Virginia Department of Emergency Management, EM UPDATE, Issued Biweekly for the Virginia Emergency Management Community
Sept. 13, 2006

State of Emergency
Tropical Depression Ernesto soaked the Commonwealth on Sept. 1, killing six people and causing an estimated $104 million in damage to both public and private property. In response to Ernesto and the severe weather that preceded it, Gov. Tim Kaine has requested federal assistance for 25 localities:

  • Individual Assistance: the counties of Accomack, Gloucester, Lancaster, Mathews, Middlesex and Northumberland, and the cities of Hampton, Newport News and Richmond. The Individual Assistance Program would make funding available for homeowners and renters in the form of low interest loans and grants, unemployment assistance, disaster housing assistance and crisis counseling.
  • Public Assistance: the counties of Accomack, Caroline, Charles City, Dinwiddie, Essex, Gloucester, Isle of Wight, James City, King William, Lancaster, Mathews, Middlesex, New Kent, Northampton, Northumberland, Richmond, Southampton, Surry, Sussex, Westmoreland and York, and the cities of Hampton, Newport News, Poquoson and Richmond. Public Assistance would make funding available to cover eligible costs for damage to critical infrastructure, debris removal and related emergency services.

In addition, Gov. Kaine requested Hazard Mitigation Assistance for all Virginia localities. The Hazard Mitigation Assistance program helps local and state governments take actions to reduce the impact of future disasters.

Gov. Kaine declared a state of emergency in Virginia on Aug. 31 in preparation for the storm, enabling members of the Virginia National Guard and the Virginia Swift Water Rescue teams to deploy ahead of the storm.

National Preparedness Month
More than 1,150 national, regional, state and local organizations have joined the National Preparedness Month Coalition. Throughout National Preparedness Month in September, these organizations will distribute educational information, host events and sponsor activities throughout the country to promote emergency preparedness. In addition to the interactive safety and preparedness fair sponsored by VDEM, Virginia Citizen Corps and Virginia Commonwealth University on Sept. 8, local groups around the state have scheduled NPM events:

  • The city of Alexandria and the Alexandria Citizen Corps Council will sponsor "Be Ready, Alexandria" on Sept. 30. Emergency preparedness experts will give seminars on creating family plans, provide educational demonstrations and offer e-mail and text message disaster alerts.
  • The Danville-Pittsylvania Public Health Department, Pittsylvania County Department of Emergency Management and Pittsylvania County CERT will host Pandemic Influenza Community Preparedness and CERT Registration Sept. 14.
  • James City County will host CERT classes on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday Sept. 16-23.

More NPM events are available online.

National groups collaborate in preparing special needs communities
The Department of Homeland Security's Ready Campaign will join the Association for the Advancement of Retired Persons, the American Red Cross, the National Organization on Disability and the National Fire Protection Association in efforts to assist older Americans and individuals with disabilities in preparing for emergencies. The groups have developed two new brochures highlighting the key preparedness steps older and disabled Americans and their families and caretakers should take before emergencies occur. The NFPA also announced its new Emergency Evacuation Planning Guide for People with Disabilities, designed to help individuals with disabilities and businesses prepare for emergency evacuation events. Additionally, NFPA is including evacuation planning for people with disabilities in its series of emergency evacuation workshops across the country this fall. The brochures are available on the Ready Web site, and the NFPA planning guide will be available online later this month.

Training...
National Search and Rescue School
United States Coast Guard and the United States Air Force conduct this five-day course, a comprehensive look at inland search theory and its application to land and air searches in the wilderness for missing persons and aircraft. Instructors use classroom lessons and practical, tabletop exercises. The course is designed for search managers in federal, state and local emergency services and law enforcement, Civil Air Patrol, international and volunteer SAR agencies. For more information, prerequisites and schedule, visit VDEM's online training calendar.
Subscribe to EM Update View EM Update Archives
EM Update is the best way to communicate best practices and to get a heads up on issues that might affect you. Articles include case studies, cost/resource-saving local programs, examples of partnerships and regional cooperation and recognition of emergency managers who receive awards and honors in the field. Please don't hesitate to contact the editor whenever you have a project that might benefit localities or want to highlight an important issue concerning Virginia's emergency response community. Contact Jolie Brendlinger at (804) 897-6510 or by e-mail at pio@vdem.virginia.gov.

Produced by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management
10501 Trade Court, Richmond, Virginia 23236