Emergency Visions

Colorado Wildfires

Elizabeth Gilmore — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 19:16:57 +0000

Every summer Colorado experiences a long string of wildfires turning everything in its path to ashes. This year, Colorado is experiencing the most destructive wildfire in the state’s history. This fire is in the Black Forest which is the largest stretch of ponderosa pine in the United States. So far this fire has killed 2 people, destroyed 360 homes, and caused 38,000 people to evacuate the area. Fire fighters are having a hard time containing the Black Forest due to severe heat and windy conditions.

One of the residents, whose home was engulfed in flames, voiced that, “his family took every precaution to keep his house and family safe.” He cut down 20 trees, cleared out brush surrounding his house and he also but a fire-resistant roof on the house. Even these precautions did not stop his house from being destroyed.

Firefighters have had trouble containing the fire for many different reasons. The Fire chief said, “Wind is probably our number one threat. It is what has been the game changer.” Winds as well as brush have caused tremendous problems. Piles of pine needles and grass fuel can have smoldering fires hidden for days underneath then suddenly they with explode with flames.

The saddest part is the 2 found dead were in their garage loading things into their car in attempts to flee. You have to be prepared or, in this case, you just have to leave everything behind. I can only imagine how hard it is to leave all of your belongings behind. However, your safety is the most important thing!

Sources:
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/13/18932265-colorado-wildfires-destroy-more-than-350-homes-force-evacuations?lite
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/wildfire-scorches-colorado-found-dead-article-1.1372532

Powerful Storms Across Multiple States

Elizabeth Gilmore — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 17:13:24 +0000

A threat of a combination of powerful thunderstorms may stretch across multiple states. It will span across the Ohio valley and the Mid-Atlantic States affecting tens of millions of people. This massive storm is called a “derecho” which is a prolonged storm of straight-line winds which spans at least 250 miles and has wind speeds of over 50 mph. These storms are very destructive with strong winds and hail; tornadoes can also coincide with a derecho. Even when a tornado does not occur a derecho can cause the same amount of damage.

The damage however is in a straight line, where tornado damage is not. Immediately following a derecho is a deadly heat wave. This time last year, a derecho spanning from Chicago to Washington caused at least $1 billion in damages. Twenty-two people were killed and dozens injured from fallen trees. The storm spanned 800 miles and caused millions of power outages. The wind speed got up to 91mph. The heat wave that came directly after was responsible for 34 fatalities. Two back-to-back deadly natural disasters.

Although this may just seem like an everyday storm to people, it is always smart to be prepared. Meteorologists cannot predict everything that is going to happen. These storms caused millions to lose power last year. Having non-perishables handy is always a good idea. From Daily News, “As many as 64 million Americans are being told to brace themselves for flash floods, twisters, hail, lightning, violent winds and heavy rain, as destruction rages from Iowa to western Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia” Be sure to use extreme caution during these storms and stay safe!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/06/10/ratcheting-down-thederecho-hype-but-recognizing-the-risk-late-wednesday/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_2012_North_American_derecho

More on Social Media and Disaster Response

Jim Mitchell — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 17:12:27 +0000

There has been a lot written about Social Media and Disaster Response, but this past week seemed to reinforce the medium as another data source that is crucial for Emergency Managers to understand and manage. Our Chief Evangelist, Shawn Smith, was on a panel last week at a seminar in Washington DC put on by our GSA partner, Carahsoft. The theme of the seminar was Citizen Engagement (http://www.carahsoft.com/events/citizen/06-06-13/index.php) and there isn’t a better way to discuss Citizen Engagement than talking about Social Media and it’s impact on all of us and how we interact with each other and our Government.

We fully utilize Tweet Deck to monitor and track key phrases and also follow key Disaster Resource Management thought leaders and trends on Twitter. As we continue to develop our database of contacts and thought leaders it has been very interesting to see our network develop and become a key source of information. When we post our blogs we immediately add them to our Facebook and Twitter feeds. We are continuing to add content to all of our sites and we encourage you to “Like” us on Facebook.

Scientific American had an interesting article last week titled “How Social Media Is Changing Disaster Response”. The article pointed out how far we have come in Social Media since Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005 with no Twitter and no iPhones, to Superstorm Sandy last fall with more than 20 million Sandy-related “tweets”. The article stated that, “Each disaster sparks its own complex web of fast-paced information exchange”. I think this is a great description of what and how Social Media blends into the fabric of Disaster Response.

The other aspects of the Scientific American article that I found interesting centered on having an effective Social Media strategy and also preparing to deal with mis-information. Adding a Social Media component to your preparedness planning makes complete sense, and also having resources dedicated to rumor control is extremely important. Our work with the Florida Department of Emergency Management team has exposed us to several layers of their Social Media team and it has been very exciting to see how their teams utilize Social Media.

Do you have any stories to share regarding your Social Media team or strategy? Any best practices you would like to share? We look forward to hearing from you through any of our Social channels.

Urban Area Security Initiative Grants

Jim Mitchell — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 21:09:19 +0000

The 2013 Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) grants were released a few weeks ago and the the amount for this year is $558,745,566. This is a significantly lower number than the years following 9/11, but it is still a very substantial amount of money and we believe that our Software as a Service solutions make a good fit for an Urban Area looking to be better prepared for the “New Normal”.

The allocations run from a high number of $174 million in the New York City area to a low of $3 million in Pittsburgh, Tampa, Sacramento Charlotte, St. Louis, Denver and Anaheim/Santa Ana. It will be interesting to see how the money is allocated this year and we hope to see some of it funneled into software and services to help put repeatable processes in place to save lives and property.

Emergency Visions (EVI) stands ready to answer any questions regarding the UASI grants and how we may be able to help guide you through the process of applying and receiving this important piece of funding. Do you have any specific goals or targets in mind for your UASI grant money this year? Are you focused on equipment and gear? We would like to hear from you and maybe we’ll send along an email with an informal poll to get additional clarification on the pulse of this program.

Emergency Visions to Attend 2013 State of Florida Public-Private Sector Disaster Preparedness Summit

Jim Mitchell — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 20:22:17 +0000

When: Tuesday June 11 through Thursday June 13th

Atlanta, GA – Emergency Visions Inc. (EVI) will be attending the 2013 State of Florida Public-Private Disaster Preparedness Summit in Orlando next week from June 11th through June 13th. The 2nd annual conference, held at the International Palms Resort, will focus on continuing the work that began at the first summit in Daytona Beach in April 2012. One of the goals of this year’s Summit is to continue to foster communication between the county, private sector, and State’s emergency management team. The agenda for this year’s Summit will continue to address concerns by the private sector on all phases of emergency management and will provide opportunities for those involved to discuss ways to improve the system.

Shawn Smith, EVI’s Chief Evangelist and Founder, will be attending the Summit and will be participating in the various tracks and discussions. Mark Morel, EVI’s CEO, said “We are looking forward to participating in this year’s Summit and giving feedback on how Florida can have a stronger partnership between Public and Private interests.” Morel went on to say “Our Disaster Resource Management (DRM) solution helps improve visibility and coordination between all parties and helps to save lives and property”.

Shawn Smith will also be available for meetings and demonstrations of our DRM solution, ResponseVision^®> 4.0. Feel free to contact Shawn at shawn.smith @emergencyvisions.com for more details or contact EVI at 888-384-4911.

About Emergency Visions, Inc.

EVI provides Governments, Non-Profits, and Corporations with a secure, cloud-based, easy-to-use solution that empowers them to prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural and man-made catastrophic events. Unlike traditional incident management and emergency response systems, EVI delivers a cost-effective, fully-integrated DRM to:1) discover, move and manage the resources required to manage everyday situations; 2) improve the coordination of people and resources; and 3) to save lives and property on a daily and episodic basis.

Another “New Normal” Monday

Jim Mitchell — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 19:54:35 +0000

Driving to work this morning I was amazed at the number of “New Normal” events that were covered on the news this morning. The coverage started with more details on the tragic events that unfolded in Oklahoma last week as 16 more people lost their lives during the latest Tornado strike. This is on top of 24 people losing their lives two weeks ago. The worst news of the day is that they are also forecasting more storms today for the area that the weather service says could also produce “perhaps a tornado or two”.

The second “New Normal” event that was mentioned was the punishing winds and torrential downpours that hit Maine. There were several tornado warnings issued for Maine but it is not believed that any actually touched down on Sunday. The irony here is that this storm represented the leftovers from the storm system that raked Oklahoma a few days before.

Story three from the “New Normal” centered on all of the wildfires that are raging in Southern California. It appears that the latest wildfire has exploded to nearly 40 square miles and scorched 25,000 acres. As of this morning it also appears that 1,000 homes are currently being threatened. The wildfires are not new in this region of the country, but it appears their impact has been growing in scope and our thoughts and prayers go out to all of those in the path of these fires.

Last story from the top of the hour this morning was that the 2013 Hurricane Season has just kicked off. There were several light-hearted stories in the paper this weekend about the naming convention for storms this year, but the forecast does line up for a very active season. View our webinar from a few weeks ago on the 2013 Hurricane Season and feel free to reach out to Emergency Visions (EVI) if we can help with any questions regarding your ability to save lives and property. We hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

Can We Just Include Storm Shelters In All New Construction?

Shawn Smith — Fri, 31 May 2013 19:48:19 +0000

The devastation caused by the EF-5 Tornado in Moore, Oklahoma is still making news headlines. Our hearts go out to the victims of this event, and it is natural to now ask the question, “What can we do in the future to save lives”?

A fact that should have been a headline, but seems to have been buried in the news, is that 100% of the residents in Moore who rode out the event in a storm shelter survived. That’s right… 100%.

It didn’t matter if the shelter was above-ground, or below-ground, there was a 100% survival rate. The National Storm Shelter Association is currently in Moore conducting surveys, and even the above-ground shelters made it through the storm fully intact.

In the “recovery phase” of an event of this magnitude, FEMA and the SBA will be proving individual assistance funding to help rebuild. Shouldn’t we consider including a storm shelter in each and every home or commercial facility that is rebuilt? Isn’t the $4,000 price tag per home ($10,000 or so for a commercial building) worth it to have a 100% survival rate? Maybe a large Corporation could alleviate the costs as a marketing/branding strategy for communities like Moore.

However it is accomplished, we should make it as common of a Mitigation strategy as earthquake building codes are in California. A 100% survival rate is hard to argue with.

Open Source

Jim Mitchell — Fri, 31 May 2013 19:22:17 +0000

A recent article in IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, raised the question of utilizing “open-source” (OS) technology in Disaster Resource and Crisis Management. The article did a good job of pointing out the interest in OS as well as the potential pitfalls of utilizing the technology. Emergency Visions, Inc. (EVI) is proud of the software we have just released, ResponseVision^® 4.0, and we believe that you get what you pay for! Further, “free” is not a good business model in the Disaster Management business.

The IRIN article quoted Stuart Gill, co-founder of a community of Free and open-source software (FOSS), who estimated that, “Since 2009, hundreds of prototypes have been coded, 50 have survived, with 10 being real good”. We don’t like the odds of having something that “may” be real good. We are proud of our product and the development work and subject matter expertise that has gone into our solution.

“Cheap and Easy” were noted as the benefits of one hackathon product named “First Responder”. We believe that reliable and scalable are much better descriptions of software that should be utilized in Disaster Resource Management. Technical Support and Help Desk resources (or lack thereof) were also mentioned in the article as downfalls to OS. We offer 24 by 7 support and also have several customers that need to run in a “disconnected” environment until they can get connectivity. Connectivity and support are necessities in our book for any organization that is involved with saving lives and property.

Do you have any thoughts on OS? Have you had any good/bad experiences? EVI stands ready to answer any questions regarding our SaaS (Software as a Service) Disaster Resource Management solutions.

Nobody Does It Like Florida

Shawn Smith — Wed, 29 May 2013 19:43:22 +0000

Jim Mitchell recently blogged about the importance of exercising in the world of Disaster Response and Emergency Management. And nobody does that better than the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM).

Emergency Visions (EVI) is blessed to have a Partnership with FDEM where our Disaster Resource Management solution, ResponseVision^® 4.0, is used as the core of their “State Resource Management Network”. The software provides total asset visibility, inventory/warehouse management, and emergency response logistics for the supplies and equipment Florida needs in response to an emergency situation.

I recently attended FDEM’s statewide hurricane exercise, and once again Florida demonstrated why they are arguably the nation’s best at Emergency Management. FDEM, other major state agencies, federal partners, the Florida Guard, and 67 counties participated in this exercise. The exercise scenario was quite challenging, with 2 hurricanes affecting the state within a few days, as well as secondary incidents, such as a Tornado. FDEM personnel responded as they would in a “real world” event, and they applied the lessons-learned from other exercises and incidents. And while the exercise was taking place, FDEM responded to Mutual Aid requests from the Tornado response in Moore, Oklahoma, reminding everyone that catastrophic events are the “New Normal” for Emergency Management agencies around the U.S.

Exercises are a great way to insure an effective response to emergency situations. They illustrate the common logistical challenges that exist in a “whole community” response, and provide the opportunity to collaborate and coordinate the resources needed for disaster response and recovery efforts before an actual event occurs.

The good news is that FDEM is clearly ready should a major hurricane affect their State this season, and EVI is ready to assist them.

Importance of Exercising

Jim Mitchell — Tue, 28 May 2013 16:39:04 +0000

We have a lot of discussion in the office at Emergency Visions, Inc. (EVI) about the importance of exercise and the usual conclusion is that everyone is hungry and it is time to eat! The point of this blog is that EVI played an important part in Florida’s Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) Hurricane Exercise this week and it was a great showcase of the importance of exercise for Emergency Management teams. The exercise was a combination of events that could potentially impact the state and the point was to push the teams to see how everyone responded and how they can do better in the future.

I participated in FDEM’s Hurricane Exercise last year in Tallahassee and it is very impressive to see the entire team come together and work through an exercise to simulate saving lives and property for the State of Florida. Last year’s event had several twists and turns and I have heard that this year had even more challenges for the team to face. As the exercise winds down today it is important to focus on After Action Reports and how things can get better not only with the FDEM team but their vendors and first responders as well.

We hope everyone who participated in this year’s event found it to be helpful in a variety of different ways and that the State of Florida benefits from this exercise in the future. Does your organization have an exercise story you would like to share? Any best practices that can make us all better prepared? Please add your comments so that we can share with everyone or tweet your story with #emergencyexercise!