Federal Alliance for Safe Homes
The nonprofit Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH®) is the country’s leading consumer advocate for strengthening homes and safeguarding families from natural and manmade disasters.
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Attendees Applaud 2019 National Disaster Resilience Conference
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For three days in November, a who's who of resilience leaders gathered to share best practices in science, policy, and practical experience at the 2019 National Disaster Resilience Conference (NDRC19). And per a participant feedback survey, the 2019 gathering delivered on its goal to forge a stronger disaster resilience movement for the future. Conference attendees from public, private, and nonprofit organizations cited, “the diverse program, networking opportunities, excellent location, and an overall upbeat problem-solving tone of the conference” as key drivers of satisfaction. The survey findings reflected:
Excellent and high satisfaction – 92.5%
Intent to Return – 89.8%
Very likely and likely to recommend attendance – 92%
An array of generous partners sponsored NDRC19, including FLASH Legacy Partner and Titanium Sponsor International Code Council along with fellow Legacy Partners and Gold Sponsors BASF Corporation, Lowe's, USAA, and first-time NDRC sponsor Home Advisor, Silver Sponsor ISO, Bronze Sponsors Assurant, Floodproofing.com, IBHS, IEM, and Nudura, and General Sponsors BlockUp, Comfort Block, and Stantec.
Conference organizers plan for 200 attendees to create an environment conducive to networking. Positive survey comments reflected value for the plan:
- Good variety of speakers, well-respected in their fields, smaller conference, able to interact with others more and ask good questions of the speakers.
- The size of the conference. The relatively small group of influential stakeholders made for engaging and effective collaboration.
- Tempo of the conference and balance between sessions and interactive time.
Attendees gave the program high marks for balance, quality and variety as well:
- Excellent speakers, well-rounded agenda, and good opportunities to meet one-on-one and discuss resiliency topics.
- Speakers were terrific – good cross section of perspective.
- I liked the building science discussions.
- Diversity of presentations and the disciplines represented; all of them with a common theme.
- Balance between high-level conversations/messages and drilling down to the specifics of wind, wildfire, etc.
The conference grew to three days in 2019 and multi-peril keynote speeches, panels, and presentations from resilience-minded businesses and organizations such as BuildStrong Coalition, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, FEMA, FLASH, Hagerty Consulting, Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, ISO-Verisk, Lowes, Mennonite Disaster Service, MIT, National Hurricane Center, Southern California Earthquake Center, State Farm,
The Weather Channel
, University of Florida, USAA, U.S. Small Business Administration, and more
.
Read More >
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Sponsorship opportunities
are still available! Join Presenting Partners FEMA, NEHRP, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and USGS, Presenting Sponsor California Earthquake Authority, Visionary Sponsors Computers & Structures, Kinemetrics, and San Diego Gas & Electric, Strategic Sponsor International Code Council, and Tabletop Sponsors Applied Technology Council, BRACELOK, Cal OES, CREW, FEMA, Haselton Baker Risk Group, ImageCat, ITT Enidine Inc., Keller, Maurer USA, Nanometrics, National Institute of Standards and Technology, SAFE-T-PROOF, Simpson Strong-Tie, Taylor Devices, and Quake Kare/Emergency Ready by clicking
here
.
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National
Earthquake Conference
March 4-6, 2020
| San Diego, CA
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Pacific Risk Management 'Ohana (PRiMO) Conference
March 10-14, 2020 | Honolulu, HI
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RNPN Partnership Forum
March 19, 2020 | Silver Spring, MD
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Nat'l Tropical Weather Conference
April 1-5, 2020 | South Padre Island, TX
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Nat'l Hurricane Conference
April 6-9, 2020 | Orlando, FL
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Hurricane Awareness Tour
May 4-8, 2020 | Gulf Coast Tour
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Nat'l VOAD Conference
May 18-21, 2020 | Phoenix, AZ
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ICC Annual Conference
October 11-14, 2020 | St. Louis, MO
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Nat'l Disaster Resilience Conference
December 2-4, 2020 | Clearwater Beach, FL
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QuakeSmart
Helps Puerto Rico Businesses Prepare
Just Weeks Ahead of Outbreak
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Prior to the devastating earthquakes that began striking Puerto Rico on December 28, nearly 75 business representatives gathered in Dorado, Puerto Rico to expand their knowledge, share resources, and collaborate during the FEMA
Ready Business - QuakeSmart Workshop
.
The workshop showcased
QuakeSmart
protocols that help save lives, reduce financial losses, mitigate damage, and help communities recover more quickly following seismic disasters.
The workshop was co-hosted by FLASH and Legacy Partner FEMA. Workshop partners included, FLASH Legacy Partner Simpson-Strong Tie, Administration De Desastres Puerto Rico, Burger King, Colegio De Ingenieros Y Agrimensores De Puerto Rico, Disaster Resistant Business Toolkit, EcoExploratorio, ISP, Red Sismica De Puerto Rico, and U.S. Small Business Administration.
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On October 10, FLASH EVP Eric Vaughn and Executive Assistant & Project Coordinator Sarah Chason attended the FEMA
Ready Business - QuakeSmart Workshop
in Greene County, Arkansas. Sixty attendees gathered together at the Paragould Community Center for the free event.
Speakers included Paragould Mayor Mike Gaskill; Rusty McMillon, Greene County Judge; Representative Jimmy Gazaway, 57
th
District; Melody Daniel, PIO – Arkansas Division of Emergency Management (ADEM); Hilda Booth, Earthquake Program Manager, ADEM; Gary Woodall, Warning Coordination Meteorologist – National Weather Service Memphis Office; Scott Bass, Division Director – ADEM; Glen Granholm, Vice President – Safe-T-Proof; Aaron Crowe, Territory Manager – Simpson Strong-Tie; Ines Pearce, Principal – Pearce Global Partners, and more.
These experts outlined the science and risk of earthquakes in Arkansas, the impacts of a large-scale disaster to local and state emergency responders, and the science and risk of severe weather in Arkansas.
Read More >
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Nearly 68 Million Participate in
Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drill
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More than 67.9 million people participated in the
Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drill
on October 17. The drill, held on
International ShakeOut Day,
encourages individuals and communities worldwide to practice how to “Drop, Cover, and Hold On.”
ShakeOut
participants included schools, businesses, government agencies, community organizations, households, and many other groups. In addition to the United States, participants came from Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and many other countries across the world.
According to Mark Benthien, Outreach Director for the Southern California Earthquake Center, "Damaging earthquakes can occur at any time where we work, live, or travel, so everyone everywhere should know how to protect themselves from an earthquake."
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No Code. No Confidence. & I2P Take ICC By Storm
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Thousands gathered in Las Vegas on October 20-23 for the 2019 International Code Council’s Annual Conference. FLASH President & CEO Leslie Chapman-Henderson presented
No Code. No Confidence
. -
Inspect2Protect.org
multiple times during the event.
On Tuesday, October 22 Leslie joined forces with John Ingargiola, Lead Physical Scientist, PTS Building Science Program Manager, Building Science Branch, Risk Management Directorate, FIMA-FEMA to present
Building Code Awareness Project – No Code. No Confidence.
Another notable
No Code. No Confidence
. presentation took place during the ICC Members Luncheon, panels, and the GR forum. In total, the building code awareness project was presented five different times. In addition to the presentations, attendees were granted with free
Inspect2Protect
toolkits.
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Partner Spotlight - Darius Grimes
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Darius Grimes is the president of Disaster Smart Consulting, Inc. (
Disaster Smart
). He specializes in the development and implementation of practical long-term solutions to natural and man-made risks through strengthening of building codes and implementation of common-sense mitigation programs. Darius is working with like-minded state, local, regional, national, and international organizations to promote long-term economic sustainability and implement new mitigation programs based on the successes of the My Safe Florida Home, SC Safe Home, and Rebuild North West Florida programs.
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Q: How did you get interested in disaster safety?
Following Hurricane Andrew, a small handful of contractors began questioning how we were building and if there were changes we could make to prevent losses. In 1995, Pensacola became a Project Impact Community after Hurricane’s Erin and Opal hit back-to-back only 30 days apart. As more hurricanes continued to make landfall along the north Gulf Coast, I began focusing my career path towards industries and companies that were engaged in reducing damage to life, property, and communities.
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Collaboration Opportunities & Upcoming Events
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2020 National Earthquake Conference - Early Bird Registration Extended!
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There's no other event that brings together this unique set of individuals - academia, building code experts, engineers, businesses, design/build professionals, FEMA Directorates, first responders, geologists, local emergency managers, insurance and reinsurance professionals, local and tribal governments, private sector practitioners, U.S. State and Territorial Earthquake Managers, NEHRP Agencies, and volunteers.
Still wondering why, you should attend? Click
here
to view the 2020 program and at-a-glance schedule,
here
to view the 2016 NEC conference outcomes, and
here
to read the 2016 media impact report.
Sponsorship opportunities
are still available! Join Presenting Partners FEMA, NEHRP, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and USGS, Presenting Sponsor California Earthquake Authority, Visionary Sponsors Computers & Structures, Kinemetrics, and San Diego Gas & Electric, Strategic Sponsor International Code Council, and Tabletop Sponsors Applied Technology Council, BRACELOK, Cal OES, CREW, FEMA, Haselton Baker Risk Group, ImageCat, ITT Enidine Inc., Keller, Maurer USA, Nanometrics, National Institute of Standards and Technology, SAFE-T-PROOF, Simpson Strong-Tie, Taylor Devices, and Quake Kare/Emergency Ready by clicking
here
.
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2020 National Disaster Resilience Conference Call for Presentations
Set to Open
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The
National Disaster Resilience Conference
(NDRC20) planning committee is seeking presenter abstracts for 2020 conference set to take place in Clearwater Beach, FL from December 2 to December 4, 2020. The submission call will open
Tuesday, January 21
and will close on
Friday, March 20, 2020.
NDRC20 will bring together the nation's foremost voices in the disaster safety and resilience movement to share best practices, inspire, and collaborate. Attendees will include leaders, professionals, and practitioners from a cross-section of private and public organizations who share the mission of strengthening homes and safeguarding families from disasters of all kinds.
The committee is seeking presenter abstracts with a focus on:
- Science - to support preparedness, response, recovery and/or mitigation;
- Policy - to advance resilience through strong building codes, smart finance, marketplace incentive programs, tax benefits, and innovation, e.g. Big Data and smart home technology, and;
- Practice - to include advocates, building and fire code officials, communicators, emergency managers, engineers, futurists, insurance professionals, journalists, leaders, merchants, meteorologists, product manufacturers, public officials, researchers, and scientists. Read More >
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FLASH and IBHS Focus on Texas Codes
A detailed review of coastal Texas building codes revealed gaps that could leave homeowners at risk if mitigation efforts are not sought as nearly one-third of Texans live in the coastal counties.
The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS)
building code survey
of jurisdictions along the Texas coast after Hurricane Harvey highlighted what we knew – the adoption of strong, modern building codes with good enforcement has proven to reduce the destruction of homes and displacement of families that often comes with land falling hurricanes.
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Florida Governor and Cabinet Declare Resilience Week
Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and State Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis sponsored two resolutions at Florida Cabinet's 2019 September meeting including recognition of Resiliency Week and Fire Prevention Week.
September 22-28 will be recognized as Resiliency Week in Florida.
To learn more about Resiliency Week, visit the NAMIC's
website
.
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A Guide for Resilient Housing Design in Island Communities
To meet the immediate demand for practical design and construction guidance, Enterprise, in collaboration with our partners, produced a guide to help shape housing construction in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Florida Keys.
Keep Safe
seeks to make reconstructed homes able to sustain impacts from natural hazards like hurricanes, earthquakes and flooding.
To download the publication, click
here
,
and to download the Spanish version, click
here
.
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Weather-Ready Nation Ambassadors Now Exceed 10,000 Strong
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The Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador program is now 10,000+ strong. This milestone of recognizing 10,000 organizations is a testament to the shared priority of stronger community resilience, the innovative successes of collaboration, and the diversity of organizations that all play a role in making communities, businesses, and individuals “weather-ready.” For all that you have done, we thank you!
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New Building Codes Adoption Tools Aid Resilience (By: John Ingargiola)
Resilience in the built environment starts with strong, regularly adopted, and properly administered building codes. Studies confirm that adopting and effectively implementing current model building codes is the nation’s best defense against hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, flooding, and other natural disasters. Currently, each state does not uniformly adopt and implement current model building codes. Additionally, building code adoption and visualization must be communicated by state and/or by region in order to bring the codes into focus with resilience priorities in those areas
.
FEMA Building Science Branch and its partners are providing new tools to assist FEMA Regions in their efforts. The FEMA Regional Building Codes Adoption Reports show an annual metric of the percent of communities adopting the most recent editions of disaster-resistant model building codes in high earthquake-, flood-, and wind-prone areas. The hazard resistance rating of the adopted codes is determined by examining which codes have been adopted, strengthened or weakened through amendments of the hazard provisions for which the jurisdiction is at high ris
k.
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NOAA Scientist Recognized
Jamie R. Rhome with NOAA’s National Hurricane Center has been awarded the prestigious Service to America medal for his pioneering work in forecasting and warning the public about the deadly and destructive inundation of water associated with
a hurricane’s storm surge
.
(or SAMMIE) “highlights excellence in our federal workforce and inspires other talented and dedicated individuals to go into public service” and honors recipients for “breaking down barriers, overcoming huge challenges and getting results.”
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FEMA's Building Science Branch and ICC Release Updated Publication
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The International Codes
®
(I-Codes
®
), a family of building codes developed and maintained by the International Code Council, shares common goals with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP): protection of public safety and reduced property damage.
Read More >
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Weather-Ready Nation Article Featured by AMS
With the 10,000 Ambassador achievement and last month’s “Ambassadors of Excellence” campaign, this past week was perfect timing for an article titled “
Evolving the National Weather Service to Build a Weather-Ready Nation: Connecting Observations, Forecasts, and Warnings to Decision-Makers through Impact-Based Decision Support Services.”
The article, co-authored by Louis Uccellini and John Ten Hoeve of the National Weather Service, and published in the October (2019) Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS), describes how the agency is evolving to meet America’s growing and changing needs for weather information and forecasts. The paper emphasizes that the NWS cannot build a Weather-Ready Nation alone and highlights the value of WRN Ambassadors as essential to success.
Read More >
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FEMA Releases Post-Disaster Building Safety Evaluation Guide
FEMA Building Science Branch has released FEMA P-2055: Post-disaster Building Safety Evaluation Guidance, Report on the Current State of Practice including Recommendations Related to Structural and Nonstructural Safety and Habitability.
This Guide was developed as required by the
Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018
,
Section 1241: Post-disaster Building Safety Assessment and targets three main stakeholder groups.
Architects, engineers, and building officials directly involved in post-disaster building safety evaluation.
Emergency managers and health officials who may be involved in management of the post-disaster evaluation process, including environmental health issues.
Policy makers at state, local, tribal, and territorial and federal government levels.
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A Pioneering Step towards Saving Lives
With funding from the Department of Homeland Security, Powered for Patients and its technology partner, Talus Analytics, joined with industry partners to create the
Power P.I.O.N.E.E.R. Dashboard prototype
,
a powerful new online tool that can provide the first ever real time alerts for government officials and utilities when emergency power is threatened in a critical healthcare facility during a disaster.
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IBHS Marks Milestone
On January 7, IBHS marked a milestone in resilient building, designating the 15,000th home in the FORTIFIED program. A collaborative effort, including funding from Strengthen Alabama Homes and installation by Habitat for Humanity, allowed homeowner William Adams, Jr. to receive a FORTIFIED Roof for his Tuscaloosa, AL home. This designation demonstrates the benefits of FORTIFIED extend beyond coastal communities to everyone living in areas prone to severe weather
.
Read More >
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© 2020 Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH) | (850) 385-7233 |
www.flash.org
All Rights Reserved
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