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Communications System Emergency Management Community Will Continue Facing Challenges, Making Recommendations and Decisions that Affect People's Lives Prepared Remarks for Joe M. Allbaugh, Director, Federal Emergency Management Agency Before the 2001 National Hurricane Conference, Washington, DC, April 11, 2001 Thank you all, you're very kind. I know as I walked in the room, everyone was riveted on me and you were thinking, "Oh, that's what he looks like." I have to tell you, not too long ago, I had the luxury of spending some time in Florida. Governor Bush, Governor Jeb Bush, was hosting a… having a back half of a drought meeting with a lot of federal agencies. And I decided to spend a few extra days in the Keys with my wife and daughter. I go down there, and normally a disguise like this you can't hide very well, but I did pretty good for better part of a week. And the last two or three days I was there, this fellow kept eyeing me. And I kept thinking to myself, "Uh-oh, it's coming. I know it's gonna come, this is gonna happen." The last day I was there, he finally, I guess, gets up enough gumption ... This is a true story. Walks up to me and he says, "I know who you are." I said, "Okay." He said, "I've seen you all over the TV, particularly with the earthquake that took place in the Pacific Northwest, and I know who you are. You're the IHOP man!" So I thought I was thinking very quickly on my feet, I said, "Yes, sir, I help other people. You're absolutely right." He says, "I don't know what you do, but you sure sell a lot of pancakes!" True story. The other burning question you have is, "Where does that guy get his hair cut?" Well, I'm not gonna tell you! Dr. Carter, thank you for having me here today. I'm honored to have been selected by President Bush to be the director of FEMA. More importantly, I'm honored to serve our country. FEMA is an agency that prides itself on helping others help themselves by bringing together the necessary resources, information and assistance. I want you to know, I plan I to continue that spirit of cooperation and coordination. And pledge to continue to raise the standard of emergency management in our country. As the Chief of Staff for then-Governor Bush, of Texas… I have to tell people, "I used to work for Governor Bush." And they'd say, "Well, which one?" Now I saw, "Well, I work for President Bush." And they say, “Which one?" And a-one, and a-two… Okay, I'm sorry… I'm not without some humor on occasion. I think humor is a slice of life. Periodically, I think this city that you're in and you're visiting today could use a big old belly laugh. Because humor is what gets us across the difficult times that each one of you in this audience has to deal with on a daily basis. But when I was in the Governor's office in Texas, I witnessed firsthand the importance of having different levels of government work together during the response, particularly, of Tropical Storms Charlie and Frances. I saw how effective that cooperation is in assisting communities recover from their disasters. And now I've had some experience at the national level. A whole eleven and a half days into my new job as FEMA Director the Nisqually Earthquake struck near Seattle, as we all know. This earthquake vividly demonstrated the importance of two of our Agency's missions. First: preparedness. Preparedness is essential to a quick and necessary response. And secondly: mitigation. Mitigation is the key to minimizing damage to buildings, damage to infrastructure, and to saving lives and to maintain the economic well being of our communities. Please know and understand that President Bush's administration is committed to these goals. And it is my intention to continue this focus. On behalf of FEMA, I want to recognize our other federal partners, our state partners, our local partners in advancing this exact same mission. Our success is dependant on the hard work of all of you in this room, and those who will be watching via C-SPAN. I always worry when C-SPAN shows up because they capture every word I say. And now it's time to prepare our nation for the upcoming hurricane season. And to remember that hurricane preparedness and mitigation are responsibilities shared by everyone. I assure you that FEMA is prepared for the 2001 hurricane season. We have made great strides, as a Nation, in preparing for hurricanes. But with a growing population in our coastal regions, and the associated valuable and complicated infrastructure, and with a forecast of climate-cycles of increased weather extremes, we must all recognize that there is still much work to be done. In 1999, the threat of Hurricane Floyd resulted in the largest evacuation in our Nation's history. As we watched the lines of vehicles moving slowly along the southeast U.S. coastline, the challenges we faced in preventing the loss of life became clear to everyone. FEMA and the United States Department of Transportation are working closely with state and local governments to improve communication and coordination during major evacuations. Thankfully, the 2000 hurricane season was less severe. There were no major evacuations that took place. But there's no doubt that we will face this issue again. Without the effective management of evacuations, the volume of people quickly leaving an area will overwhelm our transportation systems. This is a significant challenge, particularly in our large urban centers that are prone to hurricanes. To address this problem, FEMA has established an evacuation liaison team. Some of you may know about this, after Hurricane Floyd, located in our Region IV office in Atlanta. The Evacuation Liaison team serves as a focal point for coordination and communication among states enduring an evacuation. We will spread this concept and expand this concept to other regions throughout the country. Despite advances in storm prediction, NOAA has advised us that we can continue to expect some forecast error for hurricanes; for hurricane tracking and intensity predictions. Evacuation decisions will have to be made without exact information in order to minimize the loss of life in heavily populated coastal regions. At the National Hurricane Center in Miami, the best experts in the world are working to improve these predictions. But the Emergency Management community will continue to be faced with the challenges of making recommendations and decisions that affect people's lives. Speaking for the Federal family, I pledge to you our continued support through the delivery of products and services that will help all of us make it through these difficult decisions. To that end, we have established the Hurricane Liaison Team, to provide the critical link between the National Hurricane Center forecasters and the Emergency Management community. Staffed by FEMA and operating from dedicated offices at the NHC, the Hurricane Liaison Team responds to Emergency Managers by providing forecast updates issued by the Center and by answering questions about the forecast. In addition to forecasting specific storms, we must also improve our understanding of the impact of storms and the risk they pose to each and every one of us. In order to better understand the risk we face, as a Nation, from natural disasters, FEMA has embarked, as you may know, on a multi-year effort to develop a state-of-the-art risk-assessment and loss-estimation tool called HAZUS, or Hazards-U.S. Using information about communities' buildings, critical facilities, roads and other important features, HAZUS will provide an estimate of the expected loss that a community would suffer from hurricanes of various sizes and intensities. By the way, FEMA is scheduled to release a hurricane preview model by December 2002, and a full model by 2005 or 2006. As a result of Hurricane Floyd and the devastating impact of severe inland flooding, FEMA has received authorization to spend up to $15 million from the Disaster Relief Fund to modernize and update our flood maps nationwide after future disasters. This is a significant step forward in identifying our flood hazards nationwide. Through the efforts of mitigation and preparedness, we have learned that we can change the impact of disasters. We, as a nation, can reduce the loss of life. We can minimize damage to property by taking responsible action now, to avoid losses in both the public and private arenas. Some Federal programs are providing greater flexibility for state and local governments to effectively manage their programs, while maintaining accountability on how the public's tax dollars are being spent. The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, last October, which was passed, provides the statutory basis for states and their communities to develop stronger relationships with each other, to address the needs of both public and private interest. Again, FEMA stands ready to provide both the leadership and the necessary technical assistance and guidance to communities as they assume a greater responsibility for becoming more disaster resistant. As an example, FEMA is developing a series of simple, practical, how-to field guides to help state and local governments in their planning processes from risk-assessment, to plan preparation and evaluation. Since Hurricane Andrew occurred in 1992, a profound transformation has take place in the nation's posture toward the development and the adoption of comprehensive building codes. Since April 2000, we have had a single set of disaster-resistant national modeling building codes that address all hazards, especially wind, flood and seismic threats. I'm pleased to say that state and local governments are beginning to adopt and enforce these codes, which include hurricane-related provisions such as improved roofing designs, structural connections and window protection. But, make no mistake; these mitigation features will make a difference in reducing damage. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of adopting and enforcing disaster-resistant building codes. And I urge every state and local government to examine their priority of retrofitting our existing building inventory in high-hazard areas. We have the technology; we must apply it. FEMA is initiating an effort to remodel our hurricane-training program. Some of you may know this. To ensure that we are delivering quality courses that meet the needs of our state and local emergency managers. This annual conference also provides excellent opportunities for holding training sessions for state and local managers. In closing, let me emphasize the following point, please. Preventing the loss of life, minimizing the damage to property from hurricanes is a responsibility that is shared by all. I said that earlier in my remarks; but it's shared by all. It's shared by all levels of Government, it's shared by all levels of the private sector, and it's shared by the entire general public. As we go forward with an ever-growing population living in these vulnerable coastal areas, our charge is clear. We must work together to ensure the best possible outcome. With the technology and knowledge we have, the capability exists to change the outcome for the better. I hope you enjoy the rest of your conference. Spend lots of money while you're in town; Lord, the city needs it. And I look forward to meeting you, maybe some time down the road. Maybe not all right now, but individually. I look forward to working with you. I appreciate you having me here today. Dr. Carter, thanks for the invitation and, y'all have a good time while you're here. Thank you very much.
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