The FEMA Podcast

How do you move a whole town out of harm’s way while preserving the town’s history and keeping it as a functional community space? For more than 100 years, a small riverside town in Waverly, Indiana, endured repeated flooding. By 2005, state and local officials began to address the problem, and over the last decade the community has transformed into a living history park with restored and reclaimed historical structures, added walking paths, canoe/kayak portage sites, and other amenities. We visited this transformed landscape to learn more about the FEMA hazard mitigation grants and additional state, local, and private sector funding that was used to acquire properties in the floodplain. Property owners voluntarily sold their property so the land could be returned to open space, reducing the amount of emergency response resources that are required during flood events in Morgan County.

How do you move a whole town out of harm’s way while preserving the town’s history and keeping it as a functional community space? For more than 100 years, a small riverside town in Waverly, Indiana, endured repeated flooding. By 2005, state and local officials began to address the problem, and over the last decade the community has transformed into a living history park with restored and reclaimed historical structures, added walking paths, canoe/kayak portage sites, and other amenities. We visited this transformed landscape to learn more about the FEMA hazard mitigation grants and additional state, local, and private sector funding that was used to acquire properties in the floodplain. Property owners voluntarily sold their property so the land could be returned to open space, reducing the amount of emergency response resources that are required during flood events in Morgan County.

El Programa de Asistencia de Alojamiento Transitorio (o TSA en inglés) finaliza en Texas y Puerto Rico el sábado, 30 de junio de 2018, para los residentes afectados por los huracanes del otoño pasado.  El programa de TSA fue diseñado para ofrecer alojamiento a corto plazo, como estadías en hoteles, a las personas afectadas por estos huracanes.  En esta edición especial del Podcast de FEMA, hablaremos con Emilia Diaz,  Analista del Programa de Recuperación de FEMA para que nos explique el programa de TSA y como este trabaja en concierto con organizaciones gubernamentales y organizaciones sin ánimo de lucro para asistir a los sobrevivientes en la transición de refugios provisionales a corto plazo a alojamiento a una vivienda más estable a largo plazo.

FEMA’s Transitional Sheltering Assistance for Texas and Puerto Rican residents affected by last fall’s hurricanes will be ending Saturday, June 30, 2018.  The program was designed to provided short-term accommodations—such as hotel stays—for individuals impacted by these Hurricanes. On this Update edition of the FEMA Podcast, we speak with Zach Usher, Branch Chief for Mass Care, FEMA, to help explain the TSA program and how it fits into a combined effort by governmental and nonprofit agencies to assist disaster survivors’ transition from short-term sheltering to longer-term housing.

FEMA Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training teaches important life skills to that help individuals and communities better prepare for disasters or large events they may encounter.

FEMA Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training teaches important life skills to that help individuals and communities better prepare for disasters or large events they may encounter.

Homes and businesses in high-risk flood areas with loans, including mortgages, from federally regulated lenders are required to have flood insurance. This is called a “mandatory purchase requirement” under the National Flood Insurance Program.  On this episode of the FEMA Podcast we discuss this requirement in more detail and explain who is and who is not required to buy flood insurance.

Homes and businesses in high-risk flood areas with loans, including mortgages, from federally regulated lenders are required to have flood insurance. This is called a “mandatory purchase requirement” under the National Flood Insurance Program. On this episode of the FEMA Podcast we discuss this requirement in more detail and explain who is and who is not required to buy flood insurance.

Floods are the most common natural disaster in our nation, yet less than 50 percent of homes in the highest risk area across the country are insured against this type of disaster. To understand the idea of closing the insurance gap, we sat down with David Maurstad, FEMA’s assistant administrator for federal insurance, to discuss Administrator Long’s vision for equipping Americans with the knowledge and the call to action to financially prepare for disasters.

Floods are the most common natural disaster in our nation, yet less than 50 percent of homes in the highest risk area across the country are insured against this type of disaster. To understand the idea of closing the insurance gap, we sat down with David Maurstad, FEMA’s assistant administrator for federal insurance, to discuss Administrator Long’s vision for equipping Americans with the knowledge and the call to action to financially prepare for disasters.

We catch up with the brave men and women of the US Air Force Hurricane Hunters. Major Nicole Mitchell, who is a meteorologist with the hunters, gives us a tour of the aircraft and discusses what it’s like to fly right through the most intense parts of a hurricane.

We catch up with the brave men and women of the US Air Force Hurricane Hunters.  Major Nicole Mitchell, who is a meteorologist with the hunters, gives us a tour of the aircraft and discusses what it’s like to fly right through the most intense parts of a hurricane.

FEMA’s own Andy Neal (and team) from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), was chosen as one of the 27 finalists for the Management Excellence Category of the Samuel J Heyman Service to America Medal – the “Sammie”. On this episode of the FEMA Podcast we talk with Andy Neal about the process of diversifying the NFIP’s risk through reinsurance, and what the Sammie Nomination has meant for his program.

FEMA’s own Andy Neal (and team) from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), was chosen as one of the 27 finalists for the Management Excellence Category of the Samuel J Heyman Service to America Medal – the “Sammie”. On this episode of the FEMA Podcast we talk with Andy Neal about the process of diversifying the NFIP’s risk through reinsurance, and what the Sammie Nomination has meant for his program.

Ken Graham is the Director of NOAA’s National Hurricane Center located in Miami, FL. He joins the Podcast while in Montgomery, AL at one of the annual Hurricane Awareness Tour stops and discusses some of the things the Hurricane Center learned from the 2017 hurricane season and how the center is working to provide better information to save lives and property.