AMERCIAN MADE: THE SPIRIT OF TOMMY AND GINA

An Americana cultural reference from the music of the 1980s, Tommy and Gina represent the spirit of our unalienable rights and pursuit of happiness. They have always lived in America as part of the middle class.

Young and in love, it was Tommy and Gina against the world. They shouldered our tax burden, built America and defended us time and again.

This mix of youthful spirit and adolescent angst has no bounds. If you look closely, you can see Tommy and Gina. They are among us.

In 2022, Russia unjustly invaded Ukraine attacking its population centers with impunity. The world bore witness to the dead, dying and defiant civilians in the streets.

With their spirit of unalienable rights and pursuit of happiness, Tommy and Gina repelled the invasion. The fight in Ukraine has reminded the world who Tommy and Gina are, what they stand for, and what they bring to the table.

They are American Made.

Tom M.

Thank you, Bon Jovi - Living on a Prayer

                                                                                                                  ©2022 Tom Malmay

LOUISIANA FLOOD CONTROL LEGISLATION: MODERN DAY NOAH'S ARK

The story of Noah’s Ark is my all-time favorite Bible story. Noah was given specific instructions on how to build the ark. Built from cypress and coated with pitch inside and out, the ark’s profile would have looked enormous against the horizon. Noah and his family filled the ark with two of each living creature, male and female. The rain came for forty days and forty nights. The earth was flooded, and all was lost. The ark came to rest safely upon the mountains of Ararat. The earth would now have a second chance.

I have always said, "Noah’s Ark was the world’s most successful flood mitigation project." Noah knew a flood was coming. He listened to the warnings of what was ahead, he was provided construction plans and took action to mitigate the flood. 

While Louisiana has plenty of cypress, the ark we need in 2022 is legislation. In 2011, Northeast Louisiana was protected from the Mississippi River by levee’s that were legislated to be built following the 1927 flood. The State has grown since the early 20^th Century. Our hazards and risks have changed. We need new comprehensive legislation that establishes a risk reduction strategy and guides investments to reduce inland and coastal flooding. 

I encourage our best and brightest to inform our lawmakers on the need for risk reduction across the State of Louisiana.

We know a flood is coming. We need to take action.

Photograph from the National Weather Service - The great Mississippi River flood of 1927. Refugees in camp near the Louisiana Monument during the Great Flood of 1927 at the Vicksburg National Military Park.

Source: The Bible, Local knowledge

                                                                                                               ©2022 Tom Malmay

Tom M.

OUACHITA RIVER VALLEY RENAISSANCE: A 21ST CENTURY AWAKENING OF CULTURE AND BUSINESS

The recovery from the Great Flood of 2016 gave rise to a period of community rebirth. Officials worked on flood mitigation strategies, housing, infrastructure, economic recovery, health, and natural and cultural resources. With the rebuilding underway, public meetings were held and people’s concerns and ideas were heard. In those early days of the recovery, you could sense the call to action for change. That sense of urgency still exists. 

The political landscaped also changed during this period. And people were noticeably more interested in cultural happenings and civic events. The private and public sector continued to invest in the community. Progress was being made. In August 2020, real estate developer and State Representative Michael Echols all but declared a Renaissance. 

Public art, poetry readings, photography, live musical performances, freedom of speech exercises, and being different are now a permanent part of our cloth. We can never go back.

Beginning in 2020, the region experienced a prolonged period of adversity that threatened all the progress made. The community was impacted but our resilience won. Despite the pandemic, hurricanes, tornadoes, flash flooding, and a winter storm, public and private investments continue. All things cultural are flourishing.

The community investments in infrastructure, economic development and culture continue at a never-before-seen tempo. Our leaders understand the linkage between business and culture, and they are leveraging.

People will visit our region to experience the art, food, wineries, cultural happenings and great outdoors. Remote workers and businesses will be attracted here for all the afore mentioned amenities. 

The culture - business blend model is spreading in the Ouachita River Valley. Be looking for investment opportunities. 

Monroe-West Monroe Area

Source: Local knowledge

                                                                                                                         ©2022 Tom Malmay

Tom M.

A Thousand Walls: A prayer for jobs in the Louisiana Delta

On June 7, 2022, a praise to God celebration was held at the Henrietta Johnson Recreation Center at 2800 Burg Jones Lane, Monroe, LA 71202. I was asked to pray over jobs and economic development. It was a wonderful evening. Below is my prayer.

Our Heavenly Father, at the beginning of this “Fast” I prayed for you to heal this land from flooding and poverty.

Our leaders are working night and day to bring good jobs to the Delta. Lord, I ask that you give each one of them the strength and wisdom to help your children.  

I pray that you give Kenya Robertson, Kristopher Kelly and Roy Heatherly the strength to breakdown a thousand walls. Share with all the leaders from the Delta the path forward to help your children.

Lord, you know it's hard down here sometimes. A good job solves a lot of problems.

We are here, we will listen, and we will follow.

Amen.

The kids are with Representative Pat Moore, Monroe City School Board Representative Betty Cooper and Senator Katrina Jackson 

__________________________

Kenya Robertson, Monroe Regional Black Chamber of Commerce

Kristopher Kelly, West Monroe West Ouachita Chamber of Commerce

Roy Heatherly, Monroe Chamber of Commerce

LONG-TERM DISASTER RECOVERY IN THE SOUTHLAND: "WE'RE ALL IN THE SAME TRUCK"

It’s in our national interest for communities to be successful in their disaster recovery efforts. This was one of the main reasons FEMA established the National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF). Your local long-term recovery framework needs to be strong enough to support passionate discussions and public discourse but not so rigid it suppresses new ideas and innovation. Rebuild your community in a way that reduces risks, promotes quality of life and supports economic development.

The quality of recovery on the Gulf Coast impacts inland communities. People returning to work, healing, rebuilding, community planning, and generating tax revenue are all key indicators of a community recovering.

A while back, I was in a watershed planning meeting going through a presentation on flood claims from the Great Flood of 2016. Someone pointed at the map and asked about the geography that was absent of flood claims. I was waiting on that question. I then showed them the IA claims and stated the population in this area could not afford flood insurance. They applied to FEMA for help in a different program. What followed was a conversation about low and moderate income (LMI) areas, the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) and equity.

Disasters do not impact families equally. Poor people come from all walks of life. There is linkage between breaking the cycle of poverty and breaking the cycle of disaster-rebuild -disaster.

Using the early 2000s as a marker, the frequency and magnitude of natural hazard events is raising questions if not alarms. In Louisiana, we are living from disaster to disaster. This doesn’t seem normal. I have worked in this industry for more than 25 years and I have questions.

I will start by asking if our investments in emergency management are proportional to the increase in frequency and magnitude? Are we attempting to inhabit geography that is uninhabitable? Are environmental conditions changing? Is it temporary or permanent? Are we creating emergency response plans to complex for implementation by humans? Are we appropriately explaining risks to our people?

The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act or as I refer to it “The Stafford Act” has served our nation well over the years. Is it adequate to manage catastrophic events? Is it appropriately designed to manage overlapping active disaster declarations for a common geography?

We need risk reduction across the State of Louisiana. Our lawmakers need to hear from the next generation. We need our best and brightest working on this.

All emergency management practitioner, meteorologists, academia and related fields of study, are encouraged to communicate with their respective lawmakers. Write your lawmaker, participate in a conference call, or attend a public meeting. If you have expertise or a storm story you would like to share, lawmakers need to hear from you.  

Get involved.

NOAA - Climate change increased chances of record rains in Louisiana by at least 40 percent

FEMA Disaster History

Louisiana Lawmakers

Sources: FEMA, USGS, Experience, Local knowledge

Tom M.

Scott McCreery - Same Truck

                                                                                          ©2022 Tom Malmay

IN MEMORY OF LOUISIANA SB 414 AND HB 606: DIED IN THE SPRING OF 2022

Louisiana SB 414 by Senator Fred H. Mills, Jr. is dead. He and others worked hard on this legislation. In Northeast Louisiana Karen Cupit, Lisa Richardson and the Region 3 Watershed Committee worked hard on this initiative. No legislation is perfect. This legislation sought to add structure to statewide risk reduction efforts. The strategy provided for inland and coastal risk reduction. It assembled subject matter experts to manage, and it provided a mechanism for local and state leaders to inject their thoughts and concerns into the process.

As the Louisiana Gulf Coast changes, all of Louisiana must adapt. The time for talk is over. As a strategy, inland risk reduction does two things. 1) It protects families and business and 2) It prepares inland Louisiana to receive coastal populations and businesses as they migrate inland.

A statewide strategy that accounts for the loss of the coast and prepares inland Louisiana is needed. SB 414 put us on a path to develop a strategy. HB 606 would have matured and headed this direction out of necessity. Both are dead.

We will have to work harder to make sure the people of Louisiana have a voice as our geography and risk to all-hazards change.

Northeast Louisiana is committed to helping our coastal families. If a storm threatens the coast, we will be here.

Source: NOAA, FEMA, and Local knowledge

Tom M.

Provided by Hurricane Laura, NOAA

                                                                                               ©2022 Tom Malmay

Tommy and Gina are in Ukraine

An American cultural reference from the music of the 1980s, Tommy and Gina represent the spirit of our unalienable rights and pursuit of happiness. Tommy and Gina have always lived in America as part of the middle class. They shouldered our tax burden, built America and defended us time and again. This mix of youthful spirit and adolescent angst is not bound by time, geography, race or ethnicity. If you look closely, you can see them in Ukraine.

On February 24, 2022, Russia unjustly invaded Ukraine attacking its population centers with impunity. The world bore witness to the dead, dying and defiant civilians in the streets. Heroism in the face of hatefulness and disregard for human decency. Russian President Vladimir Putin has twice threatened the global community with nuclear weapons. A developing axis of evil now taunts the civilized world.

Wearing a green t-shirt and using modern technology, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy inspired the globe with his declarative statements and resolve. Under his leadership, the Ukrainian Civil Defense/ Territorial Defense Force mobilized their people to fight, survive and repel the unwarranted invasion. As of mid-March 2022, Ukraine’s history is still being written. I never believed Adolf Hitler’s occupation of the countries he invaded would have been successful. Over time, the entitlement of certain unalienable rights and pursuit of happiness by all men would have prevailed.

Will the war spread to other European countries? Will it come to American shores? Will the developing axis of evil strike preemptively? America has faced this quandary before in the 20th Century.

Originally created in 1916, President Franklin Roosevelt reestablished the Council of National Defense in 1940. The war in Europe was raging. Adding to the tensions, Americans were seeing reports about the civilian bombing campaigns. They were worried about attacks on U.S. Cities. In a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt, New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia wrote:

“There is a need for a strong Federal Department to coordinate activities, and not only to coordinate but to initiate and get things going. Please bear in mind that up to this war and never in our history, has the civilian population been exposed to attack. The new technique of war has created the necessity for developing new techniques of civilian defense.” – Source U.S. Homeland Security

President Franklin Roosevelt responded to these growing concerns creating the Office of Civilian Defense (OCD) in 1941. Local offices were established across the country. The local partnerships were the strength of this program. This program was a force multiplier for local governments. It created groups of resources that could be activated in response to an attack or natural disaster. Across the country, people from all walks of life got involved to fulfill their civic duty.

At the end of WW II, most officials agreed the threat of an attack on the continental United State had receded. The office was abolished by President Harry Truman. Then, following a series of reports that studied the bombing campaigns during WW II, Congress enacted the Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950. The Civil Defense programs would continue to evolve and change through the 21st Century.

The Cuban missile crisis in 1962, validated the need for ongoing programs to prepare the population for an attack or natural disaster. In 1965, Hurricane Betsy struck the Louisiana coast. In 1969, Hurricane Camille struck the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Wade Guice the Director for the Harrison County Civil Defense and his team are credited with saving thousands. The hurricane evacuation plans developed by the Harrison County Civil Defense and their partners were successful.

The 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear accident demonstrated the need to improve intergovernmental communication, coordination and planning. In response, President Jimmy Carter established the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Following the September 11th attack, FEMA was integrated into the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as was the United States Coast Guard and other agencies. These domestic programs have served the nation well though some of the greatest disasters of our time.

Made-up of people from all walks of life, the Ukrainian Civil Defense has reminded the world who Tommy and Gina are, what they stand for, and what they bring to the table.

Sources: FEMA, Homeland Security, Declaration of Independence and John Bon Jovi

- Tom M.

Civil Defense