1. Ashley Camper, Chakolca Rhodes, Aimee Vesitis

2. Risks to Urban Areas
 Natural disaster
 Terrorist Attack
 Determining an acceptable level of risk
 Magnification of urban environment

3. Fragmentation
 Jurisdictions
 Vertical
 Horizontal
 Overlapping missions/gaps
 Sectors
 Public
 Private
 Nonprofit

4. September 11th Response
 Creation of Department of Homeland
Security
 Movement of FEMA to DHS
 Political Implications

5. Hurricane Katrina Response
 Community Block Grants
 National Response Plan
 National Incident Response System
 National Preparedness Goal
 After-action reports - FEMA

6. Development of Local Plan
 Specific to possible threats
 Can be generalized to all threats
 Role of City Emergency Manager
 Vertical Integration
 Horizontal Integration
 “Point Person”

7. Los Angeles

8. Los Angeles
 3,694,820 residents
 Multiple languages are spoken
Los Angeles Race Percentage of
Population
White 46%
African American 11%
Asian 9%
American Indian & Alaska
Native
0.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific
Islander
0.1%
Other Race 25%

9. Los Angeles Preparation
 The City has a very diverse population,
therefore, communication is key
 Under their Emergency Management
Department, preparation materials are
available in different languages

10. Emergency Management
Department
 Coordinates the emergency
preparedness of all city departments.
 Coordinates the response and recovery
efforts during major disasters
 Eliminates confusion among
departments

11. Emergency Management
Department
 Provides definitions and descriptions of
natural disasters that occur in Los Angeles
 Provides information for citizen action in
the event of a terrorist attack
 Offers tips on how citizens should react to
disasters in different environments
 There are also annexes to the City of Los
Angeles Emergency Operations Master
Plan and Procedures that determine what
city departments have responsibility in the
event of a certain type of disaster.

12. Earthquake and Megacities
Initiative
 Los Angeles is partnered with this
international, non-profit, scientific
organization.
 They partner with megacities to develop
best practices for dealing with emergencies
and disasters
 Has four components
 Knowledge and practice
 Training and institutional strengthening
 Disaster risk assessment
 Development of a city-wide disaster risk
management master plan

13. Wildfires of October 2007
 A string of wildfires hit Southern California
in October of 2007.
 Five counties, including Los Angeles
County were affected
 Over 20,000 people from the area had to
be evacuated
 EMD coordinated the efforts of firefighters,
water dropping helicopters
and rescue shelters, among
others.

14. Wildfires of October 2007
 Intergovernmental assistance was
provided
 Former President Bush declared the
area a disaster
 FEMA paid 75 percent of the state’s
eligible firefighting costs.
 During rebuilding, citizens were urged to
use fire resistant materials.

15. Biloxi, Mississippi

16. Biloxi, Mississippi
 Population: 45,768
White alone - 26,343 (67.8%)
Black alone - 6,855 (17.6%)
Hispanic - 2,298 (5.9%)
Asian alone - 2,217 (5.7%)
Two or more races - 758 (2.0%)
American alone - 280 (0.7%)
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander
alone - 92 (0.2%)
Other race alone - 22 (0.06%)

17. Biloxi’s Preparation
 With the city being prone to hurricanes
and a few other natural disaster;
residents in Biloxi have to take all proper
precautions.
 All of these efforts are directed at
preparing local communities with
effective planning tools utilizing an all
hazards approach.

18. Emergency Management
Agency
 The Mississippi Management Agency
prepares, trains, and respond to all
natural and man-made disasters that
occur in the state.

19. Emergency Management
Agency
 Provides training and courses for
individuals and groups to attend to learn
more about emergency preparedness.
 Offers several different prevention kits
for all different kinds of disasters.
 Disaster Recovery: for those who lost
their home or property in a storm
assistance is provided. (if approved by
FEMA)

20. Emergency Management
Agency
 Disaster Response: divided into the Operations and
Communications sections of MEMA, which jointly
operate as the state's 24-hour warning point.
 The Operations Section is responsible for
coordinating support for state and local response in
an all hazards concept
 The Communications Section is the designated state
warning point. Operating 24 hours a day, seven days
a week, the Communications Section has the
responsibility for alerting state and local officials to all
natural or man-made incidents throughout the state.

21. Hurricane Katrina 2005
 Hurricane Katrina
unleashed a fury of destruction
on South Mississippi and the
Gulf Coast.
 Hundreds of thousands of lives
were thrown into disarray.
 Mississippi’s hurricane preparedness set
the stage for the state’s post-Katrina
recovery, saving lives and serving the
immediate needs of those affected by the
storm.

22. Hurricane Katrina 2005
 Governor commissioned a Recovery,
Rebuilding, and Renewal program to help
rebuilding after Katrina.
 Intergovernmental assistance was provided
 Nearly 520,000 Mississippi families
registered for federal assistance with more
than $1.3 billion given to those residents
through the FEMA Individual Assistance
program.

23. Hurricane Katrina 2005
More Efforts in disaster response and
hazard mitigation took on major
initiatives.
 Increasing the capacity of state and
local emergency agencies, promoting
flood insurance coverage, and
mandating stronger building codes and
elevation requirements.

24. Best Practices
 Central point of information
 Decentralized decision making center
 Plan practiced frequently
 Personnel “borrowing”
 Formalized roles and responsibilities

25. Financial Context of Relief
 75% Federal
 18% State
 7% Local
 Depleted Tax Base
 Income
 Sales

26. Challenges in Completing the
Report
 Finding direct information for responses
to emergency situations by both Los
Angeles and Biloxi was difficult.
 Determining what information to include
regarding the Emergency Management
process of both cities was also
challenging.