Disaster Preparation for Communities Brian Kayes The City of Brandon Notebook April 2011

Community Development  Long term planning  Inclusiveness  Integration into the big picture for your community  Support by community members  Actions that benefit your community Frank, Flo & Anne Smith. (1999). The community development handbook: A tool to build community capacity. Ottawa, Ontario: Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada.

Need a Goal  Having a disaster resilient community is the desired outcome of our activities.

Resilience The capacity to adapt to stress from hazards and the ability to recover quickly from their impacts. Henstra, Dan, Kovacs, Paul, McBean, Gordon, Sweeting, Rob. (2004). Background paper on disaster resilient cities. Ottawa. Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction, Infrastructure Canada.

Resilience To have the necessary pieces in place to rebound as quickly as possible after an event. Ronan, Kevin R., Johnston, David M., (2005) Promoting community resilience in disasters: the role for schools, youth and families. Springer

Resilience Physical and psychosocial preparation helps a community better respond and recover from a disaster. Lindell, M. K., and Whitney, D. J. (2000). Correlates of Household Seismic Hazard Adjustment Adoption. Risk Analysis, 20 (1),

Essential Elements for Building Community Resilience 1. Connectedness 2. Participation 3. Roles & Responsibility 4. Support & Nurturance 5. Skill Building 6. Resources Gurwitch, R. H., Pfefferbaum, B., Montgomery, J. M., Klomp, R. W., & Reissman, D. B. (2007). Building community resilience for children and families. Oklahoma City: Terrorism and Disaster Center at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

Essential Elements for Building Community Resilience 1. Connectedness - The degree to which people feel a part of the community. –Shared history –Shared understanding of local hazards –Shared desire to be prepared.

Possible Natural Hazards  Flooding  Drought  Extreme Heat  Extreme Wind  Tornadoes  Wildland fire  Extreme Cold  Blizzards  Heavy Snowfall  Ice Storms  Heavy Rain  Pandemic

Possible Technological Hazards  Hazardous Materials release  Extreme Air Pollution  Explosion/Fire  Road emergencies  Rail emergencies  Air emergencies  Low radioactive uranium ore  Water Utility failure  Waste Water Utility failure  Natural Gas failure  Electrical failure  Building/Structure collapse  Dam failure  Communication System failure

Possible Human Caused Hazards  Civil unrest  War  Arson  Hostage taking  Labour unrest  Business interruption  Food shortage  Cyber attack  Eco terrorism  Biological terrorism  Chemical terrorism  Resource shortage  Nuclear terrorism  Radiological terrorism  Economic collapse

Essential Elements for Building Community Resilience 1. Connectedness 2. Participation 3. Roles & Responsibility 4. Support & Nurturance 5. Skill Building 6. Resources Gurwitch, R. H., Pfefferbaum, B., Montgomery, J. M., Klomp, R. W., & Reissman, D. B. (2007). Building community resilience for children and families. Oklahoma City: Terrorism and Disaster Center at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

Essential Elements for Building Community Resilience 2. Participation - Opportunities for residents to participate in the activities of the community - Leaders encourage involvement - Believe their contributions are valued - Personalize the benefit of being involved

Essential Elements for Building Community Resilience 1. Connectedness 2. Participation 3. Roles & Responsibility 4. Support & Nurturance 5. Skill Building 6. Resources Gurwitch, R. H., Pfefferbaum, B., Montgomery, J. M., Klomp, R. W., & Reissman, D. B. (2007). Building community resilience for children and families. Oklahoma City: Terrorism and Disaster Center at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

Essential Elements for Building Community Resilience 3. Roles & Responsibility – Need to be understood before an incident - Responsibilities of community leaders & organizations - Structure of a community response - What families can do - Community exercises

3. Roles & Responsibility What Families can do Family roles  Home  Parents  Children  An increased sense of preparedness may help reduce worry and anxiety in a disaster

Essential Elements for Building Community Resilience 1. Connectedness 2. Participation 3. Roles & Responsibility 4. Support & Nurturance 5. Skill Building 6. Resources Gurwitch, R. H., Pfefferbaum, B., Montgomery, J. M., Klomp, R. W., & Reissman, D. B. (2007). Building community resilience for children and families. Oklahoma City: Terrorism and Disaster Center at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

4. Support & Nurturance  Resilience is enhanced when community members feel supported and nurtured by others. Gurwitch, R. H., Pfefferbaum, B., Montgomery, J. M., Klomp, R. W., & Reissman, D. B. (2007). Building community resilience for children and families. Oklahoma City: Terrorism and Disaster Center at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

Support & Nurturance  Support & Nurturance is possible when people can: –Express concerns and ideas –Provide feedback to leaders –See concerns addressed by actions –Recognition for community work

Essential Elements for Building Community Resilience 1. Connectedness 2. Participation 3. Roles & Responsibility 4. Support & Nurturance 5. Skill Building 6. Resources Gurwitch, R. H., Pfefferbaum, B., Montgomery, J. M., Klomp, R. W., & Reissman, D. B. (2007). Building community resilience for children and families. Oklahoma City: Terrorism and Disaster Center at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

Essential Elements for Building Community Resilience 1. Connectedness 2. Participation 3. Roles & Responsibility 4. Support & Nurturance 5. Skill Building 6. Resources Gurwitch, R. H., Pfefferbaum, B., Montgomery, J. M., Klomp, R. W., & Reissman, D. B. (2007). Building community resilience for children and families. Oklahoma City: Terrorism and Disaster Center at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

6. Resources Human and Social Community resources include: –Community Preparedness Team –First responders –Professionals – educational, health, legal, financial –Community leadership –Faith-based –Cultural leaders –Service organizations –Business professionals –Unions –Mutual aid relationships –Workforce

Community Resilience Worksheet  What has this exercise revealed to you?

Crafting Goals and Objectives  “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.” » Lewis Carroll John Tenniel 1865 “The chief difficulty Alice found at first was in managing her flamingo."

Goals and Objectives  Goal  Objectives  Action plan

Goals  One overall goal. –To Have a Disaster Resilient Community

Goals versus Objectives  GOAL  Goal  Something that you want to have  Important on its own  Are the end  OBJECTIVE  Goal but specifically stated  Something you complete to achieve your goal  Important in that they serve a purpose to reaching the goal  Are the means

Goals (Objectives)  Stated in a positive way  Measurable  Obtainable  Written

Action Plan  More detail  Step by step  Time bound  What is to be accomplished and by when?

Goal  To have a disaster resilient community.

Goal: To Have a Disaster Resilient Community  Objective #1 To understand our community’s shared disaster history. Action Plan A. Research our history B. Write our story C. Share our story with the greater community

Objective #1 Action Plan  Research our history –A. By June 15, 2011 gather data from: Community history books Family histories Media archives Interviews

Objective #1 Action Plan  Research our history –B. By September 15, 2011: Compile list of events Complete brief written description of each event

Objective #1 Action Plan –C. By October 15, 2010: Include this information as part of the Public Information Program –Post list on community web site –Provide written stories to media –Provide media with list of people to interview –Purchase advertising

Public Information Strategy 1. Determine that you want to initiate a program 2. Determine your leadership and membership 3. Identify the diversified public within your community

Public Information Strategy 4. Determine the scope of the program 5. Determine the type and level of information and knowledge to be disseminated 6. Identify potential public information program partners (active partners)

Public Information Strategy 7. Develop a detailed Public Information Program Plan 8. Determine appropriate public education methods 9. Hold media launch for significant program milestones

Public Information Strategy 10. Determine the desired level of awareness and knowledge of the public as a result of campaign 11. Measure the effectiveness of your campaign

Objective #1 Action Plan  Research our history –D. By November 15, 2011: Involve the community with the, “Have We Forgotten Anything?” campaign

Disaster Resilient Community  Community Development principles: Long term planning Inclusiveness Integration into the big picture for your community Support by community members Actions that benefit your community Frank, Flo & Anne Smith. (1999). The community development handbook: A tool to build community capacity. Ottawa, Ontario: Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada.