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| This Citizen Corps News Digest is provided by FEMA's Individual & Community Preparedness Division to highlight community preparedness and resilience resources and activities recently announced by federal agencies and Citizen Corps partners. |
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DHS and FEMA Updates
Hurricane Season 2011: Stay Informed Online or on Your Phone
The 2011 hurricane season began last week, so FEMA has been blogging about ways you can get prepared for the hazards associated with severe tropical weather. While there hasn't been a named tropical storm or hurricane yet this year, Shayme Adamski, Digital Manager for FEMA, wanted to share some resources you can bookmark or save that could be very helpful before, during and after disaster strikes. Please see the full blog post here.
Citizen Corps Partners and Affiliates Updates
Outstanding Volunteers Honored for Impact at National Service Conference
The Corporation for National and Community Service presented nine outstanding volunteer programs and participants with the Service Impact Award at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service. The Service Impact Awards recognize the outstanding impact made by everyday citizens who serve their communities. Awards were judged upon the impact made in the one of the six focus areas outlined in the agency's five year Strategic Plan: disaster services, economic opportunity, education, environmental stewardship, healthy futures, and veterans and military families. Read about the award winners here
Rural America: Building Upon a Record of Success
President Obama signed an Executive Order establishing a White House Rural Council, the first entity of its kind established to focus on policy initiatives for Rural Americans. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack will serve as the Council Chair. The White House Rural Council will focus on actions to better coordinate and streamline federal program efforts in rural America, and to better leverage federal investments. The collaboration will result in better programs and services in rural communities and maximize the benefits of those programs. Please see Secretary Vilsack's blog about this here.
Empowering Business, Government and Nonprofit Leaders to Act Together in Times of Crisis
Leadership during large-scale disasters like terrorist attacks, natural disasters and pandemic flu is the focus of the Long Island Meta-Leadership Summit for Preparedness on June 15, where more than 200 leaders will gather to better prepare and respond to public health and safety emergencies. Offered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the CDC Foundation, the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative - Harvard School of Public Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Meta-Leadership Summit for Preparedness fosters greater cross-sector collaboration among business, government and nonprofit leaders during emergencies. The Long Island Meta-Leadership Summit is the 36 th and final in the series of highly-evaluated Summits that have been held to engage leaders across the country. More than 4,700 leaders have attended a Summit to date, and over 2,500 have joined the Meta-Leadership Online Community. Visit the online community to watch a sampling of video soundbites from Summit participants in their own words: Tampa Bay; Nebraska; San Diego County; Greater Los Angeles and Greater Houston.
Other Preparedness Updates
We are providing the following links to third party sites for your reference. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies, or applications
A Paper Check Is No Match for a Hurricane or Tornado. Make Sure Your Citizens' Federal Benefit Payment Is Protected with Direct Deposit
The United States is the most severe weather-prone country on Earth according to the National Weather Service. Hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding and other natural disasters can strike without warning and force you to evacuate your home or cause disruptions in mail service. Ensuring you get your money in the most reliable way is the reason why the U.S. Department of the Treasury is moving to all-electronic federal benefit payments. Everyone applying for federal benefits will now receive their payments electronically from day one, while anyone currently relying on paper checks must switch to electronic payments by March, 1, 2013. Paper checks will no longer be an option. If you are still receiving Social Security or other federal benefit payments by paper check, don't wait until the final deadline to make the switch. Mother Nature is unpredictable and a disaster could prevent you from getting your money on time. In recent years, severe weather has caused alternative delivery arrangements for millions of Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) paper checks. To switch to direct deposit or the Direct Express® card, contact your federal benefit agency office, visit the Treasury Department's Go Direct® campaign website at www.GoDirect.org, or call the U.S. Treasury Electronic Payment Solution Center at (800) 333-1795. For direct deposit, you can also make the switch at your local financial institution. There are lots of ways you can help get members of your community signed up for direct depost. For more information go to: http://godirect.org/partners/toolkits/community/disaster-preparedness-tool-kit/
These news stories and other Individual & Community Preparedness news can be found on our website at www.citizencorps.gov .
Sincerely,
The National Office of Citizen Corps
FEMA Individual & Community Preparedness Division
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FEMA Fire Management Assistance Declarations Updates
Georgia Racepond Fire
Wed, 15 Jun 2011 07:57:15 -0500 Massachusetts Severe Storms and Tornadoes
Wed, 15 Jun 2011 13:05:16 -0500 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Join the Community Preparedness Webinar on National Preparedness Month 2011
This Citizen Corps notification is provided by FEMA's Individual & Community Preparedness Division to highlight community preparedness and resilience resources and activities recently announced by federal agencies and Citizen Corps partners.
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Community Preparedness Webinar Series
National Preparedness Month 2011
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2 PM EST
http://www.citizencorps.gov/news/webcasts/npm2011.shtm
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Dear State and Local Partners,
Please join us on June 22nd for the 2011 National Preparedness Month launch webinar. National Preparedness Month has grown every year, and with your help, this will be our most successful and coordinated effort to date! The many disasters happening across the United States, and throughout the world, have focused the public on emergency preparedness like never before. In hosting a preparedness event, you will allow your organization or business to provide your community the opportunity to take action and get Ready. As you know, this year will also mark the ten year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. As we encourage citizens to prepare we want to focus on honoring the local first responders that keep us safe, promote volunteer programs that help us prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters, and continue promoting the message that preparedness is a shared responsibility with the whole team, including you.
The theme for this year's National Preparedness Month is A Time to Remember, A Time to Prepare .
Learn how you can do YOUR part in protecting America. JOIN US on June 22nd for the special 2011 National Preparedness Month Webinar. DON'T MISS this great opportunity to:
- Get the new 2011 National Preparedness Month Toolkit and learn how you and YOUR community can GET INVOLVED in making our homes and neighborhoods a safer place to live.
- Find out how you can PLAN EVENTS in your community to raise awareness about emergency preparedness and protect your homes and families from all hazards.
- Learn what you can do to SUPPORT FIRST RESPONDERS in your communities.
Details for the kick-off webinar are below. We look forward to working with you to make the nation more prepared.
Sincerely,
Darryl Madden, Director, The Ready Campaign
Paulette Aniskoff, Director, FEMA Individual and Community Preparedness Division
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WEBINAR DETAILS:
Presenters for this webinar will include representatives from organizations including:
- FEMA Individual and Community Preparedness Division
- The Ready Campaign
- Corporation for National and Community Service
DATE: Wednesday, June 22, 2011
TIME: 2:00PM ET/1:00PM CT/Noon MT/11:00AM PT
URL : http://www.citizencorps.gov/news/webcasts/npm2011.shtm
How to view our webinars
The Community Preparedness Webinar Series is conducted via DHS's HSIN Connect system. You do not need to register in advance, nor do you need a HSIN account in order to view our webinars. Audio for this webinar will be broadcast within HSIN Connect; there will not be a concurrent, phone-based teleconference. Questions and answers will be moderated via text-based chat inside the webinar. In order to ensure that your computer is capable of viewing our webinars and webcasts, we highly recommend that you read the below documents and perform the compatibility test prior to the start of the event. In addition, please ensure your computer's speakers are working prior to the webinar. If for any reason you have trouble accessing the system, please send an email to citizencorps@dhs.gov.
This webinar is free to the public and will accommodate the first 500 visitors that enter the site. This webinar will last approximately one hour. In addition to airing live, the webinar will be recorded and viewable at a later date and linked from this web page. The live webinar will offer Closed Captioning and a transcript of the webinar will be posted with the recorded version of the webinar.
( NOTE : Once you enter the URL, log in as a guest by using your first and last name . Please log in 5-10 minutes before the call to ensure the program and PowerPoint work properly on your computer.)
**YOU DO NOT NEED TO REGISTER FOR THIS CALL**
WE LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR PARTICIPATION!
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FEMA Major Disaster Declarations Updates
Vermont Severe Storms And Flooding
Wed, 15 Jun 2011 20:56:19 -0500
Georgia Sweat Farm Again Fire
Thu, 16 Jun 2011 07:18:00 -0500
Colorado Duckett Fire
Fri, 17 Jun 2011 09:20:25 -0500
Texas Grand Mesa Fire
Fri, 17 Jun 2011 07:26:37 -0500
Montana Severe Storms and Flooding
Fri, 17 Jun 2011 19:58:34 -0500
Nebraska Flooding
Sat, 18 Jun 2011 16:06:10 -0500 |
