Blue-Sky Planning: Community Preparedness

I woke up and could hear the heavy rain on the roof. I looked at the clock and listened. A few minutes later I looked at the clock again, listening to the rain. I was pretty good at judging how long before we started having problems. It was 1995, and it seemed like every rainfall was a heavy rainfall event. Being a retired Coast Guardsman, I always felt I needed to go to the office in case one of our partners needed something. Just like my old 41’ Search and Rescue boat, when the call it had to work.

The Coast Guard mantra is “Semper Paratus.” It takes commitment to live this mantra. If you’re interest in working in the emergency management field, be sure you understand the commitment to the community before you take the job. Moms, dads and their kids go to bed at night knowing a program is in place.

In 1998, FEMA Director James Lee Witt and Vice President Al Gore introduced “Project Impact” to the nation. I was all in, but not for the funding. My interest was capitalizing on the national risk reduction message and the community products. This program expired in 2000. The program was built on the principles of community partnerships and teamwork. I have always adhered to these principles, so it resonated with me instantly. They stand up in 2022.

If it’s been a while since you got the team together, no worries. This is your opportunity to build a strong 21st Century team to protect your community and reduce future risk from all-hazards. Use the partnership and teamwork principles to build your team. You are the emergency management subject matter expert. Advise your elected officials and take the initiative. Your team will help you advise.

Note – You have a lot of tools we didn’t have in the 1990s, beginning with all the advances in forecasting. In 2022, understand the hazards that threaten us better than ever before. GIS technology is playing a big role in reducing our risk to all hazards. Let's include email, WWW, smartphones and iPads.

Meet with your leadership people one on one. Get consensus on the core issues. This will take a little time. Meet with your elected officials, talk to them about the plan, tell them about the team and get consensus on the core issues. Check in with your attorney and treasurer. Then pull your team together and set a course that ensures you meet your EMPG and other operational requirements. This includes teaching the public to protect themselves, developing volunteer resources and training the team. Hold a press conference when the sun is out and show-off the team.

More than ever before, the community needs to see you preparing and you teaching the people to protect themselves.

Note - Bad days are for implementation. Do your consensus building on a blue-sky day.

The regional planning concept really got its start with an organization called SELSAR in Southeast Louisiana. It was more of a search and rescue organization. In Northeast Louisiana, the idea of Parishes working together came together in an agreement, signed on the deck of the Twin City Queen in the early 1990s. If there was any doubt in the value of regional planning, the 1997 Mississippi highwater took care of it. I have always credited Reynold Minsky, John Stringer, State Representative Francis Thompson and Rick Foster for getting us though that highwater. A more formal document was created in 2004, I think.

The regional network is only as strong as each community in the region. Get your team together, teach the people to protect themselves from all-hazards. There is uncertainty ahead.

I am very proud of the local work going on in NELA.

Sources: U.S. Coast Guard, FEMA and local knowledge

 Tom M.