Pandemic Mitigation Plans** • Are the plans comprehensive? • Are the plans based on an all-hazards approach? • Are the plans based on community-based and local-level information, policies, and actions? • Are they dynamic in the way they have been developed and updated? **Pandemic Response Plans** • Have the plans been updated and improved as new information becomes available? • Are the plans designed to be flexible? • Do they have the flexibility to accommodate future uncertainties? • Are they organized in a logical and hierarchical manner? • Do they describe decision-making steps? • Do they include a time frame for the plan's implementation? • Are the plans easy to access and understand? **Pandemic Education and Communication Plans** • Have the plans been updated to reflect the current state of information? • Have updates been included in response to new information about emerging infectious disease threats? • Have new communication strategies been developed to ensure that all public and private sector partners have the information they need? ### **Terrorist Attacks** For the past several years the United States has been at a high alert because of an ongoing threat from international terrorist groups. In the event of a terrorist attack, federal, state, and local governments are required to implement emergency management plans to ensure that a large-scale threat can be effectively mitigated. This requirement is codified in the National Planning Scenarios, one of three national emergency management planning guides developed and released by FEMA. The scenarios describe four hypothetical domestic terrorist attacks: a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attack, a building collapse, a mass flooding event, and a cyber attack. The descriptions of the scenarios suggest how different types of events will be handled and what actions need to be taken to address the threats. _The following are examples of emergency planning for terrorist attacks:_ • Identify the potential targets and the methods of transportation used by terrorists, and consider other factors such as location and proximity of other buildings, existing structural features, and existing security measures to determine where the attack may occur. • Identify the likely emergency responders who would respond to the attack. Are they ready to handle the incident and are their response capabilities sufficient? • Assess public and private resources that would be used in the event of an attack, and the capabilities of these resources to handle the attack. Are there potential bottlenecks? • Plan for evacuation and sheltering, if necessary. What additional resources will be required? • Evaluate ways to protect the community from secondary threats. **Exhibit 10–4** Homeland Security Planning ### **Disaster Recovery** Disaster recovery refers to an approach to prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural and man-made disasters that includes mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. The Department of Homeland Security has played a leading role in disaster recovery. #### **Preparedness** Disaster preparedness is essential, particularly for areas where natural disasters are common. **Regional Disaster Preparedness Program (RDP)** The RDP is an information-sharing and decision-making tool, and a tool to help emergency managers, state and local governments, tribes, industry, and citizens collaborate, plan, and execute mitigation and preparedness activities. **Statewide All Hazards Plan (SHP)** A SHP is a collaborative effort of emergency management agencies to develop an approach for emergency response during and following a catastrophic event. SHPs are preparedness guides that provide emergency managers with a basic blueprint of action during the first phases of an emergency, including decisions to be made during the earliest phase of response. State and local governments work together to create an all-hazards, cost-effective, flexible plan that integrates all potential hazards, vulnerabilities, and impacts. The key elements of a state SHP are the following: • **All-Hazards Scope:** The all-hazards scope defines the scope of the SHP. In general, a SHP is a guide to prepare for, prevent, mitigate, respond to, and recover from, emergencies, disasters, and catastrophes that affect local communities. • **Planning Scope:** The planning scope is the set of geographic areas or community areas that would have a plan under the SHP. Within this scope, some jurisdictions choose to prepare for all hazards, while others choose to prepare only for a subset of the all-hazards potential events. • **Hazard Identification:** The hazard identification describes the types of hazards and emergencies (eg, chemical fires, chemical releases, earthquakes, flooding) that the plan applies to. It identifies the geographic areas or community areas that the plan applies to. • **Hazard Response:** The hazard response identifies the actions that should be taken in response to the emergencies, hazards, or disasters that the plan describes. • **Hazard Mitigation:** The hazard mitigation includes the strategies, activities, and techniques for reducing the severity and probability of harm resulting from emergencies, hazards, and disasters. • **Evaluation:** The evaluation provides information on the impacts and effectiveness of a SHP. **National Preparedness Goal:** The National Preparedness Goal is to enhance the capabilities of all levels of government, private industry, nongovernmental organizations, and the general public to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of domestic incidents involving weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). The goal has four goals, which include preparedness activities for terrorist incidents, for natural disasters, for public health emergencies and events, and for chemical and biological incidents. **Disaster Recovery Preparedness Plan (DRPP)** The DRPP is a component of a recovery plan and is based on a preparedness plan. The DRPP is a multi-year process with periodic updating. It is a planning tool for determining what, when, and how the recovery process will be executed. It allows for recovery planners to prioritize local, regional, and national resources. DRPPs help states, local communities, and agencies develop an internal capability and plan to help them recover. **Mitigation, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Tools** Mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery tools include the following: • The National Hurricane Center's Tropical Cyclone Damage Projection Model (TCDPM) is the first storm modeling system that provides timely and accurate initial estimates of damage caused by tropical cyclones. The model uses the same data as damage assessment systems such as FEMA's Flood Insurance Study (FIS). • The National Hurricane Center (NHC) uses weather, ocean, and land parameters to create forecasts and other products used to support emergency management. NHC serves as the lead organization for emergency response and recovery through the dissemination of public advisory and forecast information. • The Center for Risk Management of Hazards and Disasters (CRMHD) is a non-governmental organization, housed at the FEMA National Preparedness Directorate in Falls Church, Virginia. The organization is responsible for preparing, publishing, updating, and distributing the National Flood Insurance Program's (NFIP) Flood Hazard Mapping (FHM) data. • The National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) is a computerized fire reporting system that collects data from federal, state, territorial, tribal, and local officials at the national, state, territorial, and local levels of government. These data include losses to property, injury, death, and resources used to contain and control fires. NFIRS provides detailed information on loss caused by fires that are reported to the appropriate fire department or law enforcement agency and helps local, state, and federal response organizations prioritize resources and allocate costs for fire suppression and prevention activities. • The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) is part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and was established to lead the federal government in developing partnerships between public and private sector entities to support public safety and preparedness efforts. USFA is a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) line item within the DHS budget. • On September 11, 2001, FEMA was responsible for all federal response and recovery efforts in the immediate aftermath of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. On September 11, 2002, President George W. Bush established a federal-state partnership to promote interoperability and information-sharing capability, and today the partnership continues to enhance public safety and resilience in communities across the nation. • The Emergency Support Function (ESF) program is a FEMA project that provides consistent emergency preparedness information to the nation's state and local emergency management agencies. • The FEMA Flood Zone is based on a 100-year, 24-hour rainfall event. Flood zone maps show zones of low-, moderate-, and high-risk flooding within the flood plain. By combining such maps with flood plain maps, planners can determine flooding risks, identify low-, moderate-, and high-risk zones within the flood plain, and determine potential flood plain development that would be required for a successful project. • The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) manages flood insurance through the purchase of flood insurance policies by the federal government and is regulated by the Federal Insurance Administration (FIA). It was established in 1968 as a result of congressional action. **Disaster Preparedness Exercises** Disaster exercises are designed to provide the emergency management community with practice and experience in