THE FUTURE OF DISASTER PREPAREDNESS IN AMERICA

By John Copenhaver

It is 11:00 a.m. in the morning on September 12, 2003, and a Category 4 hurricane named Erika is making landfall in the southeastern U.S. A storm surge of 18 feet brings the waters of the Atlantic Ocean roaring into the coastal town of Anywhere, with 20 foot waves topping this moving wall of water. Sustained winds of 135 miles per hour tear at trees and buildings, turning loose objects into dangerous projectiles. Hurricane Erika will be the largest and strongest hurricane of the 2003 hurricane season.

It is now December 12, 2003, three months after Erika’s landfall. In the shops, marinas and streets of Anywhere, crowds of tourists meander; the sun is shining, the skies are blue and the temperature is 75 degrees Fahrenheit. It is another blissful day in Paradise, and the only reminders of the fury of three months ago are scattered fresh tree stumps, heavy equipment delivering and grading new beach sand in several storm-washed areas, and the banging of hammers as minor repairs to several structures are being completed. The town’s economy is booming, and all is well in Anywhere.

As emergency managers and business continuity professionals, we immediately deem this scenario as Utopian fiction – memories of the devastation caused by hurricanes Hugo and Andrew spring to mind. No community could withstand such a powerful blow and come back to prosperity so quickly – right?

Wrong. Anywhere, U.S.A. is a model town for Project Impact. It is a disaster-resistant community in which all sectors have come together to identify common threats and fund preventative measures to reduce potential damage from these threats. Residents of Anywhere have been educated on evacuation and sheltering procedures, shuttering and elevation options, and constructing and maintaining both home and business disaster preparedness plans. Local businesses have worked hand in hand with their government counterparts to identify all the special-needs members of Anywhere’s population, and to provide the planning and funding necessary to ensure their safety. The homes and businesses in Anywhere have been built to very strong standards, and older pre-code buildings have been retrofitted to meet the tougher code. In fact, this is the future of successful American communities – until Anywhere is everywhere, everyone who is anyone in the emergency preparedness industry has work to do.

THREE KEY CONCEPTS
Three concepts underlie this vision of the future of emergency preparedness.

1. Strategic community planning (by representatives of all segments within the community) which targets common threats and logical threat mitigation initiatives
2. Solid partnerships between the local government and business sectors
3. Sound education of the people of the community on the threats they face and available cost-effective means they can use to reduce their disaster exposure

Anywhere began its journey towards disaster resistance back in the year 2000, when it was designated by State and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) executives as a "Project Impact" community. From that point forward, community representatives organized a "Preparedness Planning Committee" to devise a strategic plan for Anywhere, with the goals being optimized preparedness for emergencies and coordinated response and recovery activities should disasters occur.

STRATEGIC PLANNING
Regular meetings were held, and members of both public and private sector groups within Anywhere undertook to identify the main threats posed to the town from both natural and manmade hazards. As a coastal community located close to both major interstate roads and rail lines, significant threats from hurricanes, flooding and hazardous material releases were quickly identified. Business sector representatives added a propane tank farm and a chemical plant to the list, and all these threats were discussed at length in terms of hazard mitigation initiatives. Within eight months of its formation, Anywhere’s Preparedness Planning Committee had built a solid foundation for the town’s strategic planning.

SOLID PARTNERSHIPS
During this formative stage, members of key business and government concerns worked side by side to identify common threats and create community preparedness goals. Informal conversations of mutual interest led to more formalized discussion of partnering efforts. The Anywhere Chamber of Commerce emerged as a focal point for rallying the town’s many small businesses and bringing them into the planning meetings. Slowly but surely, a much more complete picture of the town’s functions, needs and critical interdependencies began to materialize. Emergency managers from the government sector educated their private sector counterparts on government disaster operations, from the use of the Incident Command System to critical information requirements about the nature and exact location of potentially hazardous chemicals stored at many business locations throughout Anywhere. Business continuity planners worked with the emergency managers to identify and facilitate critical private sector needs, from accurate road closure information to emergency facility access requirements. These partnerships grew and flourished in an environment where each participant understood and acknowledged the roles of all sectors in preserving the town’s well being.

SOUND EDUCATION
Within one year from the date of its designation as a disaster-resistant Project Impact community, Anywhere was well on the road to being a national role model for safe and livable communities. Its planners then took the next big step – education of the public at large. In a series of monthly Town Hall meetings, the activities of the Preparedness Planning Committee were presented to the townspeople. Questions were encouraged, and piece by piece the "big picture" emerged; representatives from each segment took turns outlining identified threats and planning responses.

Emergency preparedness materials– leaflets, brochures, booklets and videotapes – were passed out at Chamber of Commerce meetings, at company meetings, and through various retail outlets and civic associations. Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness groups were formed, and regular disaster drills began to be held. Local, regional, and even national experts on severe weather preparedness gave presentations to Anywhere’s residents, and gradually the messages of cooperation and communication, of preparedness and cost-effective mitigation, became a part of Anywhere’s culture. Owners of homes and businesses located in low-lying areas elevated their buildings above flood level or moved to higher, less flood-prone areas.

By September 12, 2003, Anywhere was indeed a model disaster-resistant community – and by the 2003 holiday season, Hurricane Erika’s fury was largely a memory.

For those who would proclaim this as fiction, as wishful thinking, look around you – almost 200 Project Impact communities now exist, and the number is steadily growing. More and stronger partnerships between business and government concerns now exist than has ever been the case in emergency preparedness. Public awareness of disaster prevention is growing at an unprecedented rate, and disaster preparedness planning groups are springing up in communities across our nation. The "spider web" of lines of communication and cooperation has begun growing in many neighborhoods, and success stories of lives saved and damage prevented or reduced are emerging in the aftermath of floods, hurricanes and tornadoes. Indeed, we are well on our way to Anywhere – but we are not there yet. Much work remains to be done in America’s towns and cities, and many painful lessons are undoubtedly yet to be learned. But America’s future – and the safety and security of its citizens – will in time be found Anywhere you look.

About the Author
John Copenhaver is the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Region IV office based in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to joining FEMA, John had extensive private sector emergency management experience. He is a Certified Business Continuity Professional. For more information on this subject call (770) 220-5200.