The school year is finally coming to an end. Which means your children will be spending more time at home, and driving you insane. (I’m just kidding, I know your children are perfect little darlings ALL the time.)

Have you thought about utilizing this summer as an opportunity to get your family prepared for the next disaster? You can get your whole family involved while the kids are home this summer.

Why don’t you start by implementing some family preparedness games into your children’s playing regime? FEMA’s Ready.gov has quite a few game options to choose from. I personally really like Pack It Up, a disaster preparedness spin on the classic matching game.

Screen capture of the Pack It Up game from Ready.gov.

Take a look around the Ready.gov site. Not only do they have my favorite matching game, but also scavenger hunts, crosswords, coloring pages, and so much more.

Making disaster preparedness fun will encourage your children to take action. Work as a family to get a kit, make a plan, be informed, and get involved! Make this the summer your family becomes prepared for anything.

All together now, “ROCK YOU LIKE A HURRICANE!”

I am not ashamed to admit that I did my best ’80s headbanging, obnoxiously loud signing at my desk as I wrote that. I think every Friday should come with a does of mid-80s hairbands.

And back to the serious.

This week is National Hurricane Preparedness Week.; I know it’s crazy to think hurricane season is back upon.

If you are a coastal family what have you done to ready yourself for hurricane season? Have you been informed? Have you made a kit? Have you created a plan?

Now is the time to be prepared.

If you are looking for interesting ways to become informed and engage your child at the same time, check out these webinars from The Hurricane: Science and Society Team at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography. The webinars are geared towards the 5th grade age bracket, but all family members will be able to find useful information. And better yet, the webinars are region specific, so you can find the one that best accommodates where you live.

For hurricane information from EDEN, visit www.EDEN.lsu.edu/Hurricanes.

Written by Andrea Higdon and Chelsey Pickens

On April 22 – 23, 2013, EDEN hosted its first Agrosecurity Symposium: Building National Networks and Partnerships in Washington, DC.  Stakeholders from federal, tribal, state, and local entities attended the 1.5 day meeting to identify challenges and develop strategies to address emergency and disaster preparedness issues facing the food and agriculture sector.  The Symposium webpage provides a detailed agenda and outcomes report of the meeting.

The first day of the Symposium began with Mark Robinson, USDA National Program Leader for Animal Agrosecurity, setting the stage with key examples of the need for a national agrosecurity preparedness system that can be applied at the local level all the way up to the federal level.  Then, Eric Runnels (Branch Chief of Policy and Doctrine Coordination Branch, Federal Emergency Management Agency), Jessica Pulz (Chief, Resilience and Preparedness Division, United States Department of Agriculture), and Doug Meckes (Branch Chief for Food, Agriculture, and Veterinary Defense Branch, Department of Homeland Security), outlined federal agrosecurity initiatives to serve as the foundation for discussions later in the day.  Steve Cain (National EDEN Homeland Security Project Director, Purdue University) and Andrea Higdon (Emergency Management System Director, College of Agriculture, University of Kentucky) described EDEN’s role in agricultural emergency and disaster preparedness.  Tom Tucker (Director, National Center for Biomedical Research and Training [NCBRT]) discussed the partnership between EDEN and NCBRT and potential future activities.  During lunch, Ron Walton (National Coordinator for Agriculture and Resource/Emergency Support Function #11:  Agriculture and Natural Resources, United States Department of Agriculture) relayed the evolution of ESF #11 and proposed revisions to it.

Panel presentations provided an opportunity for local and state agrosecurity professionals (Sandy Johnson, Emergency Management Coordinator, Kansas Department of Agriculture; Jeanne Rankin, Agro-Emergency Projects Coordinator, Montana State University; Kim Cassel, Professor, South Dakota State University; Curt Emanuel, Extension Educator, Purdue University) to present lessons learned from disasters, programming opportunities, and valuable resources.  Billy Dictson (Director of the Southwest Border Food Safety and Defense Center, retired) gave insight on critical agriculture infrastructure challenges.  The remainder of the Symposium focused on small intra- and inter-agency working groups collaborating to analyze existing agrosecurity needs and formulate strategies to mitigate them.  Moderator Rick Atterberry (EDEN Chair, Media Communications Specialist, University of Illinois) provided continuity throughout the program and guided plenary discussions.

As the Symposium concluded, Moderator Rick Atterberry commented, “the Symposium served as a linchpin for bringing together stakeholders to discuss how federal agrosecurity initiatives can be translated to state and local levels.”  Using the whole community to address agrosecurity initiatives from the local up to the state, tribal, and federal levels provides an avenue for synchronous preparedness in the food and agriculture sector.

A detailed description of the challenges and strategies the working groups identified during the Symposium can be found online at:  http://www.eden.lsu.edu/s-cap/symposium.

It seems as though we just catch our collective breath from one disaster event when another happens. This week is no exception. Oklahoma is home to NOAA Storm Prediction Center, where experts issued a tornado warning 16 minutes before a tornado (estimated to be EF-4) touched down and moved through Newcastle, Moore and South Oklahoma City. Two elementary schools and hundreds of homes were destroyed. Many people were injured and several lost their lives. The numbers are still being confirmed. It was a tragic day.

This was the most destructive event of the day,  but it was not the only severe weather to hit the country. There were 403 preliminary storm reports, including 22 tornado reports, 257 wind reports and 124 hail reports. Today’s forecast is similar to that of yesterday. Other than keep an eye on the forecast and current weather conditions, what can you do to prepare for severe weather? Learn about tornado basics, tornado safety and other related topics on the Storm Prediction Center’s  Tornado FAQ.

Everyone wants to help and help is always appreciated, but the most appreciated and most helpful thing we can do at this time is to let the responders do their work. While it seems appropriate to drop what you’re doing and head to Moore to help assess damage, move debris and comfort the affected, if you’re not part of an approved organized effort, you are in the way. Do NOT head to Moore unless you’ve been officially requested to go there.

You can still help. Make a donation at the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD) site or to the voluntary organization of your choice. You can also register on their sites to volunteer.

EDEN and Extension have excellent resources that will help in the short- and long-term recovery efforts. Here are a few specific resources covering a variety of issues from Extension and our partners:

• Ag Damage Assessment and Economic Loss forms (Pennsylvania)
• Temporary fencing (eXtension)
• After a Disaster: A Lesson Plan in T3 (Louisiana)
• How to help children, youth and teens after a disaster (Missouri)
• Resources for recovering historic artifacts for homeowners, libraries, museums (Heritage Preservation)

As a product of the 80′s I grew up not only playing with G.I Joe action figures, I mean really they made such better boyfriends for Barbie than Ken ever did, but also watching the G.I. Joe cartoons. Do you remember how each episode ended?

Every episode ended with a PSA that always finished with the line  ”Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.”

It’s kind of funny how the one line, that didn’t really have anything to do with the show, has stuck with me for years.

Knowing is half the battle, transcends into the work that I do now with EDEN; educating people about potential disasters and what can be done to prepare for such disasters. So today, I feel like me G.I. Joe Mission is to tell you that EDEN has new resources to help inform you of some newly emerging and potentially disastrous topics, H7N9 and Novel Coronavirus.

While as of right now the Novel Coronavirus has not been found in the United States, but being informed early is one of the best steps to being prepared. As for the H7N9 bird flu, the US Government has declared that H7N9 ”

• poses a significant potential for a public health emergency”. So do yourself and your family a favor get informed; because knowing is half the battle.

Watch highlights from the 2010 IBHS Wind Test

EDEN delegate Claudette Reichel is the primary investigator for this 2012 Smith-Lever Special Needs Grant Program award.  The ultimate goal is to reduce the impact of natural hazards on southern region housing so as to enable and foster resilient communities and sustained economic recovery. Claudette noted in her proposal that, “Proactive mitigation and resilience … [will] minimize the impact of disasters on households, their employers, communities and regional economy. This is possible only with hazard hardy housing that not only survives but requires little time, expense, materials and work to restore.”

The project included a face-to-face collaboration meeting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana at LaHouse. I’m not an Extension housing specialist, so attending the April 24-25 Southern Region Extension Resilient Housing Collaboration Meeting was a great opportunity for me to learn from the experts in the southern region. One thing I learned is that the Gulf Region’s humidity, high annual rainfall, high-wind and flood-hazard zones, and termite population are important considerations for building or rebuilding a resilient house here. Extension housing and environmental health specialists and agents have a lot to contribute to the conversation about making a home disaster-resistant and resilient.

Are you interested in learning what other projects were funded through the Smith-Lever Special Needs Grant Program last year? Maybe you’ve got a great idea to decrease the impact of disasters through cooperative extension programming. The FY 2013 request for application opened April 24, and closes May 31. Abstracts of funded projects and more information about applying for a grant this year are available from USDA NIFA.

Events across the country the past few weeks have really brought disaster preparedness to the forefront of our minds. Whether you think of the tragic events in Boston or West, Texas or of the flooding across much of the Midwest; including historical levels in the Chicago-land area, our country has been hit hard the past two weeks.

As many of you know, I am based in Indiana. But when the Boston bombings happened, it hit close to home. I have several friends from college that live and work in the area where the blasts occurred. Like many others, there was a sense of urgency to find out if loved ones were safe.

It didn’t take me long to see  how effective technology can be. As I looked at my Facebook feed here were the messages I started to see:

The sense of relief was astounding.

Many friends and families were able to connect in the same way, via Social Media. Others used text messaging or American Red Cross’s Safe and Well website.

According to Ready.gov, text messages are the best and way to communicate following a disaster since less bandwidth is required that a phone call, email, or social media update. How would you get in contact with your family? Have you talked about different options with your loved ones?

For more information read this article by Mariah Smith, of the Mississippi State University Center for Technology Outreach, Technology Can Speed Emergency Responses.

Children have been directly affected in both incidents, while thousands of others are being indirectly affected through exposure to news stories on television, radio, and the Internet.  The effects of disaster on children who are directly exposed to danger and trauma are different from the effects on children who witnessed but did not directly experience traumatic events. Differences in age, experience, maturity level, and personality lead to varying reactions to the same incident.

Several resources are available to help you help your children cope with violence and disasters. Here are two: the National Institute of Mental Health offers guidance for parents, and the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services provides information on common responses to traumatic events.   Also review EDEN’s Children and Disasters page for other resources.

 You can also find on the EDEN website mental health resources for Extension educators and other professionals who don’t normally talk about stress and behavioral health.

How are you helping others cope with the traumatic events of this week?

NIFA shared booth space with EDEN

Each national conference hosted by the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) has a specific theme. This year’s theme focused on preparedness and resilience. Held in Washington, DC, it was attended by leaders from the scientific, diplomatic, emergency management, conservation, business, disaster response, educational, and policy communities. It was a big meeting.

You’ll find on the conference web page recorded interviews with plenary panelists, a link to C-SPAN footage of the first day of the conference, and links to some of the speakers’ PowerPoint presentations. The C-SPAN footage features Margareta Walhstrom (Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, United Nations), Craig Fugate (Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency), and three plenary sessions (Japan 2011: Cascading Disasters; The Gulf Coast: Diverse Converging Issues; and Aridity and Drought and their Consequence).

On day two of the conference, Rick Atterberry, Steve Cain, Pat Skinner and I hosted a breakout workshop—Building Community Resilience and Capacity through Extension Programs and Youth Corps.

Our breakout session was enriched by including Joe Gersen (Public Lands Service Coalition) and Levi Novey (The Corps Network). Their names and the addition of Youth Corps to our session attracted several people we would not have otherwise met. One of the most important themes I saw in our session was that college students and young professionals don’t believe they are taken seriously when it comes to disaster resilience. Their talents and experience are not fully used even though they have much to offer. EDEN should consider how to improve the integration of youth and young professionals with recovery and mitigation efforts.

Hosts of each of the 23 breakout workshops were asked to compile a list of recommendations for new initiatives, partnerships, collaborations, or actions. The synthesized list will be distributed to the Administration, Congress, state and local government, and a myriad of other agencies and groups. The full list of breakout workshop recommendations is available for download.

Which, if any, recommendations do you think EDEN should address?

Is your state in a risk-colored section of this map? According to NOAA’s three-month Spring Outlook, you need to be ready with your best mitigation and preparedness tips and education.

Check out the resources on the EDEN website and eXtension. Each site’s search function features additional excellent resources.

What are your favorite flood mitigation and preparedness resources?