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July 9, 2020

IAEM SCHOLARSHIP

Students – Don't miss next week's deadline to apply for an IAEM Scholarship IAEM Students working towards a degree in emergency management, disaster management, or a closely related field, wishing to apply for an IAEM Scholarship, must apply by 11:59:59 p.m. CDT, July 15. Full- and part-time graduate student and full-time undergraduate student applications with complete instructions are available on the IAEM website. This is your last weekend to work on the application. Take the time to complete it now, before it is too late. Questions may be directed to Scholarship Program Director Dawn Shiley.

ANNUAL CONFERENCE UPDATE

IAEM Annual Conference – risk-free registration IAEM IAEM has you covered during the continued uncertainty of the pandemic. You can register now for the IAEM 68th Annual Conference & EMEX with the assurance that your registration fees are refundable if you are unable to attend. Visit our conference website for more information about the conference, and register today.

IAEM NEWS

Submit articles on 'Black Swan Events: Crumbling Infrastructure' by July 20 to be considered for the next special focus issue of the IAEM Bulletin IAEM In August, the IAEM Editorial Committee will publish the third 2020 special focus issue on the topic of “Black Swan Events: Crumbling Infrastructure.” Many of us are facing the challenges of crumbling infrastructure, including power grid failure, weakened dams and bridges, and general aging of the infrastructure as a whole. How do emergency managers prepare their communities when a potential disaster has not yet occurred? Share your experiences in an article for this issue. What did you and your community learn from an event that occurred due to crumbling infrastructure? It is more obvious than ever that our world is rapidly changing. How will we learn to operate in an environment that is unlike anything in our past? Will technology be our friend or an obstacle? Where are the opportunities for growth, development, change and synergy as we move into the future world of emergency management? The deadline for article submissions on this topic is July 20, 2020. Details are posted online. Direct questions to IAEM Bulletin Editor Karen Thompson.

IAEM-OCEANIA COUNCIL NEWS

What would happen in an 8.9 Hikurangi quake? Emergency planning toolbox launched NZ Herald East Coast Lab has developed an emergency planning toolbox to identify the consequences of a large earthquake in the Hikurangi subduction zone. The Hikurangi subduction zone is located off the east coast of New Zealand and runs all along the Hawke's Bay coast. READ MORE

The fire, the virus, the violence: Australia and the lessons of natural disasters NPR Local officials and public health experts warn that domestic violence is spiking in Australia as the country deals with the aftermath of catastrophic fires paired with the global pandemic. READ MORE

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IAEM-USA COUNCIL NEWS

FEMA updates state and local hazard mitigation planning policies IAEM This year, FEMA is initiating updates of the state, local and territorial mitigation planning policies, also known as “Mitigation Plan Review Guides.” The updates guide the review and approval of these hazard mitigation plans. During this cycle, there are no updates to tribal mitigation policies. The policies are updated to incorporate language related to new FEMA grant programs, as well as to make administrative updates and other changes to clarify requirements and improve grant and program procedures. FEMA will host three one-hour webinars for state, local and territorial partners to learn about the process for these policy updates. Each session includes the same information: Webinar 1, 2:00 p.m. EDT, July 10; Webinar 2, 4:00 p.m. EDT, July 14; and Webinar 3, 3:00 p.m. EDT, July 16.

House Homeland Subcommittee approves FY21 DHS budget bill MeriTalk After acknowledging that Democratic and Republican members of the subcommittee have different viewpoints on funding immigration-related agencies, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security approved Fiscal Year 2021 funding legislation for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) by voice vote. READ MORE

Coronavirus pandemic response: FEMA clarifies federal cost share for Public Assistance Program IAEM FEMA released a fact sheet, Coordinating Public Assistance and Other Sources of Federal Funding, to provide clear guidance on how FEMA will treat the multiple sources of funding as they relate to the public assistance program and its cost share requirements. To respond to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Congress authorized more than $3 trillion to multiple federal agencies to provide assistance to state, local, tribal, and territorial governments in addressing the effects of the public health emergency pandemic. The extensive COVID-19 authority of other federal agencies in some cases overlaps with FEMA authority. Generally, funding from other federal agencies cannot be used to meet the FEMA public assistance non-federal cost share requirement. For COVID-19, however, there are two exceptions: Department of Treasury’s Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act Relief Fund and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Disaster Block Grant (CDBG-CV). While cost share requirements vary from agency-to-agency and program-to-program, many programs funded by the CARES Act and the other supplemental appropriations do not require a non-federal share.

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT

States prepare to spend millions to address flooding NPR A handful of states are preparing to spend millions of dollars to address flooding, as extreme rain and sea level rise threaten communities along rivers and coastlines. READ MORE

SPONSORED CONTENT Promoted by goTenna • Virtual Demo: goTenna Pro for Emergency Response • Top 10 apps for emergency response teams • Webinar: How to build a mobile first strategy for emergency management • Podcast: Bringing satellite, mesh and mobile together for coordinated emergency response • Tech Spotlight Series: Hoverfly on the tactical advantages of tethered drones

EM NEWS

Search and rescue teams, already stretched thin, see surge in calls Route Fifty When search and rescue volunteers in Utah’s Washington County received three separate calls for help on a recent Sunday, every available member of the team was deployed in response. As they tended to injured hikers and mountain bikers, things quickly went from bad to worse. READ MORE

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT

UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE/SCHOOL EM ISSUES

Schools plan reopening amid conflicting coronavirus guidelines THS via Emergency Management A month into planning what fall might look like for the 2,700 students in his Gloucester County school district, Jim Lavender tore through 104 pages of guidance from the New Jersey Department of Education. By Wednesday, Lavender had spent days, nights, and a weekend scouring every page three times, trying to figure out how he could safely meet social distancing, masking, and health requirements — to say nothing of teaching and learning. READ MORE

5 strategies to help ensure school safety when campuses reopen this fall Campus Safety Throughout the spring and summer, K-12 district leaders and their community partner agencies have been diligently and meticulously planning for when and how to reopen schools for the 2020/2021 academic year. Few if any public school systems have any locally budgeted funds to address the multitude of expensive measures that have been implemented over the past several months, and many do not have additional local funds for those measures that will need to be taken in the coming year. READ MORE

HEALTHCARE EM UPDATES

Advanced cleaning, screenings keep hospitals safe during pandemic TNS via Emergency Management As surgeries, screenings and appointments start back up at hospitals in the state, health officials say they are taking extra precautions to make sure health care facilities are safe and that patients and staff stay healthy. READ MORE

FEATURED ARTICLE Seismic Retrofits Make Good Business Sense. Here's Why Promoted by Optimum Seismic Saving lives is the ultimate concern when preparing for an earthquake, but building retrofits bring so many cost benefits that they make good business sense as well. Retrofits enhance a building’s value by extending its longevity and making it safer for the people who occupy it. But there are many other positive cost benefits as well. READ MORE

CLIMATE/WATER/WEATHER UPDATES

Future Texas hurricanes: Fast like Ike or slow like Harvey? Homeland Security News WIre Climate change will intensify winds that steer hurricanes north over Texas, increasing the odds for fast-moving storms like 2008’s Ike compared with slow-movers like 2017’s Harvey, according to new research. READ MORE

EM RESOURCES

CISA releases chapter 2 of its Cyber Essentials Toolkit IAEM The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) on July 1 released Chapter 2: Your Staff, The Users, the second in a series of six chapters to be released monthly in its Cyber Essentials Toolkit. This toolkit is the second in a series of six toolkits set to be released each month. This chapter follows the release of Chapter 1: Yourself, The Leader – Drive Cybersecurity Strategy Investment and Culture and CISA Cyber Essentials in November 2019. Chapter 2 emphasizes the importance of the organization as a whole in cybersecurity, requiring a shift toward a culture of cyber readiness and greater cyber awareness among staff by providing cyber education, training, and other resources. Focus areas include: leveraging basic cybersecurity training; developing a culture of cyber awareness that incentivizes making good choices online; teaching employees about risks such as phishing and ransomware; and identifying available training resources from partner organizations.

NEW INSIGHTS

How new flood risk maps could undermine marginalized neighborhoods Quartz Floods are among the most destructive and expensive climate-related disasters in the US. Not just for cities and states, but for individual homeowners. More homes are at risk of severe flooding than we used to think. READ MORE

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Digital contact tracing's mixed record abroad spells trouble for US efforts to rein in COVID-19 Nextgov Two public health measures – testing, to identify those infected, and contact tracing, to identify those who may have encountered an infected person – have become essential as countries around the world reopen their economies and fresh surges of COVID-19 infections appear. Even as testing ramps up, contact tracing with a wide enough net remains a daunting task. READ MORE

What makes a ‘wave’ of disease? An epidemiologist explains* The Conversation Six months into the pandemic, people are looking for ways to make sense of what’s happening. Talking about waves of disease, with the implication of predictable rises and falls, is part of that. READ MORE

How COVID-19 will change the way we fight wildfires Smithsonian Magazine Although wildfires are an inherent part of the Western ecology, this year’s fire season presents unprecedented challenges as firefighters reckon with a new and formidable adversary in the novel coronavirus. READ MORE

DISASTER TECHNOLOGY NEWS

Queensland designs heat mapping tool to prepare for the next natural disaster ZDNet The Queensland government has developed an interactive web-based mapping tool to help local councils understand the risk, costs, and repeat damage of infrastructure ahead of the next natural disaster. READ MORE

CEM® UPDATE

IAEM Certification Commission seeks new members IAEM The Certification Program is now accepting applications for new Commissioners. Any Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) who has recertified at least once is encouraged to apply. Deadline to submit your application to KMcClimans@iaem.com is Aug. 1. The IAEM website has more details, including expectations and how to apply.

IAEM MEMBER NEWS

IAEM member, Edgar Rodriguez, named 2020 Campus Safety Director of the Year-Higher Education Division IAEM IAEM member, Edgar Rodriguez, CEM, chief of public safety, Quinnipiac University, was named 2020 Campus Safety Director of the Year – Higher Education Division. The award was given by Campus Safety Magazine at the Campus Safety Online Summit. Learn more.

SURVEY REQUESTS

Sam Houston State University (SHSU) asks higher education leaders to respond to survey regarding COVID-19 response IAEM The SHSU Center for Assessment, Research, and Educational Safety (CARES) is inviting higher education leaders across the US to participate in a research study related to institutional responses to COVID-19. The project, Higher Education Leaders Learning from COVID-19 Response, uses a crowdsourcing data collection method (IdeaScale) to examine decision-making processes and ideas for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ideas and suggestions that are collected will help researchers create guidelines for the current and future pandemic response in higher education. Collection response will be open for at least a year to accommodate for busy schedules. The researchers hope to learn what US institutions of higher learning did well and what could have been improved in their ongoing COVID-19 response and future crises. Participate by joining the community. You will be prompted to set up an account before gaining access to the data collection tool, IdeaScale. During the profile set-up process, there is a "Hide My Identity" option at the bottom, which allows posts and comments to remain confidential for those that choose this option. You also can choose to make only specific posts or comments confidential as well. Once a member, you will be able to post an idea, as well as comment and vote on ideas from other community members.

IAEM-ASIA NEWS

Vietnam's northern region prepares for natural disasters The Star The Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control has asked ministries, sectors and local governments to prepare for flooding as a result of heavy downpours in the northern region in the coming days. READ MORE

AROUND THE WORLD

Death toll from flooding in Japan reaches 55, dozen missing The Associated Press Soldiers used boats to rescue residents as floodwaters flowed down streets in southern Japanese towns hit by heavy rains that were expanding across the region on Tuesday. At least 55 people have died and a dozen remain missing. READ MORE

Lightning kills 43 people in UP, Bihar; rains lash several parts of country Business Standard At least 43 people were killed after being struck by lightning in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar as rains and thunderstorm occurred in several parts of the country, officials said. READ MORE

China's Hubei activates disaster relief emergency response* Xinhua Central China's Hubei Province activated a Grade IV emergency response for natural disaster relief starting from Tuesday noon, following serious rain-triggered flooding and waterlogging in vast areas of the province. READ MORE

Iceland earthquake swarm hits over 10,000 quakes Newsweek An ongoing earthquake swarm in Iceland has now reached over 10,000 quakes since it began on June 19. This is the biggest swarm to hit the Tjörnes Fracture zone in the north of the country in almost half a century, and experts are unsure what is causing it. READ MORE

IAEM Dispatch   Connect with IAEM Dennis Hall, Director of Publishing, 469-420-2656 | Download media kit Bob Kowalski, Executive Editor, 469-420-2650 | Contribute news Elizabeth B. Armstrong, IAEM CEO, IAEM-USA Executive Director Dawn M. Shiley, IAEM Dispatch POC, IAEM Communications & Marketing Manager *Article contributed by the Emergency Manager's Weekly Report. International Association of Emergency Managers 201 Park Washington Court | Falls Church, VA 22046-4527 | 703-538-1795 | Contact Us Click here to unsubscribe Learn how to add us to your safe sender list so our emails get to your inbox. ADVERTISE SUBSCRIBE PAST ISSUES 7701 Las Colinas Ridge, Ste. 800, Irving, TX, 75063