Coming Soon: FEMA Think Tank

Please join Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Deputy Administrator Richard Serino and the International Association for Emergency Managers (IAEM) for a FEMA Think Tank conference call onOctober 30, 2013 from Reno, Nevada. The event will provide the opportunity to listen, ask questions, and gain perspective as panelists share their stories on how they use innovative response technology to revolutionize disaster operations, with a particular focus on rescue robots that range from bomb detection to heart beat detection.

WHO:                                    

Richard Serino, FEMA deputy administrator

John Price, DHS Science and Technology program manager

Dr. Ken Goldberg, professor at University of California at Berkley

Dr. Robin R. Murphy, professor at Texas A&M University

WHEN:                                 

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

2:15 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. (Pacific)

WHERE:                              

International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) Conference

Silver Legacy Hotel & Reno Events Center Reno, NV

Special Note: Only IAEM registrants may attend in person; the call in line is open to the public.

CALL IN:           

877-604-9670

PASSCODE:                         

6288892

CAPTIONING LINK:        

http://fedrcc.us//Enter.aspx?EventID=2237747&CustomerID=321

Remembering Lugert near #AltusOK

According to Wikipedia, Lugert was once a thriving community with a bank, hotels, and a lumberyard.

Now, it normally sits at the bottom of Lake Lugert ... normally ... except there's a drought.

A foundation is one of the few memories remaining from Lugert.

A slab is normally well seen from both the road and the lake.  The overgrowth has it well hidden.

Proof that the lake owns the land normally.

A view from the railway looking to the switch at what is now named Lugert.

Here's Lugert with a pile of rail ties nearby.

One can easily see the lake level is low.

Here's a nice YouTube video of the old town.

Have three ways #AltusOK

Once upon a time, the National Weather Service radio near Altus suffered a communications problem at an inopportune time.  A communications failure to the site made the transmitter go off the air.

As a result, weather radio receivers were unable to decode the Severe Thunderstorm Warning issued at the time.

This is an example of why area residents need to have at least THREE ways of getting information.

The City of Altus Blackboard Connect system is one way.  

The Weather Service does not recommend Twitter and Social Media for warnings but the AltusReady tweets warnings using Blackboard Connect and the National Weather Service feeds.

Other Twitter accounts tweeting warnings include @WX5EM, @Oklahomaalert and the Weather Services own @IEMBot_OUN.

While there may be delays in getting the warnings and the warnings may not appear on your phone at all, ex. your cellphone battery is dead, social media may be one of your three ways to get weather information.

Have at LEAST three ways to get weather information in Oklahoma.  What are your three?

Please take part #AltusOK #OKready

As part of our continued commitment to increase community preparedness and resilliency, are you participating in the Great Central US Shakeaout, which will take place on October 17 at 1017 hours?

In order to prepare to participate in the drill, please review the following steps and take actions that will help to protect you during an earthquake. 

Step 1: Secure your space by identifying hazards and securing moveable items.
Step 2: Plan to be safe by creating a disaster plan and deciding how you will communicate in an emergency.
Step 3: Organize disaster supplies in convenient locations.
Step 4: Minimize financial hardship by organizing important documents, strengthening your property, and considering insurance.

We will remind you the day before the ShakeOut and will ask for your participation on the 17th. 

Remember, in an earthquake, we:

DROP, COVER, and HOLD ON!!

How about Hazard Mitigation Training? #AltusOK

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management (OEM) are co-sponsoring the mitigation classes listed below.  All classes will be held at the Joint Field Office (JFO) located at Crossroads Mall in Oklahoma City. 

Please note that the pre-requisite courses listed below are required only for individuals who want to receive Continuing Education Units (CEUs) and an EMI certificate of course completion for attending EMI Courses L212, L213 and L214.  Those students will need an EMI Student Identification (SID) number and must have completed the pre-requisite courses listed in each course description. You can obtain your EMI SID number on the following EMI webpagehttps://cdp.dhs.gov/femasid/.  If you do not have a copy of your EMI Course Certificate for the pre-requisite courses, your EMI student transcript will be accepted and can be obtained by clicking on the following link: http://training.fema.gov/Student/transcriptrequest.asp. Students who have not completed the course pre-requisites will not receive an EMI certificate; however, all students will receive an Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management (OEM) certificate for each of the three courses they complete.  

L212 - Unified Hazard Mitigation Assistance: Developing Quality Application Elements

(October 15-17, 2013)

The goal of this course is to enable Unified Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) grant applicants and sub-applicants to develop eligible mitigation projects and submit successful applications.  The objectives include: clearly explain and apply mitigation concepts; identify and develop eligible mitigation projects; prepare and submit successful grant applications; and identify Unified HMA programs that could fund mitigation plans and projects.

Pre-requisites for Continuing Education Units (CEUs) and EMI certificate

IS393.a  Introduction to Hazard Mitigation  http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/courseOverview.aspx?code=IS-393.a

IS212     Introduction to Unified Hazard Mitigation Assistance  http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/courseOverview.aspx?code=IS-212

***************

L213 -  Unified Hazard Mitigation Assistance: Application Review and Evaluation

(October 29-30, 2013)

The purpose of this course is to equip participants with the knowledge and skills required for effective grant application and sub-application review and evaluation, and to equip participants with a general knowledge of how a grant is awarded.

Pre-requisites for Continuing Education Units (CEUs) and EMI certificate

IS393.a Introduction to Hazard Mitigation http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/courseOverview.aspx?code=IS-393.a

IS212    Introduction to Unified Hazard Mitigation Assistance http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/courseOverview.aspx?code=IS-212

E/L212 Unified Hazard Mitigation Assistance Program:  Developing Quality Applications Elements (Scheduled on October 15-17, 2013 at JFO in Oklahoma City)

Recommended for completion prior to attending L213:  E/L276  Benefit-Cost Analysis Entry

****************

L214 - Unified Hazard Mitigation Assistance: Project Implementation and Programmatic Closeout

(October 31 – November 1, 2013)

The purpose of this course is to provide course participants with the knowledge and skills required for effective implementation and closeout of a project.

Pre-requisites for Continuing Education Units (CEUs) and EMI certificate

IS393.a Introduction to Hazard Mitigation http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/courseOverview.aspx?code=IS-393.a

IS212 Introduction to Unified Hazard Mitigation Assistance http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/courseOverview.aspx?code=IS-212

E/L 212 Unified Hazard Mitigation Assistance Program: Developing Quality Application Elements (presented at JFO in OKC on October 15-17, 2013)

Recommended for completion prior to attending L214:  E/L276 Benefit-Cost Analysis Entry

                  Apply for each course separately by submitting your completed EMI course applicationhttp://training.fema.gov/Apply/119-25-2.pdf.  Submit the application along with your prerequisite course certificates or EMI transcript if you want to receive CEUs and an EMI Certificate of Completion. 

Oklahoma Dept. of Emergency Management

P.O. Box 53365, Oklahoma City, OK  73152

Attn: Diane Terry

or

Fax to (405) 521-4053

Weather Information from @OKMesonet for the #AltusOK area

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Periods of Record Temps #1903-2010 Precip #1903-2012 Snow #1903-2012 # - large gaps in record	Key * - Record since tied Highlight = Oct record All Temps in deg F All Precip in inches Sig Prcp Freq = Pct of days with >= 0.1" precip	1 T Avgs: 85/54 Sig Prcp Freq: 6% Extremes: High T 104 (1977) Low T 39 (1985) Precip 1.46 (1941)	2 T Avgs: 85/55 Sig Prcp Freq: 8% Extremes: High T 102 (2000) Low T 40* (1975) Precip 1.12 (1986)	3 T Avgs: 84/55 Sig Prcp Freq: 12% Extremes: High T 104 (2000) Low T 40 (1975) Precip 2.15 (1955)	4 T Avgs: 83/56 Sig Prcp Freq: 15% Extremes: High T 102 (1928) Low T 38 (1979) Precip 3.57 (1953)	5 T Avgs: 82/55 Sig Prcp Freq: 14% Extremes: High T 98 (1937) Low T 37 (1932) Precip 3.45 (1919)
6 T Avgs: 82/55 Sig Prcp Freq: 13% Extremes: High T 99 (1937) Low T 35 (2001) Precip 2.31 (1930)	7 T Avgs: 80/53 Sig Prcp Freq: 16% Extremes: High T 101 (1979) Low T 31 (1952) Precip 1.13 (1919)	8 T Avgs: 80/53 Sig Prcp Freq: 16% Extremes: High T 99 (1979) Low T 34 (1976) Precip 1.54 (1919)	9 T Avgs: 81/52 Sig Prcp Freq: 13% Extremes: High T 99* (1928) Low T 26 (2000) Precip 4.44 (1918)	10 T Avgs: 80/51 Sig Prcp Freq: 11% Extremes: High T 96 (1963) Low T 27 (2000) Precip 1.66 (1926)	11 T Avgs: 79/52 Sig Prcp Freq: 7% Extremes: High T 97 (1954) Low T 34 (1932) Precip 1.43 (1931)	12 T Avgs: 79/52 Sig Prcp Freq: 12% Extremes: High T 95 (1979) Low T 28 (1977) Precip 1.71 (1960)
13 T Avgs: 80/53 Sig Prcp Freq: 11% Extremes: High T 100 (1954) Low T 34 (1986) Precip 3.73 (1923)	14 T Avgs: 79/52 Sig Prcp Freq: 14% Extremes: High T 99 (1928) Low T 34* (1969) Precip 1.89 (1960)	15 T Avgs: 78/51 Sig Prcp Freq: 23% Extremes: High T 97 (1917) Low T 35* (1914) Precip 3.31 (1915)	16 T Avgs: 78/51 Sig Prcp Freq: 16% Extremes: High T 96 (1917) Low T 30 (2001) Precip 1.80 (2006)	17 T Avgs: 77/50 Sig Prcp Freq: 12% Extremes: High T 98 (1972) Low T 31* (1976) Precip 1.05 (1942)	18 T Avgs: 77/49 Sig Prcp Freq: 12% Extremes: High T 95 (1972) Low T 33 (1948) Precip 4.16 (1965)	19 T Avgs: 77/48 Sig Prcp Freq: 4% Extremes: High T 95 (1940) Low T 25 (1989) Precip 1.40 (1983)
20 T Avgs: 75/48 Sig Prcp Freq: 12% Extremes: High T 95 (1979) Low T 25 (1976) Precip 7.10 (1983)	21 T Avgs: 76/48 Sig Prcp Freq: 18% Extremes: High T 95 (2003) Low T 32 (1917) Precip 1.96 (1972)	22 T Avgs: 75/48 Sig Prcp Freq: 15% Extremes: High T 93 (1939) Low T 29 (1990) Precip 2.76 (1986)	23 T Avgs: 73/47 Sig Prcp Freq: 20% Extremes: High T 92 (2003) Low T 28 (1917) Precip 1.33 (1977)	24 T Avgs: 73/45 Sig Prcp Freq: 13% Extremes: High T 95 (2003) Low T 27 (2005) Precip 1.25 (1949)	25 T Avgs: 73/46 Sig Prcp Freq: 9% Extremes: High T 91 (1939) Low T 28 (2005) Precip 2.18 (1923)	26 T Avgs: 73/45 Sig Prcp Freq: 13% Extremes: High T 93 (1950) Low T 26 (1957) Precip 2.60 (1918) Snow trace* (1913)
27 T Avgs: 72/44 Sig Prcp Freq: 12% Extremes: High T 91 (1930) Low T 26 (1997) Precip 0.74 (2000)	28 T Avgs: 72/45 Sig Prcp Freq: 8% Extremes: High T 90 (1937) Low T 26 (1925) Precip 1.95 (1991)	29 T Avgs: 73/45 Sig Prcp Freq: 11% Extremes: High T 92 (1950) Low T 20 (1980) Precip 1.50 (2009)	30 T Avgs: 72/45 Sig Prcp Freq: 13% Extremes: High T 90 (1963) Low T 17 (1917) Precip 1.90 (1979)	31 T Avgs: 70/44 Sig Prcp Freq: 21% Extremes: High T 88* (1944) Low T 17 (1993) Precip 1.88 (1940) Snow trace (1941)	Oct. Averages High Temp 78 F Low Temp 50 F Avg Temp 64 F Precip 2.85" Snow 0.0"