Katrina became a watershed moment in American disaster response and led to a massive overhaul of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). To address the failures, FEMA installed new leadership, no and Congress empowered the agency to take more aggressive, proactive action to prevent another Katrina-like disaster from happening.

Dear participants,

The following surveys are part of a master's thesis and examine how architecture and design can support long-term disaster relief, sustainability, and/or community well-being in disaster situations and/or their professional project processes. It aims to evaluate current practices and gather insights for improved humanitarian disaster relief efforts. Your participation is very valuable. All responses will remain anonymous and will be used exclusively for academic purposes.

Each survey takes about 15 minutes to complete. Both surveys have two main objectives. On the one hand, two different disaster relief projects are to be compared and evaluated in terms of holistic sustainability. On the other hand, tools and methods for ideation, strategy development, communication with (inter-)national stakeholders, monitoring, and evaluation of architecture and design projects are to be assessed in respect of the current literature on disaster relief. Both serve equally to identify areas of impact and activity patterns for reconstruction initiatives and derive promising potential patterns of action.

Please select a survey with the topic of your choice. If you have additional time, it would be very helpful if you could also complete the second survey. Together, they will take an estimated 30 minutes of your time. Thank you very much in advance...

Reconstruction of iSTE University in Iskenderun after the Hatay earthquake in 2023: https://forms.office.com/r/K7Sb9yZ2NT

Nature-based reconstruction workshops for veterans and more in Ukraine during war using straw bale building methodology: https://forms.office.com/r/N8ncR6bwsR

This survey follows a split-design approach. Therefore, each participant will receive a slightly different set of questions. This is to limit the time required for each participant.

Thank you very much for your valuable support—every participation makes an important contribution to the topic.

Feel free to share this survey with others.

The following survey target groups are primarily focused on, but everyone is invited to fill out the form: - Designers & architects - Disaster-affected communities & vulnerable groups - Professionals in sustainability & crisis management - (In-)active people in humanitarian and disaster recovery

Many thanks in advance and for your time.

"A senior USDA official provided comment on the situation and answered some of the questions I had:

1. They are not coordinating with CBP on any further operations.
2. The USDA\Forest Service in D.C. was alerted that CBP was en route to the Bear Gulch Fire per Regional Leadership.
3. There have been no contracts terminated by the Agency, and the Agency expressed that the crews involved were only demobed.

When reaching out to the BLM, I was directed by someone at the National Interagency Fire Center to contact the BLM headquarters in Washington State. When I inquired about the operation, I was told by someone at the BLM Washington office that “this was not our operation,” and to call the CBP in Washington."

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, I am investigating 2 programs. One at Columbia Southern University and one at Purdue University. They both have their merits. I have been trying to decide between either Emergency Management with a focus in homeland security, or Forensic Investigation. The thing about Forensic investigation is that there aren’t many jobs out there, and those that are currently in those jobs will likely retire in those positions. The jobs are really not there for many reasons. I realize that this career is likely at large amount of time preparing for disasters and being ready for what could happen. I am OK with that. The truth is I know I can make it through school. I just need to know that it is possible to succeed with bachelors degree and make a career of this at 49 years old. Please be honest (please don’t be mean) I am just trying to make the best decision to help move forward with this decision.

Thank you

Hey friends,

There’s been some growing concern in my world from shelter managers becoming concerned about the potential for ICE to show up at Hurricane/emergency shelters. There was a Biden administration directive that was supposed to prevent immigration raids etc from occurring during natural disasters. Our local leadership has expressed the idea that this shouldn’t be a problem.

But with yesterday’s arrests of wildland firefighters AT a wildfire in Washington, it appears that nowhere is safe anymore.

Be safe out there and look out for each other and especially those that we serve.

TLDR: “What IAEM is not is the judge and jury of the emergency management community, nor should it aim to be. We do not exist to referee the profession or elevate one viewpoint over another. What we do stand for—unequivocally—is that emergency management exists to safeguard lives and property, protect communities, and foster resilience through thoughtful, evidence-based strategies.“

https://www.iaem.org/Groups/Councils-Global-Regions/IAEM-USA-Council/August-2025-President-Statement

I didn't see an existing thread for this. Is anyone else watching? Phil Bryant, former governor of Mississippi, noting the 25th (sic) anniversary of Katrina and 10x-ing the death toll certainly set the tone. I've been doing this 16 years. I've never seen the feds take the lead on any response, but they've spent the first hour stroking each other's...egos...and claiming that they have to get FEMA out of the way of local and state response.

Edited to fix an autocorrect mistake

Hey was just wondering if anyone had any model plans for emergency shelters or where to start to look for resources. Coming from a community of about 20k in suburban New England.

By accepting the federal grants and awards, the new documents state, volunteer organizations that help after disasters must agree to not “operate any program that benefits illegal immigrants or incentivizes illegal immigration.”

TL;DR: I’m testing a simple, plain-English “14-day capacity ratio” for a few essentials in modern metros—what retail/rental networks could deliver in two weeks vs. what people/facilities need. I’m asking this sub for real-world constraints, AARs, and (if possible) anonymized data to make the test honest. Full write-up on Substack (link below).

The scenario (to ground the debate):
A 1.2M-person city loses potable water for 10 days after a quake. Could the region line up ~90,000 pallets of drinking water in 72 hours—without stripping neighborhood stores?

What I’m publishing: a 14-day capacity ratio for a handful of metros:

• Bottled drinking water at 3–5 L per person per day
• Tarps/plastic sheeting using the “two tarps per household” standard
• Clinic/community power augmenting facility backups with rental fleets

Why bother if we have stockpiles?
Because no public reserve can hold every SKU for every scenario. Budget reality forces prioritization; expiry/obsolescence risk is real. If commercial networks can carry a meaningful slice of Week 1–2 needs, it helps keep stockpiles tight and targeted.

What I’m asking /EmergencyManagement for:

• Reality checks from ops folks: Where would this break in your AO?
• Anonymized slices if you can share them: DC→store shipments (water/tarps/portable gensets) around a past event; typical days-of-cover and replenishment cadence; purchase-limit policies.
• Public stockpile snapshots/AARs: carrying cost, rotation practice, expiry write-offs—any region or country.
• “Gotchas” I should bake into the method (e.g., packaging mismatches, union rules, curfews, HAZMAT restrictions, tender timelines).

Who this helps: planners deciding how much to put in warehouses vs. pre-arranged commercial capacity; NGOs coordinating with retailers; private operators who want a fair, legal, and reputationally safe way to prioritize relief lanes.

Read the post: In a disaster, can we rent the supply chain? — with the scenario, guardrails, and the exact yardsticks I’ll use.
👉 In a Disaster Can We Rent Retail?

Hi everyone,

For those of you that are in the field or know anyone who is in crisis/diaaster mangement / humanitarian work, please let me know what certifications would help me get my foot in the door .

I have a bachelors in International Business and Im going to pursue my Masters in a crisis management /humanitarian emergency response related field.

Im looking for something with 1. Global reach 2. UN recognized 3. Does not require experience.

Im simply looking for the doctrine of Strategic-Tactical-Operational command structure model or GSB Gold Silver Bronze model.

There are reinvented ones laying about but they are not OG.

Thanks

hey everybody, i’m a 21 year old currently living in Ohio. for a long time i’ve always wanted to work in disaster relief logistics but have never known where to start or the path to take. ive been working in logistics since i was 15 and then at 19 became a warehouse supervisor. i’m currently employed at OSU as an inventory coordinator and im looking for information on how to start a transition into disaster relief logistics. any information would be greatly appreciated, thank you all for your time and i look forward to hearing from you guys!

I was scrolling LinkedIn and noticed an FDEM employee did a long post about how they went on an assignment and team work and collaboration, blah blah blah, all the things you usually see on LinkedIn.

The one thing missing, that I’ve seen on other posts from people on the same assignment, is acknowledgment of the assignment: Alligator Alcatraz.

It’s so clear to me that emergency managers involved in this operation know it’s not what emergency managers should be doing, so they don’t bring it up. Even the executive director of FDEM seemingly only talks about Alcatraz when in front of the cameras, but never when in a room of his fellow EMs.

If you’re going to work a job and boast about the work you’re doing, you should be proud enough to share what it is you’re doing. Otherwise, maybe you just don’t have a spine.

CORRECTION ICE IN TITLE INTENDED TO BE "IN CASEE OF EMERGENCY" ABBR, NOT INTENDED TO BE IMMIGRATION RELATED, APOLOGIES. Looking for postings here/elsewhere or in publications of recent experiences with local cell service being overwhelmed at a local event preventing use of phones by local authorities and event atttendees to alert and coordinate gathering/exiting safely (ie sudden weather, public disturbance, mass injury, etc)

I just got accepted for a position to deploy with Tidal Basin Group. I haven’t heard much about this group before, so I would love to hear anyone’s experience with them.

In an 82-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams cited extensive evidence demonstrating harm to the Everglades caused by operation of the facility, which was built without any of the environmental review required by law.

This decision means the facility can no longer accept new detainees and must wind down operations in an orderly fashion within 60 days.

The June 27th lawsuit alleged that “the state and federal government paved over 20 acres of open land, built a parking lot for 1,200 cars and 3,000 detainees, placed miles of fencing and high-intensity lighting on site and moved thousands of detainees and contractors onto land in the heart of the Big Cypress National Preserve, all in flagrant violation of environmental law.”

Hi everyone, I am considering pursuing a Masters in Disaster and Emergency Management in Canada. There seem to be two universities offering this type of degree, Royal Roads University in BC and York University in Ontario.

I’m pretty torn between the two. On the one hand, RRU offers a blended format which would allow me to work full time while I complete my degree. I also value the in-person format at York and it looks like they have more targeted courses throughout the program.

Wondering if anyone who has done these programs can offer any insight? Which did you do and why? Are either of these programs more highly regarded in the EM space?

I live in BC so I’m leaning towards RRU but again, would really value the in person format at York. Appreciate any thoughts!