The FEMA Podcast

In this episode we talk with Rebecca Wiggins, Executive Director of the Association for Financial Counceling & Planning Education (AFCPE), to better understand FEMA's partnership with her organization and how it will benefit the nation when it comes to being financially ready for the unexpected.

Today, FEMA turns 40 and we’re throwing it back, highlighting a history of milestone events, landmark legislation, and the rarely told story of how the Agency got to where it is today. In the 40 years since its creation a lot has changed, but there’s been one constant through it all – the Agency’s commitment to protecting and serving the American people. FEMA undoubtedly has a rich history to share with you today, on this special episode of the FEMA Podcast…. 

FEMA created the Student Tools for Emergency Planning or STEP program, a curriculum for fourth and fifth grade students, to teach students how to prepare for emergencies and disasters and trains them to become leaders in family preparedness. On this episode, we dive a bit deeper into how this program works and discuss how, in one FEMA Region, these efforts are helping to move the needle of overall national disaster readiness.

FEMA created the Student Tools for Emergency Preparedness or STEP program, a curriculum for fourth and fifth grade students, to teach students how to prepare for emergencies and disasters and train them to become leaders in family preparedness. On this episode, we dive a bit deeper into how the program works and discuss how these efforts are helping move the needle of overall disaster preparedness in one FEMA region.

A community lifeline enables the continuous operation of business and government functions and is critical to human health and safety or economic security. The lifelines concept reframes incident information to provide decision makers with impact statements and root causes and is intended to maximize the effectiveness of federally supported state managed and locally executed response. FEMA recently released the community lifelines implementation toolkit, which provides our partners with the information and resources to understand lifelines, coordinate with entities using lifelines, and serve as basic guidance for how to implement the lifelines construct during an incident response. On this episode, we talked to Jeremy Greenberg from FEMA’s Response Directorate about the lifelines concept and how the toolkit will be used to support all units of government in disaster responses.

A community lifeline enables the continuous operation of business and government functions and is critical to human health and safety or economic security. The lifelines concept reframes incident information to provide decision makers with impact statements and root causes and is intended to maximize the effectiveness of federally supported, state managed and locally executed response. FEMA recently released the community lifelines implementation toolkit, which provides our partners with the information and resources to understand lifelines, coordinate with entities using lifelines, and serve as basic guidance for how to implement the lifelines construct during incident response. On this episode, we talked to Jeremy Greenburg from FEMA's Response Directorate about the lifelines concept and how the toolkit will be used to support all units of government in disaster responses.

As part of FEMA’s renewed effort to build a national culture of preparedness, we're updating the national response framework, which serves as a national guide for how we as a country respond to all types of disasters and emergencies. On this episode of the FEMA podcast, we dive into the details of the update and how it will emphasize stabilization of critical lifelines and coordination across the critical infrastructure sectors.

As part of FEMA’s renewed effort to build a national culture of preparedness, we're updating the National Response Framework, which serves as a national guide for how we as a country respond to all types of disasters and emergencies. On this episode of the FEMA podcast, we dive into the details of the update and how it will emphasize stabilization of critical lifelines and coordination across the critical infrastructure sectors.

After a historic 2017, hurricane season, 2018 closed as anything but less challenging for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. On this episode, we caught up with FEMA Administrator Brock Long to discuss the monumental task of supporting recovery efforts from 2017 while responding to another historic disaster year in 2018. We focus not only on that work, but on the agency's strategic plan going forward, lessons learned from recent events and FEMA’s continuous improvement initiatives. We also discuss recent groundbreaking legislation that will significantly impact the way the agency serves the American public going forward.

On this episode, we caught up with FEMA Administrator Brock Long to discuss the monumental task of supporting recovery efforts from 2017 while responding to another historic disaster season in 2018. We also discuss the impact of the agency's Strategic Plan, lessons learned from recent events and recent groundbreaking legislation that will significantly impact the way the agency serves the American public going forward.

A conversation with Administrator Brock Long on his vision for the future of FEMA as well as the recently released FEMA Strategic Plan. The Administrator discusses how the Strategic plan charts a path forward for FEMA as well as the emergency management system in the United States. Administrator Long was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and began his service as the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in June 2017. Mr. Long has more than 16 years of experience assisting and supporting local, state, and Federal Governments with building robust emergency management and public health preparedness programs.

On this episode, Kevin Smith, director of the DHS center for faith and opportunity initiatives joins the FEMA podcast for a conversation on how FEMA partners with faith based and community groups before, during and after disasters. We talk about how FEMA is looking to it's nongovernmental partners to help shape a national culture of preparedness, but also to help make America more resilient in the face of disasters.

On this episode, Kevin Smith, director of the DHS center for faith and opportunity initiatives joins the FEMA podcast for a conversation on how FEMA partners with faith based and community groups before, during and after disasters. We talk about how FEMA is looking to its nongovernmental partners to help shape a national culture of preparedness, but also to help make America more resilient in the face of disasters.

On October 5, 2018, President Donald Trump signed the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 (DRRA) into law as part of the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2018. FEMA worked closely with Congress over the past year as they considered, and ultimately passed, important reforms to federal disaster programs. These reforms acknowledge the shared responsibility of disaster response and recovery, aim to reduce the complexity of FEMA and build the nation’s capacity for the next catastrophic event. On this episode we caught up with Jessi Nalepa, Director of FEMA’s Office of External Affairs for a conversation about what is included in this landmark legislation. (Host: Mark Peterson; Featuring: Jessi Nalepa).

On October 5, 2018, President Donald Trump signed the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 (DRRA) into law as part of the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2018. FEMA worked closely with Congress over the past year as they considered, and ultimately passed, important reforms to federal disaster programs. These reforms acknowledge the shared responsibility of disaster response and recovery, aim to reduce the complexity of FEMA and build the nation’s capacity for the next catastrophic event. On this episode we caught up with Jessi Nalepa, Director of FEMA’s Office of External Affairs for a conversation about what is included in this landmark legislation. (Host: Mark Peterson; Featuring: Jessi Nalepa).