We’ve partnered with the Alabama Emergency Management Agency to create a joint Facebook page as an additional way to reach Alabama residents during the response and recovery efforts after the severe storms and tornadoes.

And as we support multiple states that are impacted by the severe storms, I wanted to provide a list of other online resources:
 

Alabama Emergency Management Agency
Facebook full site / Facebook mobile site
Twitter full site / Twitter mobile site
Information on volunteering

Mississippi Emergency Management Agency
Facebook full site / Facebook mobile site
Twitter full site / Twitter mobile site
Information on volunteering

Georgia Emergency Management Agency
Facebook full site / Facebook mobile site
Twitter full site / Twitter mobile site

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Facebook full site / Facebook mobile site
Twitter full site / Twitter mobile site

People can also receive Twitter updates via text message from their respective emergency management agencies. You don’t need your own Twitter account to receive these updates, but keep in mind that standard text messaging rates apply:
 

• For the Alabama Emergency Management Agency Twitter updates text follow AlabamaEMA to 40404 (this is Twitter’s text message number).
• For the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency Twitter updates text follow MSEMA to 40404
• For the Georgia Emergency Management Agency Twitter updates text follow GeorgiaEMA to 40404
• For FEMA Twitter updates text follow FEMA to 40404

Disasters not only affect community infrastructure and public works, but they often overcome family finances, making recovery difficult and sometimes impossible. Before, during and after disasters strike, we work with a number of non-profit, voluntary and faith-based groups who specialize in getting disaster survivors financially back on their feet.

As we often say, FEMA is just one part of the emergency management team that helps individuals and communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters.  In this light, we’ve renewed our partnership with Operation HOPE, a non-profit public benefit corporation, to enhance financial counseling services available before, during and after disasters.

Our partnership with Operation HOPE will result in greater access to free financial counseling and information for disaster survivors, including:

• debt counseling,
• case management services, and
• workshops, seminars and manuals for those seeking help at disaster recovery centers.

In conjunction with National Financial Literacy Month and the agreement signing held on April 27, we also will be co-hosting a webinar with Operation HOPE on Emergency Financial Preparedness.  This webinar, scheduled for May 3, will emphasize the importance of what it means to be financially prepared.  We will also touch on why, in the face of disaster, failing to be financially prepared can create even more stress and anxiety than the disaster itself.

So, what can you do to be financially prepared for emergencies?

• Start by completing an Emergency Financial First Aid Kit. This document can help you keep track of important documentation, like insurance policy information, so you have clear financial records that will help maintain stability in the event of an emergency.

Find additional resources on financial preparedness, more on our partnership with Operation HOPE, and information on helping your community prepare for a disaster at www.CitizenCorps.gov


 

On April 28, President Obama declared a major disaster for Alabama after one of the worst tornado outbreaks in U.S. history tore through the Southeast. Alabama and Georgia were hit particularly hard, with large tornadoes traveling long paths and causing extensive damage.

Yesterday, FEMA began to send supplies to a FEMA staging area in Montgomery, AL to ensure the needed supplies are located close to the affected areas. More than 2 million liters of water, 1 million meals, roughly 60,000 tarps and other supplies are either en route or have arrived at the staging area.

If the southern states request supplies, items from the Incident Support Base will be sent forward to a Federal or State staging area, and ultimately transferred to the state. All points of distribution are identified and managed by the local/state emergency managers.

More than 100 generators are at the staging location, and could be used to potentially assist with the restoration of power to schools, fire stations, and other critical facilities.  As the situation on the ground changes, we stand ready to send additional supplies to support state response and recovery requirements.

Check out the blog post where we talk about our Incident Support Bases (ISB) – it references our logistical support base that supports spring flooding in the Upper Midwest. The ISB at Maxwell will provide similar support to Alabama and other affected States.
 

Below is a recap of our activities since the deadly outbreak of severe storms and tornadoes across the southern U.S. For the latest updates on our role, check out the Severe Storms / Tornadoes category on the blog.

Wednesday, April 27th:

• Severe weather system including high winds, hail and tornadoes devastates parts of several southeastern states, including Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia. Alabama is most heavily affected by severe storms, which are forecast to affect the East Coast from Florida through New England through April 29th.
• Governor Bentley submits request for a federal emergency declaration for the State of Alabama as a result of severe storms, hail, straight-line winds, and tornadoes.
• FEMA Region IV Administrator Phil May speaks with both Governor Bentley and Alabama Emergency Management Agency Director Art Faulkner.
• DHS Secretary Napolitano speaks with Governor Bentley to express condolences and to discuss latest status.
• President Obama declares an emergency for all 67 counties in Alabama, and orders federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts in the area struck by these storms. The President's action authorizes FEMA to coordinate all disaster relief efforts. Joe M. Girot is designated as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in Alabama.
• The President calls Alabama Governor Robert Bentley and expresses his deepest condolences for the tragic loss of life and suffering caused by severe storms and tornadoes in Alabama.
• President releases statement on the severe storms and tornadoes in Alabama http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/04/28/president-devastation-alabama
• FEMA places two National Incident Management Assistance Teams on alert, in case Alabama requests their assistance. These teams help the state coordinate response efforts.
• FEMA places Texas Task Force 1 Urban Search & Rescue (US&R) team on alert, to be available in case Alabama makes a request for assistance.
• FEMA Region IV deploys a regional liaison officer to the Alabama emergency operations center to assist in coordination efforts as the state continues to respond and begins to recover from this devastating storm outbreak.

Thursday, April 28th:

• FEMA Headquarters activates its National Response Coordination Staff to Level III, which activates its emergency support functions, including transportation, public works, mass care, public health, search and rescue and others.
• FEMA Region IV deploys regional IMAT to the Alabama emergency operations center to assist in coordination efforts as the state continues to respond and begins to recover from the devastating storm outbreak.
• FEMA Region IV Regional Response Coordination Center (RRCC) activates to Level II for increased coordination with the affected states.
• FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley, and Alabama State Emergency Management Agency Director Art Faulkner conduct a press conference call on the coordinated state and federal response to the severe and deadly tornadoes in Alabama.
• On this call, Administrator Fugate announces that at the direction of the president, he will be traveling to Alabama to join the governor and other state and local officials on the ground.
• FEMA Deputy Administrator Richard Serino travels to the FEMA Region IV headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, and meets with Georgia Governor Nathan Deal and other state and local officials as they assess the damage.
• FEMA coordinates with the USNORTHCOM to establish an incident support base in Maxwell, Alabama. The support base will allow FEMA to move supplies such as water, infant toddler kits, and tarps closer to the affected area, in case they are needed.
• President Obama speaks via telephone with DHS Secretary Napolitano and FEMA Administrator Fugate to discuss the continuing federal disaster relief efforts for areas affected by the devastating severe storms and tornadoes that have impacted Alabama, Mississippi and other states across the Southeast.
• FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate arrives in Alabama to meet with Governor Robert Bentley, and other state and local officials, to assess the damage and ensure the state is receiving all the support needed for its response and recovery operations.
• Regional IMAT arrives in Alabama to support state efforts at the Alabama emergency operations center.
• FEMA, its federal partners and the affected states hold a video-teleconference to discuss response efforts and to address anticipated needs.
• The President speaks with the Governors of Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia and Virginia to express condolences and let them know that the Federal Government is ready to help in any appropriate and possible way.
• FEMA liaison officers land on the ground in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Kentucky emergency operations centers supporting state efforts.
• The President makes nationally televised remarks to address the severe storms and inform the American people what its government is doing to assist the people in need.
• FEMA Deputy Administrator Richard Serino joins Georgia Governor Nathan Deal at a press conference at the state's emergency operations center in Atlanta.
• FEMA Administrator Fugate joins Alabama Governor Robert Bentley at a press conference in Tuscaloosa, after his meetings and surveying damage in both Birmingham and Tuscaloosa.
• The Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration issues a press release to urge workers and members of the public engaged in cleanup activities to be aware of hazards they might encounter and to take the necessary steps to protect themselves.
• FEMA deploys a mobile emergency response support team to Alabama to provide prompt and rapid multi-media communications processing, logistics and operational support to state officials.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency (FSA) Acting Administrator Val Dolcini reminds crop and livestock producers in affected states that FSA programs may be available to assist with recovery.
• President Obama declares a major disaster declaration which makes federal assistance available to individual who suffered personal property damages or losses, and for public infrastructure, such as schools, fire stations, and libraries.