FEMA, Pa. schools team up

Since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005, the Federal Emergency Management Agency… Since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has struggled to repair its tainted reputation. However, the agency partnered with some Pennsylvania universities to find out how to prepare for and respond to an emergency both before and after it happens. Jonathan Sarubbi, regional administrator for FEMA Region III, spoke to an audience on Thursday afternoon in Alumni Hall about how FEMA operates in local communities. Region III includes Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and Washington, D.C., and is one of the country’s 10 regions. FEMA prepares local and state communities in this area to respond to emergency situations such as flooding, terrorist threats and man-made disasters. Sarubbi gave a relevant Pennsylvanian example of a man-man disaster: an incident at a nuclear power plant. ‘We need to know how to evacuate the local community more quickly and efficiently,’ he said. However, that’s not the organization’s main responsibility. ‘Hurricanes and flooding from hurricanes is our bread and butter,’ said Sarubbi. FEMA provides response and relief to disaster areas. According to Sarubbi, it takes a lot of bureaucratic red tape to get the relief to the areas that need it. FEMA is not a first-response organization but provides support to the first-responders. When a disaster occurs it is local emergency personnel, such as firefighters, medics and police who arrive on the scene and take control of the situation. FEMA meanwhile assesses the damages to people and property. When the damages reach a specific dollar amount, they send a report to the president to recommend a declaration of emergency. ‘We cannot provide any federal support until the president declares it a national disaster,’ said Sarubbi. ‘It sounds like a long, bureaucratic process, and it is,’ he admitted. ‘We saw it in Katrina.’ Sarubbi said that FEMA’s emergency response program has greatly improved since then. Now when a severe hurricane develops, FEMA can do a pre-disaster analysis of the damages it might cause and send the report to the president to declare the emergency ahead of time. Because of this new and improved system, Sarubbi said that local communities have been trained to more effectively handle evacuations, food distribution, medical care and emergency shelters ahead of time. ‘If you look back at Katrina, a lot of things didn’t work,’ said Sarubbi. ‘Now we have a better sense of what needs are and respond more quickly and effectively.’ Tracy Hehmeyer, a preparedness analysis and planning officer for Region III, said that Pitt can play a key role in planning ahead for emergencies. She warned that they should not wait for the federal government to arrive immediately on the scene. ‘Students should make an emergency plan ahead of time,’ she said. ‘They should know an evacuation route and have food and bottled water to last three days in case of an emergency.’ She added that Pitt as a campus can train individuals to be able to assist others in an emergency situation and help with the response and relief from the federal government when it is able to reach a disaster area.