Feed For The Fema Podcast

It was 40 years ago today that Mount St. Helens in Washington State erupted. Ash and steam poured out and avalanches of snow and ice thundered down the mountain's sides for two months, and then on May 18, 1980 the volcano blew its top. Fifty-seven people were killed, many others injured, and many buildings were destroyed. The huge blast of rock, ash and hot gases devastated an area about 230 square miles. Similar to our experiences of quarantining at home during the coronavirus pandemic, residents in many states also were confined to their homes. If they ventured outside, they would wear masks to protect themselves from the ash. This went on for several weeks. In this episode, FEMA speaks with current and former FEMA staff who experienced the eruption and subsequent ash that blew east into Spokane and Montana where our speakers lived. Chris Jonientz-Trisler, Volcanologist and retired-FEMA Division Director; Jay LaPlante, Region 10 Tribal Liaison; and Elaine Ike, former FEMA Community Relations Specialis

On today’s episode, we celebrate AmeriCorps Week by highlighting one of our very own FEMA Corps teams. We sit down to discuss what the FEMA Corps program is all about and we talk about their important role in helping communities recovering from disasters.

On this episode we talk with Mark Carey, who recently retired after 20 years of service with FEMA. Since 2007 he served as the FEMA Region 10 Mitigation Division Director where he was responsible for the region’s hazard mitigation financial grant program, National Flood Insurance Program, Endangered Species Act compliance, Risk Analysis and Risk Reduction programs. Mark talks with us about the principles of hazard mitigation and how support for mitigation has evolved over time. He also shares his own experience and insight as a disaster survivor.

On this episode we have the unique opportunity to talk with Evan Schumann, who is a program manager for Ohio Task Force One, one of the 28 teams in the FEMA Urban Search and Rescue system, about how these teams support disaster response operations in their home communities as well as around the nation.

On this episode we talk with Antwane Johnson, director of FEMA's integrated public alert and warning program about this incredible capability and how these upgrades serve an important role in our nation's public safety and national security communications infrastructure.

On this episode, we take a tour of the FEMA Distribution Center located in Frederick, Maryland and dive into all aspects of the on-hand commodity mission, which stands always at the ready for when disaster survivors and communities need us most.

On this episode we sat down with FEMA’s Administrator, Pete Gaynor to talk about how Pub 1 and these core values form the foundation of who we are, what we believe, and who we want to be.

On this episode we sit down with National IMAT lead, Tito Hernandez and Regional IMAT lead, Keith Denning, to dive into the unique nature of these Incident Management Assistance Teams from both the National and Regional perspective.

On this episode we sit down with Trotwood Mayor, Mary McDonald, as well as Trotwood City Manager Quincy Pope and look back to how this community came together in the immediate aftermath to respond to and recovery from these extensive storms.

On this episode, Minh Phan sits down with Mark Peterson, a familiar voice on the FEMA Podcast and FEMA Region V’s External Affairs Director. We’re going to take a step back and talk about the FEMA Podcast, what we’ve done so far, what we’re working on now, and where we hope to go.

During the holiday season, where we often offer gifts of appreciation to friends and family, we take the non-traditional approach of learning what preparedness-oriented items would make great gifts for friends or family members.

On the episode we talk with Lauralee Koziol, FEMA’s National Advisor for Children in Disasters and explore the ways FEMA is helping children prepare for and be ready to recover after natural disasters.

On this episode of the FEMA podcast we catch up with Linda Mastandrea, director of FEMA’s Office of Disability Integration and Chris Smith from FEMA’s Office of Response & Recovery and hear how the Agency has shifted its approach to serving the disability community since the 2017 disaster season, why that shift was undertaken, and how things have changed since.

On this episode we catch up with leaders from Private Sector partners in Disasters to understand how we can all work together to leverage leading-edge technology and innovation to help support disaster survivors. Just a quick programming note before we get started. Today's episode includes a lot of interviews from FEMA’s Private Sector partners and nonprofits organizations talking about innovation solutions, specifically in the area of disaster response. FEMA does not endorse any nongovernmental organizations, entities or services.  

November is Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience Month, and on today’s episode of the FEMA podcast, we’ll sit down with Brian Harrell, Assistant Director at the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, to learn more about the vital role of critical infrastructure in keeping our communities safe and how each of us can contribute to the security and resilience of our nation’s most essential services and functions.

On this episode, we talk to attendees at the Northwest Tribal Public Health Emergency Preparedness Training and Conference in Portland, Oregon, about readying Tribal nations for catastrophic disasters through FEMA mitigation grant programs.

On today’s episode of the FEMA podcast, we’ll talk to FEMA veterans from each of the five branches of the military and learn more about their experience, the resources our Agency offers to support their success, and the unique but complementary transition that exists from active duty to a career in emergency management.

October is National Community Planning Month - a nationally-recognized, American Planning Association (APA) led initiative that focuses on the importance of community planning and its impacts. National Community Planning Month ties into FEMA’s Strategic Plan. Efforts like this also highlight the work supporting the National Mitigation Investment Strategy by capturing the ongoing partnerships between planning and mitigation.

As part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s effort to build a national culture of preparedness, we’re releasing the 4th edition of the National Response Framework (NRF). An important update that incorporate lessons learned from the unprecedented recent hurricane and wildfire seasons as well a stakeholder input from a diverse cross-section of government and non-governmental partners.

The National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) is the central hub of activities for the federal response to disasters and emergencies. Here we bring in representatives from across the federal government to coordinate the overall federal response and recovery. On this episode, we got a special walking tour of the NRCC from Josh Dozor, the Deputy Assistant Administrator for FEMA’s Response Directorate, just as we stood up in response to the potential effects of Tropical Storm and later Hurricane Dorian.