Month: July 2016

UConn OEM: New Emergency Hazard Guides

Posted on July 28, 2016 by Stacey Stearns

hazard guide icon The Office of Emergency Management (OEM) is excited to announce new additions to the Emergency Hazard Guide. The Emergency Hazard Guide offers readers a “what-to-do” for various hazards, including how to prepare for, respond to and special considerations for different types of emergencies. The Guide also defines emergency terminology used by UConnALERT, the University’s official emergency notification system. The new additions include:

Suspicious Package
Infectious Disease

The Emergency Hazard Guide can be accessed here:

http://publicsafety.uconn.edu/emergency/hazard-guide/

Currently under development and up next:

Tornado
Extreme Temperature

As always, the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) appreciates any feedback the community has to offer.

For more information, contact: OEM at oem@uconn.edu or 860-486-5174

National Household Survey

Posted on July 13, 2016 by Stacey Stearns

 In July 2015, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) conducted a nationally representative household survey to measure household and individual preparedness and awareness of preparedness information.
 The survey also included a series of oversamples in U.S. counties where specific hazards present a relevant risk to those populations. These hazards included: earthquakes, extreme heat, floods, hurricanes, nuclear events, tornadoes, wildfires, and winter storms.
 The survey findings indicate that specific levers can be used to influence and increase overall individual and community preparedness.
- – The survey’s findings also indicate that having an increased awareness of the necessary steps to take to prepare for a specific hazard can motivate individuals to take steps to prepare for that particular hazard.
- – This raised awareness also increases the likelihood individuals will take the basic (i.e., non-hazard-specific) preparedness steps to develop and discuss a household emergency plan; make copies of critical documents; store supplies; and know how and where to get real-time alerts and warnings.

The results of the survey can be viewed on the FEMA website.

Emergency Preparedness for Families in Coastal Communities in Southeastern Connecticut

Posted on July 8, 2016 by Stacey Stearns

Karen-Mary Ellen — Karen Filchak and Mary Ellen Welch shared family and home emergency preparedness information at the Community Safety, Health and Wellness Day held for Stonington residents in May.
Photo: Faye Griffiths-Smith

UConn Extension has received a two-year grant from USDA-NIFA to work with residents in four Southeastern Connecticut coastal communities promoting storm (coastal or heavy precipitation event) preparedness. The coastal communities of Connecticut and Rhode Island are impacted by flooding, storm surge, and wind causing property damage during major storm events such as nor’easters and hurricanes. The Universities of Connecticut and Rhode Island are collaborating to provide preparedness education and planning support for select communities including town officials, commissions and residents. The multistate team will target densely populated coastal towns and will conduct assessments of vulnerability, determine risks, and identify how the risks can be mitigated through preparatory actions. One of the primary goals is to educate citizens, towns, and businesses to make sound decisions in advance of storms.

Extension will engage a variety of community partners and citizens to participate in

Karen-Faye — Preparing emergency go-kits for family members and pets as well as organizing financial and household records were a few of the topics addressed by Karen Filchak and Faye Griffiths-Smith.
Photo: Mary Ellen Welch

workshops to learn how to assess and protect vulnerable properties, including residential, common community, business and agricultural properties. Extension and Sea Grant Educators will offer workshops on community preparedness, family preparedness, assembling a family emergency kit and go pack, family financial emergency records preparation, and household preparation. Another goal is to introduce Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) materials to these populations to make them familiar with these online resources and those available through land grant universities and agencies such as NIFA/HUD, FEMA and Red Cross. We will identify and market existing on-line resources and apps to deal with property impacts before and after storms in the selected communities. Stonington has been identified as the 2016 pilot community for the project.

For more information, contact Mary Ellen Welch, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator and Principal Investigator on the grant at mary.welch@uconn.edu

Equine Disaster Planning

Posted on July 7, 2016 by Stacey Stearns

Dr. Jenifer Nadeau has developed a fact sheet on How to Prepare for Equine Disasters, the fourth in a series on best practices in effective horse management. The fact sheet reads:

“We have all watched the evening news and seen horses stranded in floods or have heard about the latest barn fire in our communities. First, some shocking statistics. Every year, floods in the United States cause $2 billion in damage and animals risk death from hypothermia or drowning. Annually more than 300,000 people are driven from their homes by floods. An estimated 20,000 agricultural fires per year result in $102 million in direct property loss.”