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Today, May 16th 2011, is the kickoff for the largest National Level Exercise (NLE) held to date.
This year’s scenario revolves around a catastrophic earthquake occurring in the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) and will involve eight Central U.S. States: Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee spread across 4 FEMA regions (IV, V, VI, and VII).
The map below comes from the USGS document Earthquake Hazard In The Heart Of The Homeland.
This National Level Exercise will test initial incident
response along with disaster recover plans. According to FEMA’s NLE fact sheet, the exercise is designed to validate the following capabilities:
- Communications
- Critical resource logistics and distribution
- Mass care (sheltering, feeding and related services)
- Medical surge
- Citizen evacuation and shelter-in-place
- Emergency public information and warning
- Emergency operations center (EOC) management
- Long term recovery
While previous NLE’s have focused on terrorism, this is the first to focus on a natural disaster. I would expect that we’ll get updates this week on how all of this is progressing on the FEMA BLOG.
Ready.gov has an overview of the NLE 2011 exercise, along with a number of resources.
National Level Exercise: May 16–20, 2011
The week-long capstone event in the National Level Exercise in which all participating Federal, State, Tribal and Private Sector entities interact to test the eight overarching Exercise Objectives defined during the planning process for NLE 11 at all levels of government (Federal, State and Local).
We are continuously monitoring real world events and assessing their impact on the exercise. At this time, several adjustments have been made to the exercise, most notably in the level of play for those regions actively engaged in disaster operations. For more information, please visit our blog.
Learn about the Exercise
Press Materials
- Earthquake Preparedness Tips - PDF
- The National Exercise Program (NEP) At A Glance - PDF
- NLE 2011 Fact Sheet - PDF
- NLE 2011 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - PDF
- NLE 2011 Private Sector Participation Fact Sheet - PDF
- USGS - Earthquake Hazard in the Heart of the Homeland - PDF
- USGS - Earthquake Hazard in the New Madrid Seismic Zone Remains a Concern - PDF
- Expected Participants for the Great Central U.S. ShakeOut Tops One Million - PDF
- FEMA Urges Public To Be Prepared On Anniversary Of New Madrid Quake
While it is important for government agencies to be prepared to deal with a major natural disaster, they can’t possibly provide for everyone in the disaster area during the opening days of a crisis.
It takes time to gear up, move resources, and set up emergency operations. Particularly when the infrastructure is badly impacted.
Which is why it is imperative that every individual, every family, and every business be prepared to deal with a disaster. Help may not arrive for hours, or even days, after a natural disaster.
In the wake of an earthquake, hurricane, or similar disaster power may be out for weeks, stores shelves may be bare, and potable water may be a scarce commodity.
Emergencies happen every day. Disasters, admittedly, less often.
But in either event, preparedness is key.
At a bare minimum, every household should have a disaster plan, a good first aid kit (and the knowledge to use it), and emergency supplies to last a minimum of 72 hours during a disaster.
Personally, I’d be uncomfortable with anything less than a week.
To become better prepared as an individual, family, business owner, or community to deal with these types of disasters: visit the following preparedness sites.
FEMA http://www.fema.gov/index.shtm
READY.GOV http://www.ready.gov/
AMERICAN RED CROSS http://www.redcross.org/
FEMA has an earthquake hazard webpage with a lot of resources, including the following preparedness information.
Earthquake Information for Individuals and Families
Below are links to earthquake-related information of use to individuals and families. There are many things that you can do to reduce the chances that you or members of your family will be injured, or that your property will be damaged, by earthquakes. Use the following resources to help make your family, your home, and your community more resistant to the potentially dangerous and damaging effects of earthquakes.
- What to Do During an Earthquake
Everyone living in or visiting seismically active regions needs to learn—and practice—how to protect themselves in an earthquake. This fundamental seismic safety information can save lives and reduce injuries.- Earthquake Preparedness at Home
Learn about what to do at home before, during, and after earthquakes. Topics include how to strengthen your home, secure its contents, and prepare yourself and your family to react safely, take cover, survive on your own, stay in contact, and care for people, pets, and property.- Earthquake Publications and Tools—Individuals and Families
Browse and access FEMA publications that provide in-depth guidance on protecting residential structures, their contents, and their occupants from earthquake hazards. All can be downloaded online, and most can be ordered in print or on compact disc.- Earthquake Contacts
Find individuals and organizations that you can go to for more information about earthquake risk-reduction activities in your state, in your region, or at FEMA.
I’ll leave you with a video and a link from a blog I wrote about last month’s Great Central US Shakeout. To learn what to do in an earthquake, watch this 4 minute video from Shakeout.org.
http://www.dropcoverholdon.org/
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