Virginia emergency management presentation
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Transcript of Virginia emergency management presentation
Emergency Management PoliciesCommonwealth of Virginia Group
Anne CurtisTony HumphreyElisa JohnsonJeremy Lasich
State Agencies
• Virginia Governor’s Cabinet
• Secretary of Public Safety oversees 11 agencies
• Emergency Management (VDEM)
• Alcohol Beverage Control
• Education• Corrections• Criminal Justice Services• Fire Programs• Forensic Science
• Juvenile Justice• Military Affairs• Virginia Parole Board• Virginia State Police
State History
1942 - Virginia General Assembly creates Office
of Civilian Defense to protect citizens against
enemy attack with an emphasis on coastal areas
and military centers. The office was abolished
after World War II ended.
State History
1950 - The Office of Civilian Defense was re-
established in response to the atomic age and
the Cold War and re-named the Office of Civil
Defense. Many cities and counties maintained
stocked fallout shelters complete
with medical supplies.
State History
1969 - The remnants of Hurricane Camille in Virginia, centered in Nelson County, killed more than 150 people and caused $113 million in damages. This storm began to shift the focus of emergency services from nuclear toward other types of natural and human-caused disasters.
State History
1972 - Tropical Storm
Agnes hits Virginia, killing
16 people and causing
more than $222 million in
damages.
State History
1973 - Governor Linwood Holton signed
the Emergency Services and Disaster Act
that replaced the Office of Civil Defense
with the Virginia Office of Emergency
Services (VOES).
Agency staffing expanded from 24 to 40,
including training, communications, public
information, and regional staff.
State History
1976-78 - During the oil embargo, VOES
absorbed the Governor’s Energy Office and
added about 20 people to the agency. In 1978,
the agency’s name was changed to the Office of
Emergency and Energy Services
(OEES).
State History
1985 - Roanoke River system floods due
to Hurricane Juan on Election Day,
affecting large portions of central and
western Virginia.
Energy services activities transferred to
the new agency and OEES became the
Department of Emergency Services.
Downtown Roanoke
State History
1989 - The federal Robert T.
Stafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act
(Stafford Act) became law and
created a systematic method in
place today of coordinated federal
assistance to states and local
governments for disasters.
State History
1993 - The “Blizzard of the Century” buried western Virginia in as much as three feet of snow, and an historic F4 tornado hit Petersburg/Colonial Heights.
Walmart in Colonial Heights hit by tornado
State History
2000 - OEES’ name was changed to the Virginia
Department of Emergency Management (VDEM).
State History
2001 - Terrorists hijacked
American Airlines Flight 77
and intentionally flew it into
the Pentagon, killing 189
people.
Pentagon
State History
2003 - Virginia’s most costly natural disaster,
Hurricane Isabel, caused 36 deaths and $1.9 billion
in damage. Five million people were without
power, the highest number on record.
State History
2003 - VDEM became accredited by the Emergency
Management Accreditation Program (EMAP), the
fifth state organization to do so. VDEM was re-
certified by EMAP in 2010.
State History
2006 - The $6.5 million state-of-the-art Virginia
Emergency Operations Center opened in
Chesterfield County.
State History
2008 - The Virginia Interoperability Picture for
Emergency Response (VIPER) was launched,
providing a GIS supported common operating picture
for emergency response.
State History
2011 - Governor Bob McDonnell established the
Virginia Disaster Relief Fund following an
onslaught of tornadoes nearly every week in April.
State History
2011 - A disaster trifecta
included an historic 5.8
magnitude earthquake and
severe flooding from Hurricane
Irene and Tropical Storm Lee
killed 10 and caused an
estimated $129 million in
damage.
State History
2013 – VDEM Celebrates its 40th anniversary.
State History
2013 - SB381 transfers
homeland security
responsibilities from the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
to the Secretary of Public
Safety.
Brian Moran
State Policy
Virginia Emergency Services and Disaster Law
• Established in 1973
• Amended in 2000 and 2008
• Title 44-146.13 - 44-146.40; Code of Virginia
VESD Law
Established for three reasons:
1. Create a “State Department of Emergency
Management” (now VDEM)
2. Confer emergency powers to the Governor and
executive heads
3. Provide for rendering of mutual
aid with other states and the
federal government
VESD Law
Powers and duties of the Governor
and VDEM:
• Governor serves as the Director
of Emergency Management
• VDEM lead is Coordinator of EM
• Direct mandatory evacuations
• Declare a state of emergency
VESD Law
Powers and duties of the Governor
and VDEM:
• Control and regulate resources
• Commit state resources
• Request federal assistance
• Conduct an annual statewide
drill
Tornado Drill
VDEM
Works with local government, state and federal
agencies and voluntary organizations to provide
resources and expertise through the four phases of
emergency management:
• Prepare
• Response
• Recovery
• Mitigation
VDEM Leadership
• Jeff Stern – State
Coordinator
• Curtis Brown – Deputy
Coordinator
• Brett Burdick – Deputy
State Coordinator
VDEM
• Receives 80% of funding from Stafford Act
• Divided into 7 regions
• Region 7 is Northern Virginia
VDEM
Key responsibilities
• Support local agencies
• Respond to request for
resources
• Personnel
• Equipment
• Water
• National Guard
VDEM
Key responsibilities
• Monitor for situational
awareness
• Regions are eyes and
ears for decision
makers in Richmond
• State office works with
national agencies
• Coordinate with other
state partners
• Police and Fire
• Health
• Transportation
• Schools
• Social
Services
Interviews
• Dave McKernan, Fairfax
County OEM Coordinator
• Jeff Kezele, VDEM Region 7
Deputy Coordinator
• Dawn Eischen, VDEM
Director of Public Affairs
Analysis
Kingdon Streams
•Problems: WWII, Cold War, Hurricane Camille, 9/11 were focusing events, opening policy windows that enabled change.
Analysis
Kingdon Streams
• Policy: Stafford Act largely defined state role as “middle man,” facilitator of resource allocation from federal to local governments. “Policy entrepreneurs” primarily in Governor/Secretary offices, VDEM is more operations-focused.
• Political: 9/11 “national mood” particularly intense in jurisdictions actually targeted, including Virginia.
Analysis
Baumgartner and Jones’ Punctuated Equilibrium (Smith)
• 9/11 in particular, created “shift in policy, and a new point of equilibrium” - definition of EM focused on terrorism, received greater resources dedicated to function and heightened level of importance among state agencies.
• In Virginia that single terrorism incident was the exception: natural disasters continue to be EMS’ primary reason for being.
Analysis
Baumgartner and Jones’ Punctuated Equilibrium (Smith)
• “Changes in issue definition altered structural arrangements of policy…system”
• “Venue shopping” –Punctuated equilibrium provides opportunity for more optimal venue. In Virginia, VDEM recently moved from Veterans Affairs to Public Safety.
Analysis
Schneider and Ingram’s Burden/Benefit Model (cited by Smith)
• Advantaged – Northern Virginia, business owners (who have developed own emergency mgmt. procedures) –minimum burden, maximum benefits.
• Contenders – the “rest” of Virginia (gun owners, “old South”) –medium burden, medium benefits.
Analysis
Schneider and Ingram’s Burden/Benefit Model (cited by Smith)
• Dependent – disabled, Hispanics, poor –maximum burden, minimum benefits.
• Deviant – illegal immigrants –maximum burden, minimum benefits.
Analysis
Pareto Model (cited by Smith)
• “Northern Virginia gets too much – everyone understands this.” J. Kezele, Region 7 Deputy Coordinator)
• Pareto Inferior Model: Northern Virginia needs the least, gets the most.
Analysis
Funding
• “Budget Game” (Bardach, cited by Smith): expenditures are short-term assessment measures, “spending money shows that something is being done.”
• “Power Law” (Baumgartner and Jones, cited by Smith): “Shock to the system” – i.e., 9/11 – overcomes institutional inertia and results in dramatic budget increases.
• Concept of causality to rationalize significant resources: “Generating an estimate of the counterfactual, or what happens to Y in the absence of X” (Smith) – i.e., potential risks of NOT dedicating significant funding to emergency management.
Analysis
Implementation
• Top Down/Bottom Up (Pressman & Wildavsky):
• Inter-governmental is Top Down: Funding in particular goes from Federal through State to Local. Stafford Act defined roles for each level, and Dillon Rule applies relative to state/local relationship.
• Intra-governmental (state) is Top Down: Region is “eyes and ears” for Richmond but direction comes from HQ.
• Implementation is Bottom Up: Localities are primary agencies responsible for EM.
Analysis
Implementation
• Decision points (Pressman & Wildasky): The more approvals that have to be granted for action to be taken, the higher the likelihood that action will not be taken.
• “System is overwhelmed” – D. McKernan, Fairfax County OEM Coordinator. Too much paperwork and too many bureaucratic barriers result in “fed/state versus local” as opposed to state and local working together.