For readers of this blog you will know that I’ve been trying to follow events around the future of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the council that was to issue its report today.

The idea of home owners considering the risks that hazards present “before” they purchase a home is something I’ve covered repeatedly in the past. It should not be all about stainless steel kitchens, granite and a fenced backyard for the dog.

I’m sharing this blog post the day before we get the long expected Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) council’s report on suggested reforms to the agency.

You might recall that earlier this year St. Louis had a tornado and an alert and warning was not issued by the emergency management agency of the city. Note, I’ve always warned about “not screwing up a warning.” Well, apparently the city leaders have gone back to an old model of having the fire department be in charge of emergency management for the city.

This article comes from The Hill and provides less detail on the purported changes being recommended or axed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), but several “positive statements” from DHS spokespersons, Trump task force expected to propose changes to FEMA but doesn’t recommend eliminating it: Reports  I don’t expect to see any fireworks at the December 12^th meeting announcing the findings of the council. Most if not all of the membership are Republicans (or report in the case of the emergency management directors (FL & TX) to Republican governors.

Per the Washington Post, there is this article Noem at odds with Trump-appointed panel over future of FEMA

I just did an earlier blog post today about the date for the final report to be covered in a meeting (December 11^th) of the counsel that was appointed to review the future of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). 

There was this opinion piece in the Washington Post, Taiwan’s president: I will boost defense spending to protect our democracy

We finally have a date and time, Federal Emergency Management Agency Review Council: Notice of Meeting  This is the Federal Register’s official announcement of the meeting.

I’ve been following the expected release of the Federal Emergency Management (FEMA) Council since its inception. The original report was due in October and now it looks like it will be delivered in December.  An article from the Associated Press highlights the fact that the DRAFT report has shrunk from 160 to about 20 pages. The reduction coming at the hands of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

It has been over 30 years since there was a “major earthquake.” The last one being the Northridge Earthquake in 1994  If you don’t know much about seismic retrofitting of buildings, this is the podcast for you.

The other day I had a television interview with a reporter. She asked me, “What is the standard for obtaining a Presidential Disaster Declaration?” My response was, “Today, I don’t know what that is.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is leaderless again, as David Richardson, FEMA Acting Administrator resigned November 17^th

Not that it matters that much. The agency has been adrift for months. There have been two “Acting Administrators” in 10 months, with one being fired (for contradicting the President and Secretary of Homeland Security about not getting rid of FEMA as an agency) and the other just now resigning. Both did not have backgrounds in emergency management—and it showed.

I’m sure another Department of Homeland Security (DHS) flunky will be sent down to “clean things up” until they can figure out what to do with FEMA. Standby for news!

The latest Disaster Zone Podcast: Better Coordination Between Government and Nonprofits is now live.

Nonprofits play a critical role in responding to and recovering from disasters. In this podcast we hear from one nonprofit and then we will also have a discussion about how government and nonprofits can achieve better outcomes by what they do before and how they interact during disasters.

Liz Baker, CEO of Greater Good Charities — a global organization that has spent the last twenty years providing disaster relief to communities in need. Because of its unique funding and agile operational model, Liz's organization, Greater Good Charities, can respond to often overlooked issues that larger aid organizations often don't have bandwidth to address. They're also there within hours of crises they're responding to, mobilizing quickly, listening locally, and responding with their global resources

I have always recommended the use of informational interviews to help people in their job and career search. See this one extract below that I picked up from of a successful use of an “informational interview:”

There are three different “courses of action” in play right now for what the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will look like in the future.

In this Disaster Zone Podcast: Turmoil in the Media all the changes we are seeing take place will impact how we consume news and entertainment.

Hurricane Mellissa has been in the news for many days. Most recently for the impacts it had on property and infrastructure on Island of Jamaica. I ran across this item in a LinkedIn post, “What really stood out to me, though, was their report of 25,000 tourists currently on the island as of their October 29, 11 AM EST briefing.

The National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) held its annual meeting a couple of weeks ago in Chyenne, Wyoming. But…there were no Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) representatives in attendance. The number one reason is likely the government shutdown that is continuing at this writing. However, even if there was no shutdown, it is possible that there still would not have been any FEMA representation at the meeting—because attendance at such events were declared “verboten” early in the Trump Administration.

Disaster movies are ones I always try to watch. Most of those movies these days have a natural disaster as the premise for impending doom. However, a new NETFLIX movie House of Dynamite uses nuclear war as the risk facing the United States and the world. I watched it last night and found many aspects of the movie accurately portraying what might happen if a rogue nation fired one missile at the United States.

See this story from The Hill, Trump officials refer Biden-era FEMA staff to DOJ for potential criminal charges

This all stems from Hurricane Helen and accusations made about one supervisor telling her staff canvassing homes to avoid those with Trump signs on their property. The story above provides much more details and the fallout from those events.