EM Update: October 4, 2011

Oct. 6, 2011

Irene recovery

SBA loans

The U.S. Small Business Administration has made low-interest loans available to individuals, renters and businesses recovering from Hurricane Irene, which brought heavy rains and flooding to Virginia Aug. 26-28.

The loans are available in New Kent County and the city of Petersburg.  The following adjacent localities also are eligible: the counties of Charles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Hanover, Henrico, James City, King and Queen, King William and Prince George and the city of Colonial Heights.

Although damage was reported in other localities, the damage did not meet the threshold to qualify for federal disaster assistance.

Loans up to $200,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate.  Homeowners and renters are eligible for loans up to $40,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property. 

SBA outreach centers will close tomorrow.  More information: http://www.vaemergency.gov/disaster-recovery/hurricane-irene-recovery

Public Assistance

Eight additional counties and one city have been designated for federal disaster assistance to help local governments along with select private non-profit facilities recover from Hurricane Irene.

Amelia, Brunswick, Greensville, Hanover, Lunenburg, Northampton, Nottoway and Powhatan counties along with the city of Alexandria are the latest jurisdictions eligible for help under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Public Assistance program.

The additions bring the total public assistance designations to 32 counties and 16 cities for Hurricane Irene.

Lowe’s Home Improvement donates smoke/carbon monoxide detectors

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has donated 1,000 combination smoke detector/carbon monoxide detector units, valued at nearly $38,000, to Louisa County for individual homes damaged by a 5.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Aug. 23. 

Smoke / carbon monoxide detector units can save lives after an earthquake.  Broken or cracked chimneys can let heat, smoke and toxic gasses escape into the home, causing fire or death by carbon monoxide poisoning. 

The Louisa County Department of Fire and EMS will distribute the units to homes that have reported damage to county emergency officials.  If a property owner has not reported damage to date, he/she can still do so by calling (540) 967-3496. 

Save the date: 2012 Virginia Emergency Management Symposium

March 28-30 at the Hilton Richmond Hotel & Spa/Short Pump
“Don’t Fail the Mission” is designed for anyone whose professional commitment causes them to seek a greater understanding of emergencies, both natural and man-made. The symposium is sponsored by VDEM and the Virginia Emergency Management Association.

See http://www.vemaweb.org/content/symposium2012/ for more information.

Page County emergency services atlas receives Governor’s Technology Award

Page County’s Interactive Address Atlas for Emergency Services has won a Governor’s Technology Award under the category of Innovation in Local Government.

The digital atlas offers point-and-click access to maps of Page County and the towns of Luray, Stanley and Shenandoah with aerial imagery, roads, address points, hydrants and emergency landing zones.  The interface allows responders to choose maps visually, from a grid layout of the county.  The atlas is 350MB and distributed on CD, which allows users to access information quickly despite network failure or power loss, without a separate software download.  Also, the alphabetized list of road names and page numbers are hyperlinked to the corresponding map. 

The small, simple and intuitive design of the interactive atlas enables emergency personnel to focus more energy on finding relevant location-based information and less time dealing with technological obstacles.  The atlas is updated once a year.

For more information about the atlas, contact Page County GIS Coordinator Amy Ozeki at aozeki@pagecounty.virginia.gov

Grant submission deadline approaches for 2012 Hazard Mitigation Assistance grant programs

The Oct. 14 deadline is fast approaching for submitting projects for the annual Hazard Mitigation Assistance Programs, Flood Mitigation Assistance, Pre-Disaster Mitigation, Repetitive Flood Claim, and Severe Repetitive Loss.  An overview of the programs is available at
http://www.fema.gov/government/grant/hma/index.shtm

For more information, contact the VDEM local hazard mitigation coordinator for your area (a map is available at http://www.vaemergency.gov/sites/default/files/CoordinatorsRegions_0.pdf):

·         Robbie Coates: robbie.coates@vdem.virginia.gov or (804) 897-9976

·         Amy Howard: amy.howard@vdem.virginia.gov or (804) 897-9974

·         Debbie Messmer: debbie.messmer@vdem.virginia.gov or (804) 897-9975

·         Bill Lawson: william.lawson@vdem.virginia.gov or (804) 897-9978 

The HMA Program Manager Matt Wall is available at matt.wall@vdem.virginia.gov or (804) 897-9973.

Virginia Disaster Relief Fund: governor’s state agency challenge winners

Gov. Bob McDonnell recently challenged state agencies to raise funds for the Virginia Disaster Relief fund, which was established to help Virginians impacted by disaster.  In response, state employees have donated a total of $37,312.61. 

Agencies with top donations include the University of Virginia, the Commonwealth Attorneys Services Council, the Virginia departments of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Correctional Education, and Treasury.

Funds will be dispersed to nonprofit, volunteer and faith-based groups who can help individuals with recovery.  To make a donation and learn more about the fund, visit http://www.DisasterFund.virginia.gov

Training…

ICS Train-the-Trainer space available

As of Oct. 5, there are 22 openings available for the Incident Command System Train-the-Trainer course at FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute, Jan. 23-26.  The cost is approximately $100 for meals - all other costs are covered by EMI.

Interested applicants must submit a FEMA form 119-25-1 to the VDEM Office of Training & Exercises along with copies of:

·         Certificates for ICS-100 through 400 and IS-700 and IS-800

·         A letter from their agency verifying that they have served in a command or general staff position with the past five years in an actual, planned or exercise event and that the agency intends to use them as an ICS Instructor once they have completed training.

For more information, contact Ken Clark at ken.clark@vdem.virginia.gov or (804) 897-9984.

VDEM Training Calendar

Due to budgetary constraints, VDEM must cancel a class if a minimum of 15 students have not enrolled two weeks before the class begins.  Sign up early.

The Commonwealth of Virginia’s Learning Management System Knowledge Center provides information and enrollment for each class.  Students who do not already have an account through any state agency Learning Management System domain must register for a VDEM LMS account (a one-time process) in order to enroll.  Students who have an account through any state agency should log in at that agency’s LMS address and enroll in the desired course(s).  Help videos for registration and enrollment processes are provided on the VDEM LMS login page at https://covkc.virginia.gov/vdem/external/.  Assistance is available from VDEM’s LMS Help Desk at lmshelp@vdem.virginia.gov or (804) 897-9995.

The table below lists VDEM courses for the next quarter:  

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 Shank 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