Steady state assignments are secondary projects FEMA Corps members take part in when there are limited or minimal disaster deployments. FEMA Corps member Aaron Lockwood of Topaz 5, is working with GIS to produce disaster maps of critical infrastructure during flooding in Louisiana Source: Paul Whitman/FEMA (April 2016). Many of these projects were replicated during the major flooding in Louisiana and then during Hurricane Matthew, where all FEMA Corps team received similar projects through Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.įig. Planning projects included working with the Planning Section in establishing the Incident Action Plans and all documents pertaining to the plans, as well as some members assisted with geographic information systems (GIS) in developing disaster maps in specific communities (see Figure 1).
Logistics teams supported the creation of the Joint Field Office as their initial assignment, but were also tasked with supporting and establishing the various Disaster Recovery Centers across the state, as well as cataloguing and inventorying FEMA equipment to deployed personnel.
Individual Assistance teams supported Disaster Recovery Centers located across the state to register survivors, provide case updates and inquiries, and answer all registration questions. For hazard mitigation, the FEMA Corps teams conducted damage surveys of properties affected by the recent floods, and inputted that information into the Substantial Damage Estimator in order to project a percentage for the damage impacted on each property. Some FEMA Corps teams took on hazard mitigation, individual assistance, logistics, and planning projects while in West Virgina as well.
FEMA Corps teams also assisted in Disaster Survival Assistance, where they inspected communities for damages and registered survivors for assistance, as well as inputted the information collected from the inspections into mapping software on their FEMA-provided iPads. Disaster Survival Assistance in West VirginiaįEMA Corps worked alongside FEMA staff by helping craft a Joint Field Office in Charleston, West Virginia. For example, the summer of 2016 enabled all FEMA Corps teams to serve in disaster deployments, most of them beginning their disaster deployments by serving in West Virginia (WV) to help respond to historic flooding across the state.
Disasters are unpredictable, so its members are taught to be ready to move at any moment. Its members travel across the country assisting FEMA and its partners with disaster preparedness, response, and recovery initiatives.įEMA Corps is a team-based organization that allows young adults (ranging from 18-24 years old) from all over country to work together, make a difference, and serve impacted and disaster-prone communities. Established in 2012, FEMA Corps falls under the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps umbrella. The FEMA Corps Program is the result of a revolutionized partnership between the Corporation for National and Community Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).