Disaster Zone

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region 10 has a new Regional Administrator, Willie Nunn. Nunn had previously been a Federal Coordination Officer (FCO) for a number of years. In this podcast we explore how his past experiences, personal and professional have shaped his approach to his new position. We also delve into what makes FEMA Region 10 unique in its own way, from the people, hazards and approaches to emergency ...

Keith Krach is the former chairman and CEO of DocuSign. He has been recognized for his work in B2B Commerce and Digital Transaction Management. He has held leadership positions with Angie’s List and General Motors. Formerly he was Chairman of the board of Trustees for Purdue University. Lastly, he served as the Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment in the last presidential administration. In this...

Who’s responsibility is it to develop the next generation of emergency managers? I think that all of us must be contributing to that effort. In this podcast, Pete Gaynor, the immediate past Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator shares his ideas on Next Generation Emergency Managers The link will take you to his recent opinion piece in Emergency Management Magazine

Gaynor calls for more of a structured system of “...

In our 21st Century workplace and personal lives, technology has dominated, and thus cybersecurity has become an ever more important consideration. For each and every organization, be it public or private, along with cybersecurity comes the need to protect the privacy of people and organizations. In this podcast Ginger Armbruster, Chief Privacy Officer for the City of Seattle shares some best practices concerning integrating privac...

When emergencies and disasters strike, we all depend on 911 Centers to be functional. Disasters range from earthquakes, cyberattacks and wildfires to local power outages, an ice storm or a white powder delivered to your door. Today 911 Centers are tech heavy places and getting even more technical as they try to keep up with consumer technology trends. In this podcast we explore the technical side of 911 Centers and how they are mee...

The Incident Command System (ICS) can be complex in itself to any novice learning about it for the first time. What can make it even more challenging is when disciplines and jurisdictions begin trying to operate as a Unified Command. The concept of unified command is not well understood and what appears clear cut decision making can be countered by others as being inappropriate. Unified Command and how ICS interfaces with the Emerg...

With every advance on the technological front, we are getting closer and closer to having real-time situational awareness when disasters strike. This is happening via a variety of means. One of which is the seismic monitoring of buildings for what seismic (G forces) they have been exposed to. Knowing that, along with the age of the building, the construction methods and soils that they sit on, you can project the amount of damages ...

One significant natural hazard risk that the West Coast of the United States has comes from tsunamis. The guest for this podcast is Elyssa Tappero, Outer Coast Tsunami Program Coordinator for the Washington State Emergency Management Division. In this program we review what the difference sources of tsunami waves are, and what their potential impact can be here in the Pacific Northwest. We also delve into what individuals and organ...

Every disaster imaginable produces some form of disaster debris. Disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes and a tsunami can be mega producers of debris. Even the typical flood has people ripping out carpets and other household items from their homes and piling them on the curb. It becomes government’s job to haul them away. Chris Walker with MERITS provides very practical suggestions for people and agencies to use in dealing with dis...

The disaster recovery process for Presidentially declared disasters here in the United States is hugely complex. It is no easy task to enter into and to accomplish. Jerry Quinn is an expert in assisting public agencies work their way through the disaster recovery maze. In this podcast we look at the process in general, where the pitfalls are, and then suggestions for getting the most recovery funding from the federal government. Wh...

This podcast is a bit of reminiscing with Diane Newman. She was at different times my Operations Program Manager and my Deputy Director at the King County Office of Emergency Manager. At one point, I actually worked for her! In this podcast we discuss various aspects of our personal journeys in emergency management and along the way share what worked and what didn’t work when it came to trying to forge a cohesive local emergency ma...

The United States’ blood supply has reach a dangerously low level of inventory. It has come via the impact of COVID and recent winter weather that has impacted much of the nation. In this short podcast we hear from Craig Cooper, an American Red Cross Spokesperson who explains the crisis and also how people can identify locations where they can go and give blood. It is a very safe and painless procedure. Blood cannot be stored for a...

Many first responder agencies have chaplains who work with them. They go to the scenes of emergencies and disasters. They minister to people both residents and the actual firefighters and law enforcement officers. In this podcast I interview Mike Ryan, who is the Bellevue Washington State Fire Department Chaplain. Mike has many years of experience and service. Together we discuss how people end up being chaplains, what type of pers...

Volunteer organizations who support disasters come in many different types and sizes. One such organization is The Soup Ladies who feed first responders when they are deployed on missions. These can be search and rescue missions, evidence processing of crime scenes or any other disaster response where first responders are present. The guest for this podcast is Ginger Passarelli, the Executive Director for The Soup Ladies. In the po...

When we send our children and grandchildren off to school we expect that they are going to a safe place. In Washington State that might not be true. In this podcast the guest is Jim Buck, a former Washington State legislator. He has a passion for emergency management and when he discovered the status school seismic safety in his state he set off to change that. Besides listening to this podcast you can go to the website Seismic Saf...

There are all different types of volunteer teams. 4X4 search and rescue; horse search and rescue; drone teams; cadaver dogs; search dogs; mountain rescue teams—and then there is a Volunteer Boater Disaster Team. In this podcast we explore how one city, Bainbridge Island, Washington State has established and organized a volunteer flotilla of boat owners to help in times of disasters. Tami Allen, Harbormaster for the Bainbridge Polic...

13 states have either a State Resilience Officer or a Chief Resilience Officer. In this podcast we have an interview with Mike Harryman, State Resilience Officer for the State of Oregon. Besides the pandemic, Oregon has had several other major disasters, including the largest wildfire in its history and a historic heatwave that killed scores of people. All of the above caused the state to do a series of after-action reports that le...