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WEST ALTON, MISSOURI: Mississippi floods rise around a store on June 1, 2019 … [+] in West Alton, Missouri. The central part of the country has been hit by major floods since mid-March, particularly along the Missouri, Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers. Cities along the Mississippi experienced the longest major flood in nearly a century. (Photo by Scott Olson / Getty Images)

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The Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) today released guidelines designed to help managers plan, respond to, and recover from disasters and other emergencies while following public health recommendations to prevent the further spread of Covid -19 to prevent.

Although this document is written for emergency managers at FEMA’s state, local, tribal, and territorial partners, the advice, guidance, and topics discussed in this document may serve as a reality check and to-do list for business leaders to ensure they are on A large number of nature-related and other crisis scenarios are prepared in this way.

The 85-page Covid-19 Pandemic Instruction Manual: Response and Recovery to All Hazard Incidents describes how FEMA has adapted its response and recovery operations to the realities and risks of the coronavirus in 2021.

The guidelines:

• Provide up-to-date resources, including checklists and reports, that reflect the most current knowledge of operations in a pandemic environment, and that enable emergency managers to optimize their response and recovery plans.
• Based on the science and the best available data, describe the ongoing challenges to disaster response from Covid-19 and planning considerations for emergency managers.
• Outline how FEMA plans to further adjust response and recovery measures to prioritize life safety, life support and workforce protection, and to maintain the delivery of FEMA programs in a pandemic environment.

Billions in damage

In March I wrote: “From flooded streets and buildings to dilapidated power grids and computers, businesses and organizations are exposed to numerous crisis situations that Mother Nature can cause.

“Whether caused by heavy rainfall, forest fires, hurricanes, tornadoes or snowstorms – weather-related disasters cause damage running into billions in the United States every year.”

Jonathan Porter is AccuWeathers’ chief meteorologist and senior vice president of weather content and forecasting operations. In March he said, “The past year highlighted the importance of a robust and adaptable business continuity plan. The move to a remote workforce resulted in a revision of previous plans that required significant revisions and adjustments.

“With employees who continue to work remotely, managers [should] Now consider an entirely new set of risks, including potential location-based power and internet outages, or even evacuations due to hurricanes and / or tropical systems. “

Notice applies to all disaster operations

FEMA noted that the recommendations described here, although they published their recommendations: “… prior to the Atlantic and Pacific hurricane season 2021 and the western forest fire season, apply to all disaster operations in the Covid-19 environment, including. .. Spring floods, tropical cyclones, storms and other dangerous events.

“This document shows how FEMA has adapted to operate in the Covid-19 pandemic, but the basic concepts for emergency management remain unchanged as much as possible.”

FEMA has announced that it will hold a series of webinars in June to educate people about its pandemic-related recommendations.