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Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinator Helps Communities Plan for the Future

LINCROFT, N.J. – In the weeks after a federally declared disaster, emergency teams from government agencies, nonprofits and volunteer organizations work together to help survivors make their way out of danger and find food, clothing and shelter.

After the immediate emergency is over, the long work of recovery begins.

And as New Jersey survivors of Hurricane Sandy have learned over the past 18 months, full recovery from a devastating event like Sandy may take years.

Communities throughout New Jersey have been working hard to repair, rebuild and protect against future storms. In many cases, the challenges they face are formidable.

At the invitation of individual communities and in partnership with the state, FEMA’s office of Federal Disaster Recovery Coordination works with residents and municipal officials in impacted municipalities to develop a strategy for full recovery.

For communities that require assistance, the FDRC can provide a team of recovery specialists with a broad array of skills. Among them: civil engineering, architecture, land-use planning, economic development, environmental science and disabilities integration.

The FDRC is activated under the National Disaster Recovery Framework, which provides a structure for effective collaboration between impacted communities, federal, state, tribal and local governments, the private sector, and voluntary, faith-based and community organizations during the recovery phase of a disaster.

Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinator consult with impacted municipalities and assist with long-term planning, helping these communities determine what their priorities are and what resources they will need to achieve a full recovery.

In major disasters or catastrophic events, the FDRC is empowered to activate six key areas of assistance known as Recovery Support Functions.

The RSFs are led by designated federal coordinating agencies: Housing (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development); Infrastructure Systems (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers); Economic (U.S. Department of Commerce); Health and Social Services (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services); Natural and Cultural Resources (U.S. Department of Interior); and Community Planning and Capacity Building (FEMA).

Working in partnership with a State Disaster Recovery Coordinator and a Hazard Mitigation Adviser, the FDRC oversees an assessment of impacted communities and helps to develop a recovery support strategy. That strategy helps these hard-hit communities gain easier access to federal funding, bridge gaps in assistance, and establish goals for recovery that are measurable, achievable and affordable.

Here in New Jersey, approximately 12 communities have partnered with FDRC to prioritize their goals for recovery, locate the resources needed to achieve those goals and rebuild with resiliency.

In the Borough of Highlands, FDRC has assisted this severely impacted community in developing a plan for a direct storm water piping system that will decrease flooding in the low-lying downtown area. FDRC has also collaborated with the community on designing a more resilient, attractive and commercially viable central business district called the Bay Avenue Renaissance Project. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has initiated a feasibility study on their plan to protect the town from future flooding via a mitigation effort that includes installing floodwalls, raising bulkheads and building dune barriers.

In the devastated Monmouth County town of Sea Bright, FDRC worked with the community to create a plan for the construction of a beach pavilion that will serve as a year-round community center, library, lifeguard facility and beach badge concession. FDRC is also working with Sea Bright officials to develop a grant application to fund streetscape improvements in the downtown area of this beachfront municipality

In Tuckerton, FDRC worked with municipal officials on a plan to relocate its heavily damaged police station and borough facilities to a former school building that is much less vulnerable to flooding.

In partner communities throughout the state, FDRC subject matter experts are working to help residents envision a future that incorporates a strong infrastructure, increased storm protection and an enhanced environment that reflects the vision of the community.

http://www.fema.gov/disaster/4086/updates/sandy-one-year-later
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.

Follow FEMA online at www.fema.gov/blog, www.twitter.com/fema, www.facebook.com/fema, and www.youtube.com/fema. Also, follow Administrator Craig Fugate’s activities at www.twitter.com/craigatfema.

The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications

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Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinator Helps Communities Plan for the Future

One Year Later: Beaches And Boardwalks: Restoring The Jersey Shore’s Lifelines

LINCROFT, N.J. — Boardwalks are the backbone of many of New Jersey’s shore communities. Often lined with shops, amusements and restaurants, and serving as the main access points to beaches, boardwalks are the magnets that attract tourists to beach towns.

The United States’ first boardwaSeaside Heights, N.J., May 14, 2013 — Demolition of the Jet Star roller coaster in Seaside Heights, NJ was taking less time than anticipated, as debris was placed on a large barge for removal from the ocean. The roller coaster and three other attractions were plunged into the sea from the partially destroyed Casino Pier during Sandy last October. Photo by Sharon Karr/FEMAlk was built in Atlantic City in 1870. The brainchild of rail conductor Alexander Boardman and hotel owner Jacob Keim, its stated purpose was to keep visitors to the resort from tracking sand from the beach back into the hotels and onto the train cars.

For many shore towns affected by Superstorm Sandy, rebuilding the beaches and boardwalks – and rebuilding them by the start of the summer tourist season – became a top priority.

The Federal Emergency Management Authority has obligated $79 million in aid for 84 boardwalk and beach repair projects. Communities up and down the Jersey Shore employed different methods of beach replenishment and protection.

Some municipalities constructed timber bulkheads, large rock walls and/or concrete seawalls. To stabilize their dunes, some placed geotubes (tubes filled with sand and water wrapped in geotextile fabric) and gabions (wire baskets filled with large rocks) underneath the dunes. Geotubes have been used on the north end of Ocean City and along Cape May’s beaches. Gabions were used in the West Atlantic City portion of Little Egg Harbor. Officials in these and other shore communities credited those measures with protecting homes and residents from Sandy. Mantoloking and Brick Township are two communities now considering using geotubes.

Atlantic City’s boardwalk suffered its most severe damage to the section that borders Absecon Inlet, between Oriental and Maine avenues. FEMA obligated $2.5 million to repair and replace the boardwalk, ramps, railings, and lifeguard and comfort stations. A new seawall is also being built along the Absecon Inlet section of the boardwalk. Atlantic City and neighboring Ventnor will receive a combined 2 million cubic yards of sand to replenish the beaches in both communities. Brigantine used 630,000 cubic yards of sand to replenish its beach.

Atlantic City, N.J., Feb. 5, 2013 — The old boardwalk, which was severely damaged by Sandy, has been removed. Photo by Liz Roll/FEMAParts of Long Beach Island had 22-foot-high dunes and a 200-foot berm in front of coastal homes. The Sandy Disaster Relief Act will provide funds for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to complete the project on the whole island. Three million cubic yards of sand were dredged and pumped onto the beach. Repairs were also made to the boardwalk, sand fence and access roads at Island Beach State Park. The Corps is also making first-time beach restorations in Ship Bottom, Beach Haven and Long Beach Township, areas not protected by the original dunes and berm on the island.

Belmar’s 1.3-mile boardwalk and everything on it was destroyed by Sandy. Construction started in January and the new boardwalk opened May 22. FEMA covered $7.6 million of the $10 million cost of the project. Belmar is also designing a new $6 million dune system to protect the new boardwalk.

FEMA obligated $1.6 million for the reconstruction of Sea Girt’s boardwalk. Parts of the boardwalk that were damaged will be repaired using salvaged boards and rails. A 2,335-foot section will be rebuilt as the second phase of the project. The municipality is also rebuilding its dunes, which prevented serious damage to homes but took the brunt of the storm surge. The new dunes are expected to be more than 20 feet high.

Sea Girt, N.J., Jan. 16, 2013 — Sandy’s storm surge penetrated the boardwalk systems and there are several missing sections up and down the State’s shorelines. Photo by Adam DuBrowa/FEMASpring Lake’s boardwalk, which had been seriously damaged by Hurricane Irene in 2011, was hit again by Sandy. The storm pushed the boardwalk off its supports, damaged several support piles, and completely washed away the dunes protecting the boardwalk and town. FEMA reimbursed the borough for $4.1 million of the $5.5 million cost of rebuilding the boardwalk. The new boardwalk, made of a composite wood, was completed in April.

Seaside Heights had to take out a $14 million emergency appropriation loan to pay for essential repairs to its boardwalk and other areas after Sandy. Construction on the boardwalk began in mid-February, and a six-block section of the mile-long boardwalk was completed in early May. The main section reopened days before Memorial Day, and the $7.6 million reconstruction was completed in mid-June. Mayor William Akers has also suggested that a seawall may be built, though no decision has been made, and as a new project, it would be ineligible for FEMA funding.

Not all of the boardwalks along the shore have been restored. The older southern portion of the Long Branch boardwalk will not be rebuilt until 2014. “My goal isn’t to get it done quickly, it’s to make sure it is done right,” Mayor Adam Schneider said in December.

FEMA is covering $6.2 million of the $8.2 million cost of various repair projects in Long Branch, including completely rebuilding the southern section and repairing damage to the northern section. While the newer northern section, including Pier Village and the Long Branch Promenade, did not escape Sandy unscathed, Schneider said that section of boardwalk was designed to survive a hurricane, “and it did.”

Video-links: Long Beach Island, NJ Beach Replenishment, Roller Coaster Removed From Ocean,
New Jersey Bird Environment After Sandy

Next, the One Year Later series examines the restoration of the Atlantic Highlands Harbor, a vital link to lower Manhattan.

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.

Follow FEMA online at www.fema.gov/blog, www.twitter.com/fema, www.facebook.com/fema, and www.youtube.com/fema. Also, follow Administrator Craig Fugate’s activities at www.twitter.com/craigatfema.

The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications.

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One Year Later: Beaches And Boardwalks: Restoring The Jersey Shore’s Lifelines

FEMA, New York City Office of Emergency Management, & The Ad Council Kick Off 10th Annual National Preparedness Month

10th annual National Preparedness Month encourages Americans to take steps to toward resiliency and marks the 10^th Anniversary of its Ready Campaign

WASHINGTON – Today, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate kicked off the tenth annual National Preparedness Month (NPM), joining local New York City Emergency Management officials and New York City Citizen Corps Council, at the Children’s Museum in Staten Island to talk about the importance of family and community emergency preparedness.

“Each September, we commit to focusing our collective efforts on raising our level of readiness to be prepared for any potential hazard with National Preparedness Month,” said FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. “It is a time for us to promote individual and community preparedness. Events like the one today in New York serve as a reminder for all Americans to be prepared in order to successfully respond to and recover from emergencies and disasters.”

NPM is led by FEMA’s Ready Campaign in partnership with Citizen Corps and the Ad Council, and is a nationwide effort encouraging individuals, families, businesses and communities to work together and take action to prepare for emergencies. 2013 marks the 10^th anniversary of Ready, a public service advertising media campaign that has garnered in excess of $1billion in donated media placements, over 77 million visitors to its websites and has had in excess of 88 million pieces of preparedness materials requested or downloaded.

NPM is an opportunity to disseminate emergency preparedness information and host sponsor activities across the country to help Americans understand what it truly means to be ready. This year a new series of public service advertisements (PSAs) were launched as part of the Ready Kids campaign. The TV, radio, outdoor, print and digital PSAs take a humorous approach to emphasize the importance for parents to involve their children in the preparedness process. Through these PSAs, families are provided preparedness conversation starters including: who to call as your out-of-state emergency contact, where to meet if everyone is separated, and what to pack as part of your emergency supply kit. The PSAs direct to the redesigned Ready Kids website where parents can find the resources they need to make preparedness a family year-round family activity. (View PSAs on FEMA’s YouTube Channel: Seat of Your Pants & Not Sharing)

Social Media: Follow Ready online www.twitter.com/readygov, www.facebook.com/readygov, and www.youtube.com/fema. Also, follow Administrator Craig Fugate’s activities at twitter.com/craigatfema. Learn more about the Ready Campaign at www.ready.gov & Citizens Corps at www.citizenscorps.gov.

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FEMA, New York City Office of Emergency Management, & The Ad Council Kick Off 10th Annual National Preparedness Month

Circumstances Dictate Approach To Shorefront Protection

LINCROFT, N.J. — With the most developed and densely populated coastline in the country, New Jersey has communities along the Shore that are discovering the numerous ways to protect lives and property when storm clouds gather off the coast.

Yet, not all beach protection methods are the same. Not all of them will stop an ocean hell-bent on raging into the community.

Rock walls, geotubes, sand dunes and gabions are options for reducing the risk of damage during storms. But which one is best?

“You can’t say one is better than the other. Different site or community circumstances play into which protection measure a community may want or need to provide the protection they expect,” said Michael Foley, group supervisor with the mitigation branch of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

In New Jersey, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’Philadelphia and New York districts are managing several projects that will deposit about 15 million cubic yards of sand on beaches along the Atlantic coast. Another 875,000 cubic yards will be deposited along the south shore of Raritan Bay near Keansburg. That’s almost 800,000 dump trucks of sand – a single dump truck holds about 20 cubic yards. The projects are 100 percent funded under the Hurricane Sandy Relief Bill.

Sand dunes, mounds of dry sand built up naturally by wind and vegetation, are important first lines of defense against coastal storms, acting as a buffer to reduce losses to inland coastal development. Dune grasses anchor the dunes with their roots, helping to trap the sand, and also have the ability to grow new stalks up through layers of sand.

“For most areas along the oceanfront, beach fill represents the most cost-effective and least environmentally intrusive method to reduce risk from storm damage,” said Stephen Rochette, spokesman for the Corps’ Philadelphia District, which is constructing a dune and berm beach fill to restore four miles of Long Beach Island.

In 2010, the Corps built 22-foot dunes on parts of Long Beach Island, specifically Harvey Cedars, Surf City and Brant Beach. After Superstorm Sandy hit last October, the Hurricane Sandy Relief Bill provided the funding to restore the dunes in the three communities to full design level. The project illustrated the value of sand dunes.

Harvey Cedars “sustained very minimal damage mostly because the dunes were in place to protect it against the storm,” said Keith Watson, the Corps’ project manager on the Long Beach Island dune project. “The dunes really did their job.”

Geologists study the ocean bottom sediment to locate potential sources of suitable beach sand. Not all sand is the same. Grain size variation within the sediment is a critical factor in designing a stable beach, according to the New Jersey Geological Survey.

The Corps further conducts an analysis to determine the method and scope of a beach nourishment project.

“We look at a 50-year economic period and we run all the potential storms and combinations of storms that can occur over that time frame and look at the damages reduced from each design – big dunes, small dunes, flat berms, structures,” Watson said. “We choose the plan that maximizes the net benefits – that is, the damages prevented versus the costs.”

Wave action, tidal action and storms move sediment from one place to another. According to the Coastal Research Center’s website at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, “the total absence of bedrock along the shoreline means that all the oceanfront is vulnerable to be removed and redeposited elsewhere over relatively short periods of time.”

Long Beach Island communities on either end of the Corps’ beach restoration project saw significant damage from Sandy. Tidal surges washed the beaches right across the island, depositing sand up and down streets and yards. Some beachfront homes were washed off their foundations, some were left teetering after sand beneath the structures washed away.

But damage was less severe in areas of the island that were protected behind the sand dunes. “Superstorm Sandy came along and really vindicated what we’re doing and (illustrates) that our design is the right one for this island,” Watson said.

Along New Jersey’s 127 miles of coastline, communities have constructed timber bulkheads, large rock walls and concrete seawalls. To stabilize their dunes, some Shore communities have placed geotubes and gabions underneath the dunes. Geotubes are filled with sand and water, and wrapped in an ultra-strong geotextile fabric. Gabions are wire baskets filled with large rocks.

Geotubes have been used on the north end of Ocean City and along Cape May beaches; gabions in the West Atlantic City portion of Little Egg Harbor. Those measures were credited with protecting the communities from significant damage during Sandy.

Stockton College will host the 2013 conference of the Northeast Shore and Beach Preservation Association Sept. 9-11.

Follow FEMA online at www.fema.gov/blog, www.twitter.com/fema, www.facebook.com/fema, and www.youtube.com/fema. Also, follow Administrator Craig Fugate’s activities at www.twitter.com/craigatfema.

The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications.

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Circumstances Dictate Approach To Shorefront Protection

FEMA Corps Graduates First AmeriCorps Members

WASHINGTON – After completing 10 months of service to disaster survivors around the country, the nation’s first class of FEMA Corps members will be honored at graduation ceremonies in Vicksburg, Miss., and Vinton, Iowa this month.

FEMA Corps is an innovative partnership between the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) to enhance the nation’s disaster response and recovery capacity while expanding career opportunities for young people.

Established as a new unit within the existing AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), FEMA Corps engages young adults ages 18 to 24 to provide 10 months of full-time service on disaster response and recovery projects. More than 300 members of the inaugural FEMA Corps class will graduate at ceremonies in Vicksburg on June 6 and Vinton on June 13.

“These FEMA Corps members have made a real difference in FEMA’s disaster response and recovery efforts,” said Richard Serino, FEMA Deputy Administrator. “They have brought incredible energy and enthusiasm for community service, directly impacting the lives of disaster survivors and paving a path for future FEMA Corps teams.”

“I am so proud of the work AmeriCorps members have done as part of FEMA Corps and the positive impact they have had for disaster survivors,” said Wendy Spencer, CNCS CEO. “Through their selfless service, they have helped thousands of survivors move forward with their lives and blazed the trail for future FEMA Corps teams to make an even greater impact.”

FEMA Corps teams from the two campuses were integral in the response and recovery efforts for Hurricane Sandy. Teams were on the ground in New York and New Jersey in the first few days following the hurricane and provided direct assistance to disaster survivors by working at Disaster Recovery Centers and going door-to-door in impacted neighborhoods providing disaster information. FEMA Corps also provided assistance in 20 other states including Louisiana, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and Florida during their 10 month assignment.

The joint partnership between FEMA and CNCS is a five-year program that that will engage thousands of FEMA Corps members in all aspects of emergency management by responding to disasters across the country. Their service has contributed to delivering disaster assistance in a more expedited way by combining their resources and technology to help register disaster survivors in person. Their highly visible FEMA Corps uniforms also have let impacted communities and disaster survivors know that FEMA is present and helping to meet their needs.

As part of their service, FEMA Corps graduates will receive a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award to help them pay for college or pursue other learning opportunities in and out of emergency management.

“Being able to serve and to directly help disaster survivors in their greatest time of need has been more rewarding than I could have ever imagined when I signed up for the program,” said Margarita Andryushchenko, FEMA Corps Team Leader. “The experiences my team members and I have had over the past 10months will stay with us forever.”

In addition to FEMA Corps campuses in Vicksburg and Vinton, FEMA Corps is also based out of Denver and Sacramento, Calif., and in the fall the campus in Baltimore, Md. will inaugurate its first class. A second class of FEMA Corps members from Vicksburg and Vinton will also begin in the fall.

The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service through its AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, Social Innovation Fund, and Volunteer Generation Fund programs, and leads the President’s national call to service initiative, United We Serve. For more information, visit NationalService.gov.

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FEMA Corps Graduates First AmeriCorps Members

FEMA Corps Helps Young People Prepare

TRENTON, N.J.–In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy the Federal Emergency Management Agency implemented a program to help children understand the importance of preparation for future disasters. The program, FEMA for Kids, is presented by FEMA Corps members to elementary schools throughout New Jersey.

FEMA Corps is a new partnership between AmeriCorps and FEMA. Members, ages 18 to 24, help in the aid of disaster response and recovery. After Superstorm Sandy, teams were deployed to New Jersey to assist with recovery efforts and provide FEMA registration and preparedness information in communities throughout the state.

Through FEMA for Kids, elementary school students learn how to create a family emergency plan, assemble a disaster supply kit, and take care of pets during and after a disaster. The “art expression zone” encourages kids to express their feelings and thoughts about recent experiences with disasters through drawings and crafts.

FEMA has integrated FEMA for Kids in New Jersey’s affected communities, visiting 21 different schools, giving 28 presentations, and attending two community events to promote disaster awareness so far. Since its implementation, FEMA Corps members have reported having positive responses from the children and teachers, especially from the “art expression zones”.

Following the success of the FEMA for Kids program in New Jersey, FEMA Corps members created and developed the FEMA Connect program targeted to high school audiences. With numerous schools interested, FEMA Connect has grown from an idea to an active program. FEMA Corps has presented at one event and has more scheduled for May.

The objectives of the program are much like FEMA for Kids except it is geared towards an older age group. Students learn how to establish a family communication plan and how communities plan, respond to, and recover from disasters. In order to relate to and involve high school students, the program uses an emergency management scenario involving a fictional town and real life issues that may arise during and after a major storm event. The students are asked to give input on what families should do to prepare/react and how emergency managers should plan and respond for the disaster. FEMA Corps members are also there to answer any questions the students may have on how to get involved in their communities via volunteer agencies.

For more information on how to properly prepare for disasters, about the Ready Campaign or FEMA for Kids visit www.ready.gov.

Follow FEMA online at www.fema.gov/blog, www.twitter.com/fema, www.facebook.com/fema, and www.youtube.com/fema. Also, follow Administrator Craig Fugate’s activities at www.twitter.com/craigatfema.

The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications.

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FEMA Corps Helps Young People Prepare

FEMA Corps Talks Disaster Preparedness with Mariners Fans

Main Content

Release date:

April 29, 2013

Release Number:

13-5

FEMA Corps team Gold 4 participated in the Seattle Mariners ‘Salute to Volunteers’ night Thursday, April 25^th, 2013. The Gold 4 team talked to baseball fans about the importance of disaster preparedness. FEMA Corps members gave out information on how to create a disaster kit, start thinking about a disaster plan, and information on what to have on hand for pet owners in times of natural disaster.

“I am excited to help get the community prepared for natural disasters.” Said Team member Chelsea Rayman. “Increasing awareness of natural disasters and ways to be prepared is one thing FEMA and FEMA Corps have been focusing on throughout the Pacific Northwest.”

The Mariners went on to win a 6-0 game, but FEMA Corps member Emily Brown says “The real win is to reach out to community members and get them thinking about being prepared for a disaster.”

FEMA Corps is a new partnership with FEMA and AmeriCorps NCCC. Gold 4 is a team of ten ranging in age from 18 to 24. They are currently working with FEMA Region X External Affairs Division in Lynnwood, Washington.

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Last Updated:

April 29, 2013 – 15:45

State/Tribal Government or Region:

Region X

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FEMA Corps Talks Disaster Preparedness with Mariners Fans

FEMA Calls for 2013 Individual and Community Preparedness Award Submissions

WASHINGTON – The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is pleased to announce the application period for the 2013 Individual and Community Preparedness Awards is now open.

These awards recognize outstanding individuals, organizations, Citizen Corps Councils and programs working to make our communities safer, stronger and better prepared for any disaster or emergency event. Submissions will be accepted April 22 through June 5, 2013.

To be considered for this year’s Awards, all submissions must be received by June 5, 2013 at 11:59 p.m. E.D.T. and are required to feature program activities taking place during the period of January 1, 2012 through June 5, 2013. FEMA will review all entries and select the finalists. A distinguished panel of judges from the emergency management industry will select a winner in each of the following categories:

Outstanding State Citizen Corps Council Initiatives
Outstanding Local Citizen Corps Council Initiatives
Outstanding Community Emergency Response Team Initiatives
Outstanding Achievement in Youth Preparedness
Preparing the Whole Community
Awareness to Action
Community Preparedness Heroes

Winners of the 2013 FEMA Individual and Community Preparedness Awards will be announced in Fall 2013.

Whether it is an individual or a faith-based, non-profit, private sector, community-based, or tribal organization – everyone makes a difference in our community. Acknowledge the work you or someone you know has done to build a more resilient nation and submit an application.

Visit the following website for information on the Awards and to download instructions for submitting an application: www.ready.gov/citizen-corps-awards.

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FEMA Calls for 2013 Individual and Community Preparedness Award Submissions

FEMA Corps Team Gold 4 Helps Seattle Residents Prepare For Disaster

FEMA Corps team Gold 4 joined forces, Saturday, April 20, 2013 with Seattle Emergency Management, Earth Corps and the Nature Consortium at Pigeon Point Park to celebrate Duwamish Alive!

FEMA Corps answered questions about emergency preparedness and gave out information on everything from disaster kits to the risks inherent in the Pacific Northwest. They also gave information on how to reduce these risks. FEMA Corps helped spread information on simple steps for personal, family, and pet preparedness.

“We want to incorporate disaster preparedness into what people and organizations are already doing on a daily basis,” said Caitlyn Ripetto, a FEMA Corp team member who organized the project. “The work FEMA Corps is doing is part of a much larger effort that communities in Washington are actively undertaking to prepare for disaster by strengthening community ties, preparing families and businesses”.

FEMA Corps is a new partnership between AmeriCorps NCCC and FEMA that aims to provide communities with disaster preparedness and relief assistance. The Gold 4 team is made up of ten 18-24 year olds from around the country who are working with FEMA Region X External Affairs for two months.

The team will also have booths at two events on Saturday, April 27^, 2013. One is the Golden Gardens Park Clean-up and the other is Urban Forest Restoration at Pigeon Point Park.

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FEMA Corps Team Gold 4 Helps Seattle Residents Prepare For Disaster

FEMA Corps Arrives to Work with Local Communities on Disaster Preparedness

FEMA Corps arrived in Lynnwood, Washington on March 28^th, 2013 to work with the FEMA Region 10 External Affairs office. FEMA Corps, which is part of AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), will be planning and implementing at least three events focused on community involvement in disaster preparedness. This is the team’s first assignment since completing 6 weeks of in depth training.

The FEMA Corps team known as Gold 4 is from the NCCC Pacific Region campus in Sacramento, California. Gold 4 was the only team out of 20 teams from the Pacific Region campus to be sent to Washington. The team has been tasked to organize community events focused on increasing disaster preparedness within Region X which serves the population of Washington, Alaska, Oregon, and Idaho. The team will document the planning process to ensure projects can be easily replicated in other communities.

Team member Carrie Fowler is “excited to learn about how communities get involved when preparing for disasters.” The team of 10 is from all over the country, representing the states of California, Virginia, Michigan, Nevada, Missouri, Oregon and Washington.

Gold 4 is looking forward to working with Region 10 and community members in increasing awareness and knowledge of local natural hazards and empowering individuals and families to take charge of their own disaster preparedness.

To stay updated on Gold 4 and their work with communities and FEMA, you can ‘like’ their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/G4FEMACorps

AmeriCorps NCCC is a full-time, residential, national service program in which 1,200 young adults serve nationwide each year. During their 10-month term, Corps Members – all 18 to 24 years old – work on teams of 8 to 12 on projects that address critical needs related to natural and other disasters, infrastructure improvement, environmental stewardship and conservation, energy conservation, and urban and rural development. Members work on a series of different projects, typically lasting six to eight weeks each, to mentor students, construct and rehabilitate low-income housing, respond to natural disasters, clean up streams, help communities develop emergency plans, and address countless other local needs. The Pacific Region campus in Sacramento is one of five regional hubs in the United States and serves ten states in the western part of the country. The other campuses are located in Denver, Colorado; Perry Point, Maryland; Vinton, Iowa; and Vicksburg, Mississippi.

In exchange for their service, Corps Members receive $5,550 to help pay for college, or to pay back existing student loans. Other benefits include a small living stipend, room and board, leadership development, increased self-confidence, and the knowledge that, through active citizenship, people can indeed make a difference. AmeriCorps NCCC is administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service. The Corporation improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering. For more information about AmeriCorps NCCC, visit the website at www.americorps.gov/nccc.

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FEMA Corps Arrives to Work with Local Communities on Disaster Preparedness

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