**August 29, 2006 FEMA Emergency Management Higher Education Project
Activity Report**

\(1\) KATRINA-RELATED:

Gold, Matea. \"Brian Williams and Katrina: One Year Later \-- The
Hurricane and its Destruction Left NBC News\' Williams Shaken But
Defined His Role as Anchor.\" Los Angeles Times, August 29, 2006.
Accessed at:

<http://www.calendarlive.com/printedition/calendar/cl-et-williams29aug29,0,876542,print.story>

\[Excerpt: \"\"It\'s because of what I\'ve witnessed in places like
Iraq, where a colonel can pick up a telephone and have water and food
delivered by Black Hawk or Chinook dual-rotor helicopter in minutes to a
place the size of a dime in the middle of the desert,\" he said."That\'s
what kept getting me in this. No one had any information. \'It\'s not my
Vietnam. But it doesn\'t take much after I close my eyes to summon what
I saw in New Orleans. Why? Maybe that they are Americans, maybe that
these folks are so identifiable to me. I\'ve been accused of crusading,
and I reject that. I just can\'t understand why it isn\'t top of mind
with more Americans.\' Indeed, not everyone has cheered his coverage.
Every time he has visited New Orleans anew and filed postings about the
coverage on his Internet blog, the Daily Nightly, Williams has been
peppered with e-mail complaints from viewers who say they want him to
move on. \'I am tired as hell of hearing about New Orleans every time I
hear the NBC News,\' read one typical message from a Georgia man posted
in June. \'Get on with life.\' Williams blames such an attitude on a
culture that has become increasingly coarse and self-centered.\"\]

\(2\) MATERIALS RECEIVED:

Redlener, Irwin. Americas At Risk: Why We Are Not Prepared For
Megadisasters And What We Can Do Now.New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006273
pages.

\[Dr. Redliner is the Director of the National Center for Disaster
Preparedness, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health. From
inside book jacket: \"\....Redliner points out how a government with a
track record of over-the-top cronyism and a stunning disregard for
accountability has spent billions on \'random acts of preparedness\',
with very little to show for it \-- other than an ever-growing
bureaucracy. As a doctor, Redliner is especially concerned about
America\'s increasingly dysfunctional and expensive health care system,
incapable of handling a large-scale public health emergency, such as
pandemic flu or widespread bioterrorism. And he also looks at the
serious problem of a disengaged, uninformed citizenry \-- one of the
most important obstacles to assuring optimal readiness for any major
crisis.\"\]

\(3\) PANDEMIC:

CIDRAP. \"Experts Critique State Pandemic Plans.\" Center for Infectious
Disease Research & Policy, University of Minnesota, August 28, 2006.
Accessed at:

<http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/panflu/news/aug2806pandemicplan.html>

\(4\) PREPAREDNESS:

Edwards, Francis L. \"Essential Lesson of Katrina: Bay Area Must Be
Prepared.\" Mercury News (CA), August 27, 2006. Accessed at:

[[http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/15374436.htm]{.underline}](http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/15374436.htm)

\[Excerpt: \"The Bay Area does not have hurricanes but is subject to
catastrophic losses from other natural causes. A great earthquake of
magnitude 7.0 or above (predicted by the United State Geological Survey
to occur by 2030) could leave 300,000 people homeless and seeking public
shelter, 1,400 road segments impassable, and delta levees destroyed,
flooding large areas and depriving the Bay Area of a fresh water source,
perhaps permanently\....

Too often Californians refuse to take emergency preparedness seriously
because they believe that they have already weathered \`\`The Big
One\'\' in Loma Prieta, the Oakland hills/Berkeley firestorms or the
Russian River floods. However, the predicted 7.0 or higher earthquake on
a Bay Area fault would release several times more energy than Loma
Prieta, causing public shelters to be open for months and repair of
infrastructure to take years.

The Bay Area\'s 9 million residents must actively prepare for the
natural disasters that menace our densely populated communities. Lessons
from Hurricane Katrina show that public resources are inadequate for a
catastrophic event, and disaster survival and recovery depend on
preparedness by the individual, family, neighborhood and business\....

Every family should have a plan for self-sufficiency after a regional
disaster that includes vulnerable family members\' special needs and
care for pets. The plan must include an out-of-area contact person, a
family reunification plan, emergency kits in cars and at home and
school, confirmation of schools\' and caregivers\' emergency plans,
updated emergency contact information at school, financial documents and
instruments, and crates and leashes for pets.

Every neighborhood should have a Community Emergency Response Team
(CERT). Unlike first responders, neighbors are already there to help
each other with immediate emergency needs such as first aid, light
search and rescue, and suppression of small fires\....

Every business should have a business resumption plan and an emergency
plan that is practiced at least twice a year. Businesses in the Gulf
Coast region that planned ahead kept their employees and their
customers. Hibernia Bank had 107 damaged branches, and because of its
emergency plan it reopened 47 branches within a week and 39 more within
a month to make sure their customers could get their money for survival
and recovery.\"\]

\(5\) WAR ON TERROR:

Smith, Steven Donald. \"Cheney: U.S. Troops Fighting for American
Ideals, Security.\" American Forces Press Service, August 28, 2006.

Accessed at:
[[http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=613]{.underline}](http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=613)

B. Wayne Blanchard, Ph.D., CEM

Higher Education Project Manager

Emergency Management Institute

National Emergency Training Center

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Department of Homeland Security

16825 S. Seton, N-430

Emmitsburg, MD 21727

\(301\) 447-1262, voice

\(301\) 447-1598, fax

wayne.blanchard@dhs.gov

[[http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu]{.underline}](http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu)

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