Transcript NW Florida Flooding Workshop Presentation

Northwest Florida Flooding
The Invisible Disaster
The Role of Long Term
Recovery Organizations in
Disaster Recovery
Washington and Walton County
Recovery
DR 4138
Washington County
July Flood Event
Washington Co. Population: 25,000
FEMA PA Declaration no IA Declaration from
FEMA, leaves county residents without any
Federal Assistance
Washington County received over 40 inches of rain in
a six week period. When the rain began in July of
2013, every county road was impacted.
Invisible Disaster
Volunteers from the West Florida Baptist
Association and local Volunteer Fire personnel
began tarping roofs as heavy rains continued.
Local resources were immediately
overwhelmed
Emergency Management received 115
requests for home repairs, residents
expecting FEMA assistance
Washington County, City of Vernon
population 757
Volunteer Firefighters unloading donated
supplies from the Southern Baptist
Association
Waste Water Treatment Facility
Waste Water Treatment Facility
City of Vernon infrastructure damage
Dawkins St. (main storm water
drainage for City of Vernon)
Dawkins St. (main storm water
drainage for City of Vernon)
Dawkins St. After the flood
Misunderstanding of the Emergency Procedures
FEMA PA Declaration challenges
Walton County
Population 50,324
This summer, Walton County
received over 40 inches of rain in six
weeks. At least 36 homes were
damaged, as well as dozens of roads
and other infrastructure .
Map of Damaged Homes
FEMA PA Declaration made. No IA
Declaration from FEMA, leaves county
residents without any Federal Assistance
Walton County utilized local
connections and resources
 Walton Co. Fire Rescue personnel tarp storm
damaged roofs.
 Local small business provided Web site design and
hosting.
 211 engaged to assist with information and referrals
 Presentations to civic clubs to raise awareness and
involvement.
Invisible Disaster Challenges
 No State Declaration for disasters ( difficult to prove this
actually happened when applying for grants)
 Simple task, such as receiving tarps from State EM becomes a
difficult process. EM had to rely on FLVOAD and Volunteer
Florida to arrange the tarp delivery
 Difficult to show the impact on the community (financial,
emotional toll on individuals)
 Local community is not aware of the amount of homes
damaged and the impact on the affected population.
Without FEMA IA Declaration Disaster
Recovery Falls Entirely Upon the Community.
 Catholic Charities of Florida Emergency Services
reached out initially to Washington Co. then Walton
Co. Emergency Management, to offer long term
recovery assistance.
 Washington and Walton Co. E.M.s organized a
meeting in their respective counties with local faith
based and non-profit organizations establishing the
Long Term Recovery Organization (LTRO) for each
county.
LTRO Mission Statement
The Washington and Walton County Long Term Recovery
Organization will provide spiritual, emotional, physical
and financial resources to those affected by disasters,
regardless of race, gender, creed, color, sexual orientation,
disability or religious preference.
We aim to accomplish these goals by engaging the faithbased, non-profit and local community leaders in to a
coordinated disaster recovery entity; utilizing case
management to ensure the most vulnerable populations
receive the assistance they need, and assist them with
their own recovery.
LTRO a true community partnership
 Emergency Management provides leadership, contacts, meeting
place, administrative help, too many others to list!
 CC of Fla: helping organize Long Term Disaster Recovery
 CCNWFL: Provides case management services
 Hammers and Hearts: Coordinating Volunteer Mission Teams and
Construction/Repairs
 UMC of Al and W FL: providing volunteer mission teams for damaged
home construction/repair
 United Church of Christ: Grants for Washington and Walton Counties.
 United way of West Florida: Fiscal Agent, donor and resource
(Washington Co.)
 United Way of Okaloosa-Walton : Fiscal Agent, donor and resource
 Salvation Army supplies shower trailer,
 American Red Cross: support to mission teams
 211 – information clearinghouse
 TCO Inc. – website design/hosting and support
Do you know who your local, state
and national partners are?
 Have you identified local resources for disaster
recovery?
 A list of partners?
 Are you sure your partners have the capacity and the
ability to respond and be part of long term recovery
 Do you know the difference between case workers
and case managers?
 Have you identified local or statewide agencies who
are able to do case management?
LTRO Accomplishments
 Organized, Cooperative, Coordinated Disaster
Recovery
 Executive Committee Established
 Fiscal Agent Established
 Case Management of Individuals Reporting Loss
 Repair and Construction Estimates were Completed
 Volunteer Mission Teams were Scheduled (challenge)
 Housing for Mission Teams Identified (challenge)
 Mapping and Data Base of Damaged Homes Created
LTRO Accomplishments Cont.
 Catholic Charities of Northwest Florida received $10K
grant for disaster recovery in Washington and Bay
Counties. $5K was dedicated to repair and rebuild
homes.
 UMC of Alabama/West Florida matched the $5K
 United Church of Christ also matched the $5K
 United Way of Northwest Fla. also matched the $5K
 Washington Co. LTRO with the help of Volunteer
Mission Teams’ extra funding, repaired or rebuilt 42
homes to date.
LTRO time factor
 History of disasters shows; most LTRO’s take up to a
year to actually organize, put systems and procedures
in place before a single home repair is done.
 Washington and Walton Counties were able to
identify local resources (human and financial) who
were interested more in helping people than their
own agenda.
 How long would it take to stand up a LTRO in your
community? Are mechanisms in place at this time?
Next Steps: Turning the LTRO
into a COAD
Working backwards
 LTRO established before COAD in response to the
disaster.
 Speedy establishment of the LTRO became a
necessity to help the community.
 How many LTROs are still operating?
 How many COADs/Local Coalitions are currently
active?
 Who is the fiscal agent or potential fiscal agent?
The LTROs have provided EMs new resources
for future disaster response and recovery
 Identified non-profits and faith based organizations
who are reliable and able to respond to community
needs.
 A resource list of state and national relief and
recovery organizations for EMs to use after future
disasters
 Need for credentialing of ESF 15, 17, 18
 Develop a response strategy to engage non-profits
and faith-based organizations
Other benefits of the LTRO
 Identified churches who are willing to house
volunteers
 Identified other resources to house and feed
volunteers
 Identified future partners
 Created new relationships in the private and nonprofit sectors
Keeping the LTRO alive by creating a
COAD
 Include non-profit and faith-based organizations in
exercises
 Engage and encourage Civic Clubs, businesses,
churches etc. to join the COAD
 Schedule Regular meetings
Thank you
 Washington Co EM, Lynne Abel 850-638-6203
[email protected]
 City of Vernon, Michelle Cook 850-866-7210
 [email protected]
 Walton Co. EM, Russell Beaty 850-892-8065
 [email protected]
 Florida Catholic Conf., Gabe Tischler 850-443-2996
[email protected]