By Joel Sams
In March, the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA), a CSG affiliated organization, is hosting an Emergency Management Virtual Learning Lab series exploring topics selected by NEMA members to address timely issues in emergency management and to address lessons learned over the past year. To view the recordings of these sessions, visit the NEMA YouTube Channel.
The National Emergency Management Association (NEMA), a CSG Affiliate, continued its ongoing Emergency Management Virtual Learning Lab series with a March 4 session exploring how to accelerate response and recovery in the context of ongoing challenges.
According to NEMA, climate change and public health and infrastructure conditions have made disasters more frequent, severe, highly visible and deeply scrutinized, and recoveries have correspondingly become too long, too slow and too complicated. During the Virtual Learning Lab, which was presented by consultant ICF, a panel of experts discussed what state and local emergency mangers can do to speed up disaster response and recovery.
Panels were moderated by Mike Whitaker, senior vice president of client services and innovations at ICF. Speakers included the following:
- Karl Burchhaus, superintendent of education, Calcasieu Parish, La.
- Manuel A.J. Laboy Rivera, executive director, Central Office for Recovery, Reconstruction and Resiliency (COR3), Puerto Rico
- Alex Amparo, acting deputy administrator, FEMA Resilience
- Dan Kaniewski, managing director for the private sector, Marsh & McLennan; former deputy administrator, FEMA
- Jeff Byard, former executive operations officer for Alabama Emergency Management Agency; former associate administrator, Office of Response and Recovery, FEMA
- Jessie Handforth Kome, director, Office of Block Grant Assistance, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
“Why are we talking about this now?” said Amparo, referencing a graphic that showed $1 billion disaster events in the U.S. from 1980-2020. “When you look at disaster costs over time This is 40 years, adjusted for inflation, and that’s undeniable. These are $1 billion or more storms. And what you’re seeing is, in 2020, we had 22 of those, compared to 1980, when there were three. […] Over time, the climate has changed faster than we have, and that’s a trend we need to flip.”
What I’ve learned is that frequently the local jurisdictions and the states know a heck of a lot more than I do about what can be done, and as a funder, what we have to learn how to do is design programs that can be used effectively and that we don’t build rules into the program that get in the way of the goals of the program.
Kome, the director of HUD’s Office of Block Grant assistance, says she has learned the importance of listening to the states and local jurisdictions when making funding decisions. The state and local perspective, she says, is essential for designing programs that meet the needs of communities — especially in unpredictable times.
“One of the things we’re puzzling over, and why we want to talk more to other entities and local governments and NGOs, is that we can’t predict when a recovery is going to be wildly successful or when it’s going to get delayed based purely on the factors we normally look at, like capacity, to administer funds,” Kome said. “And we’re trying to figure out what all the elements are so we can start supporting the elements that will really drive successful recovery and long-term resilience.”
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The NEMA Virtual Learning Labs will continue every Tuesday and Thursday until March 25.
To register for upcoming sessions, visit: nemaweb.org/index.php/forums-meetings/nema-webinar-series-march-2021
To view recordings of past events, visit the NEMA YouTube channel: youtube.com/user/NEMAforyou.