A Time to Remember. A Time to Prepare.

By Don Armour, PE, Regional Leader US Southeast/FEMA Program Manager (Lexington, KY)

Flooding in Northeast, earthquakes in the Mid-Atlantic, hurricanes along the East coast, wild fires and drought conditions in the West, tornadoes in the Midwest—one need look no further than the local news to appreciate September’s National Preparedness Month.

This annual campaign, sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in partnership with Citizens Corp and the Ad Council, asks people to stop and think about their level of preparedness for natural and manmade disasters. The campaign—“A Time to Remember. A Time to Prepare.”—encourages all people to turns awareness into action by taking the necessary steps to ensure that their homes, workplaces, and communities are prepared for emergencies and disasters of all kinds.

Hurricane Irene caused major flooding along
Route 23 in Pompton Plains, NJ

At a personal level each of us has a responsibility to be prepared. Both FEMA (through its ready.gov website) and the Red Cross have checklists to guide us in assembling the most simple but important resource – an emergency kit. Each household should be outfitted with the survival basics such as battery powered radios, flashlights, medicines, water, and a limited non-perishable food supply.

For business, the well being of our staff and their families is of upmost concern. Instituting formal phone trees for each office, for example, helps ensure the safety of all staff in the wake of a local natural disaster. Other necessities include a well identified communications plan for staff, and clients, and recovery plans for buildings and IT infrastructure.

Damage along the Metro North Port Jervis line in
Westchester County, NY in the aftermath of
Hurricane Irene

In my role as the Regional Leader for our US Southeast offices and as client account manager for our work with FEMA, I have both a macro and micro level view of how we need to prepare for disasters. I’ve come to the conclusion that while preparedness is important, we don’t always put as much emphasis on mitigation. Surely, we cannot avoid natural disasters, but we can take measures to reduce the impact of such disasters.

As a design firm, we often consult with communities on issues related to preparedness. We find that many communities do a great job of addressing preparedness from the vantage point of emergency drills and disaster response exercises. But often they are less attuned to actions that can mitigate the impact of a natural disaster.

For example, in the West simple measures such as using fire resistant roofing materials, and removing heat conducting trees, such as pines, from proximity to the homes, can go a long way towards, mitigating the threat of fire damage. Up-to-date, accessible, and well communicated flood plain maps raise homeowner and business awareness about potential threats to their property and better inform decisions regarding mitigation the effect of flooding.

As engineers and environmental scientists, we often counsel our clients to consider how natural disasters could impact existing or planned infrastructure—from buildings to bridges and roadways, to dams, to water systems—and then mitigate for them. And, there are government programs that assist communities in this arena. One example is FEMA’s Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) program which provides funds to state and local governments, as well as universities, for hazard mitigation planning and the implementation of mitigation projects prior to a disaster event. Funding for these programs recognizes as well that by reducing overall risks to the population and structures, we can also reduce reliance on funding required in the wake of actual disaster declarations.