Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) Webinar

Testing and Exercising IPAWS Capabilities Utilizing the IPAWS Lab

Wednesday, March 27th, 2019 @ 1:00 PM EDT

This is a reminder to join the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) Program Management Office (PMO) on Wednesday, March 27^th, 2019 @ 1:00 PM EDT for a live webinar in which IPAWS staff and guest panelists will highlight testing with the IPAWS PMO. The first part of the webinar will review IPAWS Lab abilities, methods to access the lab, and benefits to alerting authorities. The second portion of the webinar will include discussion on integrating IPAWS into various functional and operational exercises, such as: table-top drills, evaluated assessments, and large-scale events. Guest panelists will include:

• Archer Stark, Shift Lead, Situational Awareness Unit with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management;
• Sulayman Brown, Assistant Coordinator, Community Engagement and Training and Exercise Division Lead with Fairfax County Office of Emergency Management;
• Brett Loeb, Communications Director with the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office; and
• Woody Baker-Cohn, Emergency Services Coordinator with the Marin County Sheriff’s Office.

Please use the link below to log into the webinar. Upon logging in, you will be prompted with directions to receive audio via your phone. Event address for attendees:

https://femaipawslab.webex.com/femaipawslab/onstage/g.php?MTID=ebb882cdd6b5cc869550a5e0ad5298408

1-650-479-3207

Access Code: 666 783 653

Attendee Number: provided after login

For closed caption services, please open the following link in a separate browser:

https://www.captionedtext.com/client/event.aspx?EventID=3948622&CustomerID=321

Event Number: 3948622

The IPAWS PMO looks forward to your attendance and participation.

** The IPAWS PMO cannot endorse any vendor products or tools, but can provide stakeholders the opportunity to view a demonstration of the tools and to ask follow-up technical or operational questions. **

FEMA Building Sciences at HQ (Building Science Branch – BSB) and Region IV are pleased to announce the release of two fact sheets aimed at reducing risk and improving resilience to buildings and their utility systems. The fact sheets explain that, before building in your community, it is important to recognize the hazards that may be present, their potential impact, and provides numerous considerations and resources to help mitigate those risks. Effective design, construction, code enforcement and building to or exceeding the latest standard of practice, increases the disaster resilience of structures and their associated utility systems exposed to risk, thereby reducing damages and injuries.

Risk MAP (mapping, planning and assessment) provides high quality flood mapping products, risk assessment tools, and planned outreach support to enhance a community’s understanding of their risk. This, in turn, will help improve risk-informed decision making, enabling various stakeholders to take action in reducing their vulnerabilities to hazards and increasing resilience for themselves and their community’s at large.

Fact Sheet one, entitled “FEMA Building Science Considerations for Risk MAP”, lists numerous Risk MAP Flood Risk products through which a Building Science lens can be applied by stakeholders to help minimize natural hazard impacts to their property or community. These include Depth Grids, changes since the last Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM), Flood Risk Assessment, Community Engagement and Outreach, as well as other strategies, such as building above code, adopting and enforcing more stringent regulations and utilizing FEMA best practices.

The second fact sheet: “FEMA Building Science Resources to Help Reduce Risk and Improve Resilience” provides numerous resources to help foster disaster-resilient communities. Within the framework of Risk MAP, various stakeholders and communities can use building science resources to help better understand their vulnerabilities and risks, along with options available to them for implementing effective mitigation efforts to reduce building and utility damage and down time and reduce flood insurance premiums.

To do this, there are currently over two hundred BSB flood, wind, Building Code, Mitigation Assessment Team (MAT), Recovery Advisory and other resources available. Ultimately, BSB resources can enhance Risk MAP product utilization by stakeholders and communities incorporating disaster resilience or best practices into their building and utility planning, code enforcement, design and construction.

To download these fact sheets, visit here.

For additional information on FEMA Building Sciences, visit: www.fema.gov/building-science

For additional information on FEMA Risk MAP, visit: www.fema.gov/risk-mapping-assessment-and-planning-risk-map

The following is for widest distribution.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Office of External Affairs – Private Sector Engagement
FEMA-IGA@fema.dhs.gov

Private Sector Advisory

April is National Financial Capability Month

During National Financial Capability Month, FEMA’s Ready Campaign aims to encourage people to take action by saving for the unexpected.  It is vital that individuals and families have a financial plan to face emergencies and disasters.  This would help communities and the country to be better prepared for disaster. 

Each week throughout April, FEMA’s Ready Campaign is hosting social media events to talk about planning, budgeting, saving money for emergencies and disasters and the importance of having insurance coverage.

All times are Eastern:

• 3 p.m. Tuesday, April 2. Facebook Live, Unlocking Your Financial Future: Build it. Grow it. Secure it. This event will kick off Financial Capability Month and share tips and resources on financial preparedness.

• 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 10. TwitterChat, Plan for the Unexpected. Financial preparedness subject matter experts will answer questions about how to create a savings plan and budget to help prepare for emergencies and disasters. #FinancialChat

• 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 17. Webinar: Money Matters: Resources for Youth in Financial Preparedness. FEMA’s Youth Preparedness Council members and stakeholders will discuss saving strategies and tips. Register for the webinar here.

• 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 24. TwitterChat: Insure your Financial Future. This event will answer questions on how to safeguard documents and insure property. #FinancialChat

Join the financial preparedness conversation by following us at #FinancialFuture2019.  For more information on National Financial Capability Month visit ready.gov/financial-preparedness or USA.gov/flec.

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Please help support FEMA’s mission of “Helping people before, during and after disasters.”

Download the FEMA App to locate and get directions to open shelters across the state, and receive weather alerts from the National Weather Service for up to five different locations anywhere in the United States.

Follow FEMA online at www.fema.gov/blog, www.twitter.com/fema, www.facebook.com/fema and www.youtube.com/fema. Also, follow Administrator Brock Long’s activities at https://twitter.com/fema_brock. The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications.