided medical care at St. John’s Myra Keating Smith Clinic before relocating to the Morris F. deCastro Clinic. NDMS staff also provided basic medical services at the fire station in Coral Bay, St. John. HHS and DOD workers provided basic healthcare services, such as triage and emergency medicine.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is also contributing to the effort to ensure ongoing patient care. It will be setting up interim soft-walled durable structures or modular units at damaged hospitals on all the islands and at DOH facilities. These units can expand to capacity and allow additional space for surgery and post-op patient recovery. Among its many efforts on behalf of Virgin Islanders, DOH is providing recurring walk-in clinical services from a mobile medical van. The health department is also providing infant-toddler kits, prescription medicine and family planning services.
HHS and DOD continue to evacuate patients who need critical care. So far, more than 300 patients with critical care needs have been evacuated to the mainland for additional medical attention. HHS and DOD are following up with medical centers and local organizations in Atlanta and Columbia, S.C. for their care.
Because flooding offers a breeding ground for mosquitoes spreading waterborne viruses, staff from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been working with DOH on vector control issues. U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps personnel have performed environmental health assessments at shelters, childcare, healthcare and educational facilities.
CDC is also supporting DOH in getting health and safety information to communities about post-hurricane risks. Health advice focuses on promoting mental health in the storms' aftermath, staying safe while cleaning mold, preventing carbon monoxide poisoning and more.
Staff from across the federal family have been out in the communities.
FEMA’s Disaster Survivor Assistance (DSA) and Disability Integration teams have been fanning out across the islands for weeks, meeting survivors in their communities, helping them register for assistance and providing answers to their questions. DSA personnel have met with more than 13,000 people and registered nearly 7,000 for FEMA assistance.
FEMA recovery specialists are also at four Disaster Recovery Centers in St. Croix and St. Thomas to help residents face to face with information and questions about their registration. So far, the centers have logged more than 2,300 visits – and additional recovery centers are opening soon on all three islands. Representatives from the U.S. Small Business Administration are also at the centers providing information about low-interest disaster loans to individual survivors, as well as businesses, to repair or rebuild their homes.
Even with the logistical and communications challenges survivors have faced since the storms, more than 26,000 individuals and families have registered with FEMA for assistance under the two disaster declarations for hurricanes Irma and Maria.
Because of the severe challenges on the islands, FEMA has activated its Critical Needs Assistance program, which gets emergency funding into the hands of survivors as quickly as possible to take care of urgent needs, such as food, medical care and transportation. So far, nearly $2.5 million is going to survivors for critical needs. This is in addition to repair grants or housing assistance they may receive.
More than 50 FEMA housing inspectors are visiting neighborhoods across the territory to verify hurricane damage as an important step in getting more assistance to survivors. With nearly 2,700 home inspections now complete FEMA has authorized more than $1.4 million in survivor housing assistance. Word is also spreading about SBA low-interest disaster loans as well. So far, survivors have been approved $4.6 million in disaster loans to repair and rebuild their homes.
As USVI residents begin to rebuild, USACE is supporting their efforts by doing temporary roof repairs through its Operation Blue Roof program. USACE has received more than 4,106 requests for assistance and covered 893 homes and facilities with the blue plastic reinforced sheeting. USACE has established centers on St. Croix, St. John and St. Thomas for survivors to learn about the program and sign up for assistance.
Every disaster recovery mission poses unique challenges. When local communities and residents must deal with back-to-back catastrophic hurricanes across three separate islands – amid ongoing dangerous storms and flooding – the challenges to recovery mount considerably. FEMA is committed to working with the U.S. Virgin Islands government, survivors and partners across the whole community to help restore and rebuild these communities.
###
FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.
Following
major disasters, the U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is the
primary source of Federal funds for long-term recovery assistance. This
assistance is in the form of low-interest loans and is available to non-farm
businesses of all sizes, private nonprofit organizations, as well as homeowners
and renters with property damaged by the disaster.
Follow us on social media at twitter.com/femaregion2 and ww.facebook.com/FEMAUSVirginIslands.
To donate or volunteer, contact the voluntary or charitable organization of your choice through the National Voluntary Agencies Active in Disasters (NVOAD) at www.nvoad.org. For those who wish to help, cash donations offer voluntary agencies the most flexibility in obtaining the most-needed resources and pumps money into the local economy to help businesses recover. The Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands also has the “Fund for the Virgin Islands” at www.USVIrecovery.org.
Disaster Fraud Hotline. NATIONAL CENTER FOR DISASTER FRAUD (NCDF)
The National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) is the result of a partnership between the U.S. Department of Justice and various law enforcement and regulatory agencies to form a national coordinating agency within the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice to improve and further the detection, prevention, investigation, and prosecution of fraud related to natural and man-made disasters, and to advocate for the victims of such fraud.
NCDF was established in 2005 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, when billions of dollars in federal disaster relief poured into the Gulf Coast region. NCDF, initially known as the Hurricane Katrina Disaster Fraud Task Force and later as the Disaster Fraud Task Force, expanded its mission to become the national coordinating agency for all man-made and natural disasters. NCDF’s Gulf Coast headquarters is located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Since 2005, NCDF has received over 70,000 complaints from 50 states, 6 territories, and 4 countries involving over 50 natural and man-made disasters. In connection with Hurricane Katrina alone, federal prosecutors charged over 1,300 disaster fraud cases in 49 different districts. The below examples include reported estimated damage and fatality information:
- Hurricane Katrina (2005): $108 billion in damages, over 1,800 fatalities.
- Hurricane Rita (2005): $10 billion in damages, 120 fatalities.
- Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill (2010): $60 billion in damages, 4 fatalities.
- Haiti Earthquake (2010): 250K homes destroyed, 100,000 fatalities.
- Hurricane Sandy (2012): $75 billion in damages, 147 fatalities.
- Hurricane Matthew (2016): $15 billion in damages, 49 fatalities.
Sunday, October 22, 2017
Full Article: From Diamonds to Despair: crafting a new fate for developing nations and emerging markets in the advent and aftermath of hazard events. October 2, 2017
“From Diamonds to Despair: crafting a new fate for developing
nations and emerging markets in the advent and aftermath of hazard events”
Authors:
Richard Hazel, and in collaboration with Charles D. Sharp, CEO Black Emergency Managers
Association International
October 22, 2017
Reality, Disasters Are Increasing on Communities
One of
the more active and destructive hurricane seasons to visit the Atlantic in
recent decades has once again cast a spotlight on the lacking readiness of
developing nations geographically located in high-risk, impact zones for one
of nature’s most destructive windstorm seasons that occurs six months of
every year. Under normal blue sky conditions these nations exist at fragile
economic, political and social vulnerability intersects of people, places and
things. The inhabitants of the provinces, towns and parishes on these islands
know well the daily lessons of hardship and making hard decisions- as borne
out in the narratives and histories of their journeys from emancipation
toward independence.
Political Landscape in Risk
Decisions
Repetitive
and increasing losses and costs of disasters cannot be wholly blamed on
variability in cyclic climatic conditions, forces of nature, nor the divine
wrath of any deity’s fury. The destruction and despair facing these nations
are direct consequences of risk decisions, non-decisions and deferrals made
during times of plenty, by key institutions, leaders and stakeholders
contemplating the question of how much time and effort should be expended
towards mitigating pre-existing conditions and developing resilient
communities in preparation for the coming times of need. The forces of nature
have scant regard for electoral boundaries and voting blocks, but the usual suspects
that adorn the political landscape often lack the intestinal fortitude to
articulate, lead and craft a better fate or new normal for their populace.
Comforting lies are easier pathways to landslide re elections than hard - but
truthful- conversations with their electorate.
The
inconvenient truth for many small nations is that one or more years of little
to no direct impact from hazard events, breeds contempt amongst elected
officials for a continued budget investment in readiness and response initiatives.
For too
long there has been insufficient investment in tangible pre-disaster
activities or initiatives to match continued post disaster cap in hand
approaches. Such hollow affirmations to potential donors betray a chronic
pre-disaster posture demonstrating greater willingness to co mingle or divert
potential homeland security and emergency management funding towards more
‘significant and pressing’ fiscal concerns.
The
ability of G20 countries to continually provide unprecedented levels of post
disaster response assets and financial recovery assistance to developing
nations will be severely tested. Larger countries are themselves battling a
multiplicity of natural and human adversaries unlike anything our hemisphere
has seen in recent times.
It has
been 12 years since Katrina, 7 years since Tomas and 5 years since Sandy. If
there was any lesson to be learned from these focusing events, one should
have been abundantly clear to a region unable to reasonably absorb its own
risks and that is far too often characterized for its seemingly complacent,
easy-going approach: No more waiting for and blaming Superman – resilience is
symbiotic and a shared responsibility. In keeping with a whole community approach, individuals must be willing to accept
the challenge of playing an active role in their own readiness and recovery
planning. Similarly, external agencies and elected governments must commit to
crafting, implementing or revising policies in a way that better address and
support improvements to the current state of readiness, response and recovery
gaps.
IMF Resiliency Dividend
Institutions
such as the International Monetary Fund which has a long and often negatively
storied relationship with developing countries, also has a role it can play. When
it comes to assessing developing county risks, the protracted ripple effect
that exogenous events such as climatic forces have on the economies of
developing nations, may warrant a re-examination of not just the amount of
weight assigned to climatic shock variables; but also the weighting assigned
to – and need for – the introduction of a counterbalancing resilience
variable. Such an added variable could capture into the rating or scoring
assessment any pre-disaster investments in focused risk reduction initiatives
within education, industry and critical infrastructure arenas, and a
factoring of the data analysis and reporting of defined, measurable outputs
and outcomes of such project and programmatic activities.
There is
need for targeted investment in disaster education initiatives and critical
infrastructure. These areas can improve risk decision making and
post-disaster recovery time objectives across market sectors, thereby driving
investor confidence in the capacity and capability mechanisms within a nation
to rapidly respond to such adversities. The economic variable is but one of
six critical interrelated, macro-environment factors that spur productivity,
business investment, stabilization and overall growth.
Countries
with continued low to negative post disaster declines in operational
recovery, falling investor and public confidence and exponential increases in
repetitive losses over a specified period of time - despite multi-year donor investment initiatives designed to reduce
such impacts - could potentially see an added increase in their
resilience risk rating while those with demonstrable improvements in
vulnerability areas, recovery time objectives and confidence levels could see
a reduction in overall risk rating. Notwithstanding the persistent need for
the IMF to advocate right-sizing of government, emancipation of industry
sectors from their “death by a thousand regulations”, and significant cuts in
tax burdens placed on the average individual; encouraging the preservation
and advancement in pre-disaster mitigation focus areas should be part and
parcel of the discussion when designing or proposing austerity measures and
structural adjustment policies.
Sustainable Growth and Economic
Resiliency
Disaster Management
as a key component to sustainable growth and economic resiliency should be as
much as practicable, insulated from draconian cuts. This can serve as a boon
for potential creditors and investors as they themselves prospect and assess
the ability of a nation to persist, rebound and thrive in the advent and
aftermath of crisis and emergency events. International institutions and
researchers over the years have observed that fractional
investments towards pre-disaster risk reduction strategies could avert the
hundreds of billions of dollars typically expended on resultant losses.
How well
have local governments and global institutional leaders walked the decades of
talk and international speeches about strategizing, prioritizing,
implementing and sustaining disaster risk reduction initiatives across
developing nations? Has the pre and post disaster fate of the elderly and
persons with functional and access needs improved by any significant measure?
Or are they still society’s bastard orphans when it comes to their inclusion
and engagement in readiness, response and recovery activities. Independent
oversight, tracking and measuring the outcomes of external financial injects
for the purposes of executing projects designed to improve readiness and resilience
remains an unfortunate but necessary rehabilitative imposition. To do less provides ample opportunity for
donor dollars to be diverted into public sector pork barrels of those
determined to maintain their partisan political hegemonies. A nation that lapses
in establishing and investing in a culture of readiness amongst its general
populace and key industry sectors, is one that also lays itself open as a
welcome nesting ground for terrorism, drug trafficking, political corruption
and other visceral threats that continually stymie economic growth and
homeland security.
CDEMA Meeting Regional Needs
The
Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) is one such regional
entity that has taken up the challenge and embraced this mandate. Over the past
quarter century, CDEMA has undergone transformation from a posture primarily
focused on post-incident response and relief; to one that embraces an
all-hazards full cycle approach to comprehensive disaster management. Steady
advancement toward the regional goals and objectives set by CDEMA requires
the continued, demonstrable non-partisan support of participating
governments, private sector interests, extra regional stakeholders and the
active engagement of at-risk communities.
Approaches for the Future
Now more
than ever, a three pronged strategic approach of information, education and
participation needs to be the mantra embraced by all. These facets must be implemented not only
across the various levels of the education system, but even more critically -
in the communities themselves via local community centers, libraries, faith
based institutions and those non-profit organizations that while lacking the
cosmetic luster of a brand name logo, are instead focused on project and
program integrity, being good stewards of donated funding and evaluating and
demonstrating impact of disaster based financial and social service
activities.
As we look toward the uncertainties of
another year, power still rests with each individual to recognize, be willing
and able to become an active participant in building resilience within their
community which can redound to society as a whole. Two decades have already
passed since the ’94 Global Conference for the Sustainable Development of
Small Island Developing States. The
final critique of our collective success or failure to pursue practicable,
credible, risk reduction initiatives hinges on the lessons relearned and
milestone objectives set and achieved well in advance of the next disaster
event.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and other contributors; they do not reflect the official policy or position of any agency or non-governmental organization.
Bios
Richard Hazel
Richard Hazel is a graduate of the George Washington
University School of Engineering and Applied Science. There he pursued
studies in Engineering Management with a specialized focus on Crisis,
Emergency and Risk Management. He has been involved in the design and
implementation of community disaster education initiatives, emergency
preparedness programs and has served in various roles on local, regional and
international response efforts while serving with public and non-profit
organizations. He is an honors graduate of the University of the West Indies
and a national development scholar. His family originates from the islands of
Barbados and Dominica.
Charles D. Sharp
Charles D. Sharp is the Chief Executive Officer of the
Black Emergency Managers Association International (BEMA International). Association of homeland security, emergency
management professionals and as part of its’ mission and vision includes
members of the community from individuals, nonprofit, faith-based, private
sector, and other professionals from each of the critical infrastructure
sector as part of its’ whole community participation for awareness,
education, and training for disasters and community engagement and resiliency
building.
|