EM Update - July 13, 2011 Issue

 July 13, 2011

SBA loans approved for April storm damage

The U.S. Small Business Administration has approved low-interest loans for Virginians who sustained damage from the April tornadoes. The loans are available to homeowners, renters and businesses in Pulaski and Washington counties and in the adjacent localities of Bland, Carroll, Floyd, Giles, Grayson, Montgomery, Russell, Scott, Smyth and Wythe counties and the cities of Bristol and Radford.

The SBA can provide homeowners real property loans of up to $200,000 to repair or restore their primary home to its pre-disaster condition and personal property loans up to $40,000 to help repair or replace personal property, such as clothing, furniture and automobiles lost in the disaster.

Businesses suffering damage can apply for loans up to $2 million to help repair or replace damaged property as well as for loss of business.

The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is August 29, 2011.  The deadline to return economic injury applications is March 29, 2012.

The SBA opened Disaster Recovery Centers in Pulaski and Washington counties last week; VDEM sent community relations teams throughout the eligible areas to perform door-to-door notifications and answer questions about the SBA assistance.

The SBA loans augment other efforts under way to provide aid to the storm victims.  To assist volunteer groups in their efforts to help Virginians recover, Gov. McDonnell established the Virginia Disaster Relief Fund and authorized a state contribution of $600,000.  A website has been created to process credit card donations at http://disasterrelief.vi.virginia.gov/ Those who wish to write a check can make checks payable to the Treasurer of Virginia with “tornado relief” noted in the memo line.  Send checks to Comptroller’s Office, P.O. Box 1971, Richmond, VA 23218-1971.  Donations are tax deductible.

Field demonstrations start VOPEX 2011

The Virginia Operations Plan Exercise 2011 began June 13-16 with field demonstrations in the localities surrounding the Surry Nuclear Power Station.  FEMA evaluated Evacuation Assembly Centers in the cities of Hampton, Newport News and Poquoson and a medical services drill with the Isle of Wight County Volunteer Rescue Squad, Riverside Regional Medical Center, five public school district offices and 37 public schools in James City, Surry, and York counties, and Williamsburg and Newport News. 

The evaluators provided preliminary feedback and indicated that they were particularly impressed with the large turnout of fire, EMS, hazmat, law enforcement, American Red Cross, local health department, and volunteer personnel who supported the EAC drills.

The full-scale VOPEX is scheduled for July 19, and FEMA will present their findings during a public meeting on July 22 in Newport News.

Conference provides training for Virginia State Animal Response Teams

Virginia Secretary of Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security Terrie Suit will serve as keynote speaker at the 2011 Virginia State Animal Response Team Summit, July 15 at the Meadow Event Park in Doswell, Va.  The summit will provide local and state governments, volunteer organizations and individuals with important training that will help them create and practice

Summit sessions will include lessons learned from state managed shelters, the role of the Meadow Event Park in emergency sheltering operations, the public health aspects of pet sheltering and other breakout sessions.

The summit agenda and registration are available at http://www.virginiasart.org/.

Animations illustrate social network use during Japan earthquake

A recent post on Twitter’s blog site (http://blog.twitter.com/2011/06/global-pulse.html) features a video clip that illustrates the 500 percent increase in Tweets from Japan immediately following the March earthquake.  A second clip shows how retweets spread information on a global scale.

Training…

FY12 Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grant Workshops scheduled

VDEM’s Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grant Workshops will include an overview of the four annual Unified HMA grants, Pre-Disaster Mitigation, Flood Mitigation Assistance, Repetitive Flood Claims, Severe Repetitive Loss, and the post-disaster Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. 

There will be one workshop in each VDEM region, and two WebEx workshops (times and dates to be announced later).  Each workshop will combine an overview presentation, hands-on activities and class discussions.  Topics will include:

• The project development process with an emphasis on benefit-cost analysis, establishing a project committee, creating a project budget, and required documentation
• Eligible mitigation project and planning activities
• The grant award process
• Basic project implementation considerations

Attendance at any of the workshops is considered essential to completing and submitting a potentially successful HMA grant application.  To register for one of the workshops listed below, email your name, organization, and preferred workshop to Hazard Mitigation Coordinator Debbie Messmer at Debbie.Messmer@vdem.virginia.gov.  

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.govor (804) 897-9995.

The table below lists VDEM courses for the next quarter: 

 * Open to DSS State Managed Shelter Personnel only.

** Open to VDEM Region 5 Emergency Management/Emergency Response Personnel only.

***Open to VDEM Region 4 and 6 Emergency Management/Emergency Response Personnel only.

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